Columbia County brings vehicle upfitting and generator work in-house, cites cost and speed gains

Columbia County Fleet Services has brought vehicle upfitting and generator maintenance in-house, and staff said the change has reduced costs and sped repairs for the county’s fleet of vehicles and equipment.

The move affects patrol cars, fire trucks, heavy equipment and backup power systems used across Columbia County. “We have over 1,900 vehicles and equipment divided by 22 people in the shop servicing and maintaining all of that equipment,” said Anthony Deckert, shop manager for Columbia County Fleet Services, describing the scale of work the county’s shops handle.

The county operates three shops — two at the Appling campus and one in Evans — that service county departments and some external agencies, including the sheriff’s office, fire services, the Department of Natural Resources and the city of Harlem. Deckert said technicians are certified to work on specialized vehicles: the shop requires ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) certifications for patrol vehicles and both ASE and Emergency Vehicle Technician (EVT) credentials for fire apparatus and upfitting work.

Jessica Wilson, operations manager, said the county previously outsourced upfitting and generator repairs but now staffs those functions internally to reduce expense and turnaround time. “First of all, it’s more cost efficient for us to do it in house. We are saving a ton of money doing it that way. And then the efficiency of getting them up to par to be put on the road is just a whole lot faster,” Wilson said.

Wilson also described the county’s generator program: two generator technicians maintain roughly 90 county generators, handling service, repairs and fueling on an on-call rotation. She said bringing generator service in-house has allowed the county to deploy staff directly without waiting for outside vendors.

Fleet Services handles work orders, parts inventory and purchasing for vehicle replacements. Wilson said the office closed about 5,000 work orders in the past year and coordinates procurement through county procurement and contract pricing vehicles via Sourcewell and the Georgia state contract. The department works with other county agencies to draft equipment specifications and put purchases out to bid when required.

Deckert and Wilson emphasized the operational benefits for emergency response and public-works reliability from having technicians and parts on-site. The department’s contact for questions is fleetservices@columbiacountyga.gov.

Columbia County officials provided this overview during a county-produced video from the Appling fleet campus.