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As a winter storm approaches, timing the activation and deactivation of winter maintenance operations has a significant impact on safety and budgeting. This synthesis report focuses on state practices in winter maintenance fleet activation for winter storms. A literature review and a survey of 25 Clear Roads states indicates that most agencies summon half or more of their workforce to come in before a storm arrives, if only just before. Meteorologists have become increasingly involved in winter maintenance programming, and a broad range of sophisticated systems, weather data and forecast sources are drawn upon in activation decisions, which are usually made at the district or regional level. Activation and deactivation procedures are data-heavy activities. Fleet activation practices seem equally informed by current and forecast data. Many states have specific thresholds (fixed numbers) for air temperature, pavement temperature, precipitation levels and other factors that trigger activation. Decisions about when to deactivate forces (send crews home) tend to be driven by a combination of fixed value thresholds and field observations. Current conditions are given more weight than forecasts, with the significant exception of precipitation forecasts. The increasing role of meteorology in winter maintenance activities suggests they may be becoming more data-driven.

This research quantified fuel economy improvements by implementing hybrid electric utility vehicles in municipal fleets. The research team analyzed utility vehicle data and built computer vehicle simulations of utility trucks with three powertrain types: conventional; charge sustaining hybrid; and charge depleting hybrid plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV). Driving cycles were recorded from three vehicle groups; ¾-ton pickup trucks; ½-ton pickup trucks; and SUVs using portable onboard diagnostics loggers. Collected data were used in vehicle simulations to determine the fuel economy improvement possible when implementing hybrid powertrain architectures in municipal fleets. The magnitude of benefits from implementing hybrid vehicles was highly dependent on driving cycles and the electric motor/battery combination of the PHEV. The highest kinetic intensity (KI) values; representing urban driving; were found to lead to the greatest fuel economy improvements for hybrid vehicles over conventionally powered vehicles. The results depended heavily on the electric motor/battery combination; with the higher battery capacity plug-in hybrid vehicles yielding the highest levels of fuel economy improvement. It is recommended that fleets consider driving cycle as the primary factor for determining the economic benefits of purchasing alternative powertrain vehicles. Hybrid vehicles should be placed on routes that are more urban; while rural/highway routes would be better served by conventionally powered vehicles. Idling time was also calculated for all the drive cycles and needs to be separately accounted for when analyzing driving cycle data. Idling for over 50% of the driving cycle can lead to about a 10% reduction in fuel economy based on the modeling conducted for ¾ ton pickup trucks in this study. The research team further recommends that aggressive driving be reduced as it will negate the fuel economy advantages possible from hybrid powertrain architectures.

The increasing cost of both buying and maintaining equipment and vehicles is changing the ways that local agencies manage their fleets. Budget constraints and rising costs require agency staff to employ tools and strategies for fleet management. The most effective way to optimize the life of vehicles and equipment is through good fleet management. The goal of this guidebook is to describe what that is and assess and describe the types of software and tools available for agency staff. The project included a survey of local agencies to first identify the types of equipment that make up their fleets and then to quantify how long they are keeping equipment and vehicles before replacement. Lastly, the survey asked agency staff to list the tools they use for fleet management. A matrix comparing various software tools used in Minnesota is included as well as a series of case studies.

This spreadsheet is referenced from Lake County in Appendix B within report 2017RIC01, Fleet Management Tools for Local Agencies.

This Implementation Summary pertains to the LRRB-produced Report 2017-RIC01, “Fleet Management Tools for Local Agencies,” published June 2018.

This Technical Summary pertains to report 2020-25, Techno-Economic Analysis of Implementing Hybrid Electric Utility Vehicles in Municipal Fleets.

Maximizing the conspicuity of state department of transportation (DOT) fleet vehicles and equipment used for summer and winter maintenance is expected to improve highway safety and increase mobility for both the motoring public and the vehicle or equipment operator. This synthesis sought to build on the October 2015 Clear Roads report Use of Equipment Lighting During Snowplow Operations. A review of domestic and international research and other relevant resources gathered information about the lighting, paint colors and retroreflective taping patterns used to enhance the conspicuity of state DOT maintenance vehicles and equipment. The literature search also sought information about the practices used to enhance the conspicuity of vehicles used at airports, for emergency purposes and by law enforcement, and investigated how lighting, color and retroreflective markings can improve general vehicle conspicuity. The report concludes with a brief examination of the use of high-visibility garments to improve pedestrian and worker safety.