OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
Fuel Reduction Task Force:
 Tim Potts - Police
 Don Martin - Fire
 Diane Drake - Parks & Rec.
 Ken Donaldson - Public Works
 Mike Anderson - Wastewater
 Danny King – Finance
Fuel Reduction Task Force Report (June 2008)
 The following is a summary of the 5%, 10%, and 15% fuel reduction plans submitted for each of
these departments:
 Police
 Fire
 Parks and Recreation
 Public Works
 Wastewater
I.
Police Department
Annual Baseline:
(gallons)
93,300
Gasoline:

5%
4,665
Annual Reduction Amounts:
10%
15%
9,330
13,995
The 5% plan: (implemented as of May 21, 2008)
 Reductions in idling times
 Decreases in the number of cars per shift
 Increases in carpooling
 Increases in the amount of time spent parked while on patrol
 Increased bike patrols
 More frequent vehicle inspections, such as checks on tire pressure
 Increased use of telephone interviews
 Suspension of travel to and from gym/work out facilities
 The table below demonstrates that since implementation of the 5% plan, the department has created real
reductions in fuel consumption:
May 2007
May 2008
July 2007
July 2008
Gallons used:
8236.8
7986.2
8546.6
8012.9
Percent Change from
Previous Year's Use:
Change in
gallons:
-3.04%
-250.6
-6.24%
-533.7
 The 10% plan:

An evaluation of each patrol officer and patrol supervisor’s daily mileage that would consider the
call volume of a particular shift, as well as other factors, and identify opportunities to reduce daily
mileage by 4.5 miles
 The 15% plan:

Reductions in the number of cars used by the evening and night patrol shifts - currently, the
minimum staffing includes 8 officers with each using a single car to cover 8 patrol zones; for the
additional fuel reductions the operations would maintain a minimum of 8 officers but change to
cover 6 zones with 2 two-man cars
 Impact Considerations:
 Response time to non-emergency calls would increase under the 15% reduction plan
 Long-term Strategies:
 Consider the elimination of 8-cylinder vehicles from the fleet; currently, the department has 55
vehicles with 8-cylinder engines.
II.
Fire Department
Gasoline:
Diesel:
Total:
Annual Baseline:
(gallons)
6,259
11,845
18,104
Annual Reduction Amounts:
5%
10%
15%
313
626
939
592
1,185
1,777
905
1,810
2,716
Fire Suppression Division:
 The 5% plan:
 Reductions in mileage produced by limiting special trips and combining department errands with
other departmental tasks
 Decreases in cargo weight
 Reductions in idling time
 The 10% plan:
 Decreases in the use of warning lights and the engine of the fire apparatus while at emergency
scenes
 Reductions in vehicle use by walking to meetings and increases in carpooling
 Reductions in the number of staff members that attend out-of-city training classes
 Increases in the use of support vehicles as an alternative to using the fire apparatus
 Increases in efficiency by planning in at least 4 hour increments when making trips for special tasks,
so as to take advantage of the fuel used
 The 15% plan:
 Limit re-fueling only to times when the vehicle is in the vicinity of the fuel station (special trips will
be reserved for only when there is less than 5/8th of a tank)
 Increases in the use of technology, in order to reduce the number of trips to the station for
paperwork
 Reductions in the number and frequency of supply trips; increases in the use of delivery services and
limit staff trips for supplies to once a week
 Decreases in the number of vehicles in use by modifying the Emergency Response first alarm
assignment standard: a) modify the Automatic fire alarm activation from assigning 3 fire apparatus
to only sending the 1 closest in-service apparatus and b) modify the Motor vehicle crash response
from assigning a truck/rescue and engine to only sending the closest in-service apparatus (unless
dispatch confirms an entrapment, then the normal assignment would be sent)
 Suspend public education and public relations activities
 Issue Station 4 & 5 cards to purchase fuel in their immediate area
 Impact Considerations:
 It is anticipated that the implementation of the 5% reduction plan would have minimal impact on
the fire department services provided to the community. Fire Department supervisors would be
required to plan more efficiently.
 It is anticipated that the implementation of the 10% reduction plan would impact the safety and
knowledge base of our members due to limited out-of-department training opportunities.

