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FPUD to replace two crew support utility trucks

The Fallbrook Public Utility District will be replacing two crew support utility trucks.

FPUD’s board voted 5-0, Jan. 28, to approve the purchase of two Ford F550 pickup trucks along with a valve and vacuum system. The $237,444.80 expenditure covers $173,809.80 for the two trucks and $63,635.00 for the valve and vacuum system. One of the trucks will be used for the wastewater collection crew, and the other truck will be used for the annual valve maintenance program and for emergency shutdowns.

“The existing ones were at the end of their life and were becoming very expensive to maintain, so we replaced them with newer vehicles,” Jack Bebee, the FPUD general manager, said.

FPUD’s board approved a Vehicle and Heavy Equipment Replacement Program to ensure reliability of the district’s vehicles and equipment in March 2015, and in April 2017 the board approved an updated plan to prioritize equipment replacement. FPUD has scoring criteria to determine the appropriate timing and priority of equipment replacements.

The wastewater collection crew support utility truck which will be replaced is a 2005 Chevrolet 3500 which had 92,654 miles as of Jan. 7. It has had two transmissions and multiple engine mounts, and it is considered undersized for the body application which was installed on the chassis.

The 2007 Chevrolet 3500 FPUD uses for its valve maintenance program and emergency shutdowns had 58,118 miles as of Jan. 15. The transmission has been replaced, motor mounts have broken and the truck is at its weight limit.

In November, FPUD staff sent a request for proposals for the replacement of the two trucks to two Ford dealers, four Chevrolet dealers and five Dodge dealers. Fritts Ford of Riverside and Sierra Chevrolet of Monrovia responded. Fritts Ford offered a Ford F550 wastewater collection crew support utility truck with a Scelzi utility and crane body for $105,437.36 including sales tax, while Sierra Chevrolet bid $108,131 for a Chevy CK56403 wastewater collection crew support utility truck with a Scelzi utility and crane body. Fritts Ford offered a price of $68,372.44 for a Ford F550 to be the valve maintenance and emergency shutdown truck with a Scelzi flatbed, while the Sierra Chevrolet price for the Chevy CK56403 valve maintenance and emergency shutdown truck with a Scelzi flatbed was $69,788.

FPUD has not experienced any performance or maintenance issues with any of the current Ford vehicles in its fleet, so the Fritts Ford bids were approved for both replacement trucks. The valve maintenance and emergency shutdown truck being replaced has a Wachs valve and vacuum unit. Because the equipment integrates with FPUD’s software and asset inventory system and has proprietary data FPUD can only obtain that specific equipment through Wachs and a sole-source contract rather than a bid process was warranted. Information from the Wachs valve machine is imported into FPUD’s geographic information system valve system to update FPUD’s valve data. FPUD requested a quotation from Wachs Jan. 10 and was offered the valve and vacuum unit for $63,635, and FPUD staff determined that amount to be reasonable for the purchase from Wachs to be approved.

The 2007 Chevrolet will be re-assigned and used for unplanned emergency shutdowns or for shutdowns requiring a large number of valves. The standby application will limit the vehicle’s usage and mileage.

“We may keep the old valve truck as a backup during emergencies,” Bebee said.

The 2005 Chevrolet is expected to be declared surplus and sold at auction after FPUD receives the new wastewater collection crew support utility truck.

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

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