Fleet manager proposes five‑year replacement schedule; council asks for maintenance and cost history

Kevin Reinartz, the city’s fleet operations manager, presented a five‑year fleet replacement guideline and schedule to the Farmers Branch City Council on April 22 that sets target replacement intervals for major vehicle classes and aims to reduce downtime and maintenance costs.

"Basically, when I first started here about 2 years ago, there was a distinct lack of a plan to replace our fleet assets," Reinartz said. He described the proposed schedule and its goals: lower maintenance costs, reduced downtime, improved safety, better environmental performance and a steadier, long‑term financial plan.

The guideline assigns replacement intervals by vehicle type: police pursuit vehicles on a three‑year plan; ambulances on five years; frontline fire apparatus on a 10‑year schedule with reserves up to 15 years; specialized equipment on eight years; trailers on 12 years; and general fleet on a 10‑year/100,000‑mile or 10,000‑hour metric, whichever comes first.

Council members pressed for data and financial context. Councilwoman Burton and others asked whether the 10‑year target for apparatus had changed and how much of the upcoming budget will be affected. Reinartz said the schedule is a guideline and will be evaluated during budget preparation: "At that 10 year mark, when we're preparing for a budget, we can... make some adjustments to that." He also said fire apparatus lead times can be long — about four years from order to delivery — and that the city has been accelerating high‑priority purchases.

Council members requested additional detail on maintenance history and major component failures. Reinartz said staff track service records and vehicle condition and that moving to more frequent replacement should reduce large repair expenditures. He reported an immediate operational strain from recent crashes: "We had 2 police vehicles that were totaled... and we had an animal control vehicle that was crashed and a parks vehicle that was crashed."

Why it matters: Reinartz said the plan provides predictable, long‑term budgeting by flagging vehicles that will likely require replacement, and that newer low‑mileage units fetch higher auction resale values. He estimated 25–30 percent of the fleet will be due for replacement under the guidelines in the coming year.

Next steps: Reinartz said staff will continue developing five‑year forecasts, refine replacement priorities with departments during budget season, and present maintenance and major repair histories to council on request.

Ending

Council members thanked Reinartz and asked staff to return with detailed maintenance histories, records of major component failures (transmissions, engines) for non‑public safety vehicles, and clear budget impacts for the next cycle.