By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Seventeen months have passed since the USD 428 Board of Education approved its first lease contract with Enterprise Fleet Management. That move replaced 10 of the Great Bend district's oldest vehicles with new Chevy Traverse SUVs. Monday night, the board approved the replacement of up to 12 more vehicles through the program. Director of Grounds and Transportation Cody Schmidt said the group includes a well-used food service truck with 176,000 miles.
"Them guys probably use that four days a week," he said. "Every time they fire it up it's something different. It's beyond repair. We actually took the old box off the last food truck we rotated and put it on that cab and chassis because the old box the floor was completely gone. We have recycled as much as we can."
Schmidt said several of the older maintenance vehicles have similar issues, from a 2005 Ford pickup that requires a trick to get it started, to a Chevy Suburban with front-end damage after being sideswiped earlier this year, to a van that leaks when it rains. The rotation also includes some of the district's newer vehicles.
"As we rotate out with Enterprise, the big thing (Assistant Superintendent John Popp) and I try to keep in mind is what can we rotate that will bring big value to offset the cost of what we're purchasing," Schmidt said.
The district is currently working with Marmie Motors in Great Bend on the possible purchase of two 10-passenger Ford transit vans. The total number of vehicles leased from Enterprise will depend on that transaction. With 12 leased vehicles, the annual cost to the district will be $165,720, with an estimated $104,600 offset the first year by selling the old vehicles.
"The goal is, as we update our fleet and get more new fleet, that we would greatly increase the equity as we sell off our vehicles," said Popp. "I've talked to a number of school districts and other entities that are doing this, and it doesn't totally become even but you greatly reduce your cost if you can rotate vehicles out every 3-5 years, get the equity from those sales, and roll it into another new vehicle. It will mean our maintenance staff is driving around in fancy new vehicles. We're going to tell them to take care of it."
The 12 vehicles approved Monday night include five 2025 Chevy Suburbans, four 2025 high-roof Ram Promaster Cargo vans, two 2025 crew cab Chevy Silverado 2500 pickups, and a 2025 Chevy Silverado 3500 chassis for hauling.
"We don't need the crew cabs but all the advice from Fleet Management said you want to get the crew cabs because you'll get much more money from them down the road," Popp said.