Case Study: County of Kern avoids bankruptcy and rebuilds its fleet with RTA fleet management software

How Fleet Services of Kern County, CA Avoided Bankruptcy by Changing Their Fleet Management System to RTA

Fleet Services of Kern County, California is the county garage responsible for purchasing, maintaining and repairing more than one third of the county’s vehicles. In the mid-1990s the shop relied on paper records and an outdated fleet system, driving maintenance costs up; after the sheriff’s department left the program the fleet dropped overnight from 1,250 to 354 vehicles and staffing fell from 23 to nine, putting the garage on the brink of closure unless the new manager, Larry Werts, could find a system to provide accurate data, scheduling and billing.

Werts selected RTA’s fleet management software, installing preventive maintenance scheduling, vehicle tracking and inventory/parts modules by July 1999 and moving to a paperless shop within six months. Turnaround times fell to a three-day maximum, maintenance prices became competitive and most customers returned; over five years the fleet grew 112% with a 30% staff increase, and today Kern County comfortably maintains about 1,236 vehicles while handling an average of 552 work orders per month.

County of Kern

Larry Werts

Fleet Manager