It is anticipated that the implementation of the 15% reduction plan would have a negative impact
both on the firefighters and the service the citizens/visitors receive. With limited outside
department training and modified response assignments, firefighter safety may suffer due to less
training and our department would have longer response times. Both will have very negative impact
of the services to citizens.
 Long-term strategy:
 The department will continue to evaluate apparatus and vehicles when replacements are specified.
The department has always specifies apparatus/vehicles to accomplish multiple tasks with one
vehicle. Admin vehicles not only respond to emergency incidents but are tasked with support
functions such as pulling support trailers, moving firefighters from place to place, and etc.
 The department plans to tasked it supervisors with planning for efficient and effective operation.
Training Division:
 Training Officer, Randy Fox, has offered to take the following steps in order to support the overall
department’s efforts to reduce fuel consumption:
 Eliminate all Fire Commission trips out-of-town (approximately 4 annually) and will resign from the
South Central Development Child Care Resource and Referral Advisory Board (eliminating an
additional 4 trips annually)
 Increases in the use of video conferencing to reduce mileage
 Increases in revenue to offset fuel costs by charging a fee for public education events at businesses
Prevention Division:
 Over the last 3 or 4 years, the Prevention Division has been practicing the following fuel reduction
strategies:
 Reducing mileage by walking to inspections
 Reducing special trips and increasing efficiency by grouping inspections by area
 Approximately 1 year ago, the Prevention Division implemented 4, 10-hour day workweeks and report that
they have reduced their fuel usage (in total gallons used) by 15%. They credit this reduction to the following
measures:
 Decreases in return trips for completing inspections
 Decreases in round trips from home to work by one day each week
 Fire Marshal, Anthony Davis, has offered to take the following additional steps to reduce fuel consumption
within the prevention division by 6%:
 Eliminate all after-hour callouts or limit callouts to fire deaths, fire bombings, etc.
III.
Parks & Recreation
Gasoline:
Diesel:
Total:
Annual Baseline:
(gallons)
10,600
204
10,804
Annual Reduction Amounts:
5%
10%
15%
530
1,060
1,590
10
20
31
540
1,080
1,621
 The 5% plan: (implemented during FY 2007/2008)




Reductions in the use of the service truck and 15-passenger vans
Reductions in the use of vehicles for travel on back and forth trips to the shop, such as for lunch
Reduced the number of trips for supplies by combining the travel errands of all facilities and staff
Installed lockable gas caps on all vehicles (as of June 6, 2008)
 The 10% plan: (implemented during FY 2007/2008)
 Reductions in idling times and replacement of 1 crew maintenance truck with a single cab truck
 Reorganization of maintenance staff into larger crews, in order to reduce the number of
maintenance trucks used daily by 1 (1 out of 10 trucks can now be parked)
 Reduce or eliminate the number of trips for refueling by taking filled fuel cans on tractors and trucks
when appropriate
 The table below demonstrates that since implementation of the 5% and 10% plan, the department has
created real reductions in consumption:
Gallons used:
May 2007
1258.3
May 2008
1033.1
July 2007
1140.4
July 2008
996.8
Percent Change from
Previous Year’s Use:
Change in
gallons:
-17.90%
-225.2
-12.59%
-143.6
 The 15% plan:

Reduce the number of maintenance trucks used daily by combining two crews, such that 2 out of 10
trucks can be parked
 Reductions in the staff workweek
 Reductions in the summer mowing schedule
 Impact Considerations:
 Quality and quantity of weekly services will be reduced
 The number of completed projects will be reduced
 Time necessary to cut, mow, and trim parks will increase
 Delays in responding to emergency repair needs will be created
 Repair expenses may increase
 Overtime/Compensation time may increase
 For this department, summer is the season with the highest fuel consumption
IV.
Public Works
Gasoline: P.Works
Streets
Diesel:
Streets
Sanitation
Total:
Annual Baseline:
(gallons)
6,675
10,827
14,922
58,884
91,308
Annual Reduction Amounts:
5%
10%
15%
334
668
1,001
541
1,083
1,624
746
1,492
2,238
2,944
5,888
8,833
4,565
9,131
13,696
 The 5% plan:


