For the fourth consecutive year, “Government Fleet” magazine, which covers public sector vehicles and transportation, honored Culver City as a 2017 Elite Fleet at last month’s Government Fleet Expo & Conference, held in San Antonio, Texas.
Culver City was one of only four North American Elite Fleets, the others being from Boise Idaho, Columbus Ohio, and Mesa Arizona.
The award recognizes fleets that continue to perform at a high level and have the same leadership. Culver City was previously named the number one “Best Municipal Fleet in North America” by the 100 Best Fleets National Fleet Certification/Recognition program in 2013. Paul Condran, Fleet Services Manager, accepted the award on behalf of the City.
This achievement recognizes outstanding contributions and leadership, particularly in the advancement of greening practices, accountability, efficiencies, best practices, and advanced technologies. Award-winning fleets must maintain high operational standards while demonstrating consistent sustainability practices. Only previously number one-selected fleets are eligible for the Elite Fleet program. Since the inception of this program, only four municipal fleets have been named an Elite Fleet.
This program is open to all federal, state, and local government fleets in North America and is based on a comprehensive set of criteria specifically tailored to the challenges and requirements of government fleets. This year’s Elite Fleets are working toward improving environmental fleet operations to continue to lower the carbon intensity through “greening practices,” employee training, renewed benchmarking projects, updating old or outdated infrastructure, staying efficient and current, all while maintaining strong influential industry presence.
“Culver City stands out as one of the early adopters of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) technologies as the sole fuel source for our entire transit, refuse, and many other fleet vehicles. It’s gratifying to hear that the City can share its experiences and best practices with other municipal fleets. Through the use of environmentally friendly CNG, our sanitation vehicles, CityBus, and our other municipal vehicles conserve over 900,000 gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel per year and save taxpayers more than $1.2 million annually. The fact that our team is a repeat winner of this award is very impressive and makes us very proud!” said Culver City Mayor Jeffrey Cooper.
Culver City strives to protect the environment through sustainable practices. The City’s fleet operation is certified by the State of California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control as a “Green Model Shop.”
“Culver City has stringent industry-standard recycling goals in this area and adheres to a 100 point recycling program approved by the State of California. Our program includes the proper management of all waste, including the recycling and proper handling of metals, fluids, and oils,” said Condran.