Aug. 24, 2015—On Friday, the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform announced the passing of the Federal Vehicle Repair Cost Savings Act of 2015. The bill is a cost-savings measure that encourages the use of remanufactured parts to maintain the vehicles in the civilian federal fleet.
The committee also indicated interest in other cost-cutting methods, including federal fleet vehicle repair and maintenance practices. In H.R. 1613’s report, the committee directs the U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study to evaluate the cost savings that could occur by shifting the fleet repair work to private sector vendors who could provide these vehicle repair and maintenance services through a competitive procurement process. The report will also be used to determine the practicality of a multi-year phaseout from in-house civilian government repair to the private sector.
On May 21, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Government Operations under the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing titled, “Issues Facing Civilian and Post Service Vehicle Fleet Procurement.” During the hearing, the cost effectiveness of private sector repairs was brought up by Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter, R-Ga.
“I am pleased this legislation directs GAO to look at the cost savings that could be possible by shifting fleet repair work to private-sector vendors. As a mayor at one time, I had to manage fleets of vehicles similar to these federal fleets. We used best practices and found that sometimes it was more cost-efficient to go to the private sector to have maintenance and repairs done on our vehicles. The federal government also must examine best practices to ensure we are being the best possible stewards of precious taxpayer dollars,” Carter said about the report language for Federal Vehicle Repair Cost Savings Act of 2015.