Decreases in mowing to only the medians on Nashville Highway from Bearcreek Pike to North City
Limits
Reductions in special trips by requiring employees to bring lunch or eat in the immediate area
 The 10% plan:

Increases in efficiency by developing well-written work plans
 The 15% plan:

Decreases in the number of street crews and sanitation crews by 1 day by changing to a 4, 10-hour
day workweek
 Reductions in the number of vehicles used by purchasing crew cabs for groups that require 4 or
more people on a regular basis
 Increases in efficiency by purchasing smaller equipment
 Impact Considerations:
 Sanitation services are the primary consumer of fuel; however, sanitation is unable to reduce the
number of miles driven because they are directly related to the provision of services
 Long-term strategies
 Consider limiting the number of times a year that brush is collected (for example, many other cities
perform only four clean-ups per year)
 Consider ways to bring in new revenue, such as increasing current charges and/or charging fees for
superfluous services
V.
Wastewater Department
Gasoline:
Diesel:
Total:
Annual Baseline:
(gallons)
1,350
20,774
22,124
Annual Reduction Amounts:
5%
10%
15%
67.5
135
202.5
1,039
2,077
3,116
1,106
2,212
3,319
 The Wastewater Department has already implemented several strategies to increase fuel efficiency,
including:
 Reductions in aggressive driving, speeding, and excessive idling
 Increases in regular and preventative maintenance practices, such as checking tire pressure and
properly tuning the engine
 Because these practices have been in place for some time, it is believed that most of the potential savings
have already been realized in the 5-10% range
 The table below demonstrates that the department has experienced real reductions in gasoline
consumption:
Gallons used:
May 2007
132.5
May 2008
121.4
July 2007
147.8
July 2008
131
Percent Change
from Previous
Year’s Use:
Change in
gallons:
-8.38%
-11.1
-11.37%
-16.8
 The 5% plan: (implemented at least since 2007)
 Continuation of previously implemented actions with additional emphasis on maintenance issues
and training for positive driving habits
 The 10% plan: (implemented mid-July 2008)
 Limit schedules of line maintenance and construction activities to 4 day shifts
 Evaluations of the scheduling of inspection and line locate functions to identify opportunities to
increase efficiency by altering service requests
 The 15% plan:
 Limiting of inspection of service laterals for new homes to limited/certain days of the week
 Reductions in line maintenance and construction activities
 Reductions in monitoring and maintenance of the remote pump station, such as reducing station
maintenance from 7 days to 4 or 5 days per week
 Impact Considerations:
 Despite attempts to make scheduling more efficient, emergencies will occur and typically lead to
higher than anticipated fuel usage
 Construction and maintenance activities create the greatest fuel consumption; especially because
the City’s sludge must be transported to another County on a daily basis. However, it is not likely
that this is an area for much improvement because and the department has already implemented
the use of a new vehicle in an attempt to improve fuel efficiency.
 Actions required to achieve a 15% or more reduction in fuel consumption will impact the core level
of service provided in wastewater collection and treatment
 Limitations on inspections may result in additional safety concerns with excavated areas and open
ditches near residential areas and roadways
 Reductions in line maintenance/construction would be contrary to the best practices provisions of
the CMOM portion of the NPDES permit
 Prolonged and continued reduction of activities listed in the 15% reduction plan will result in more
frequent sewer overflows and neglected infiltration/inflow control measures
 Reductions in monitoring and maintenance of the remote pump station have already been
implemented with the use of SCADA technology; further reductions will prove very costly in the
neglect of mechanical equipment and result in failed systems with extremely costly repairs and
associated sewer overflows
 Reducing station maintenance from a daily schedule to only 4 or 5 days per week is not a viable
option due to dramatic exposure to catastrophic damages with extreme equipment and
environmental damages
 Overall, it should be acknowledged and understood that neglect of core functions could expose the
system to failures and violations of environmental permitting
 Long-term Strategies:
 Consider performing an evaluation of right-sizing vehicle types to identify how to maximize the
capital replacement of vehicles in a way that will reduce overall fuel consumption.