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VTrans presents truck replacement and paving budget update; agency says many units ordered but supply delays persist
Summary
Agency of Transportation fleet and maintenance officials updated the Senate Transportation committee on truck replacement, paving funding and storm response, saying the agency has dozens of older trucks and has placed orders for many replacements but continues to face delivery delays and budget variability.
Officials from the Agency of Transportation’s maintenance and fleet divisions briefed the Senate Transportation committee on vehicle replacement, recent storms and paving trends.
Todd Law (director of fleet) and Dave Thurber (superintendent of maintenance) told senators that the agency’s heavy‑equipment fleet included a number of older dump trucks and single‑axle trucks and that the agency had placed orders to replace much of the aging inventory. In the categories discussed, testimony said 49 trucks were older than eight years and 43 trucks were on order to replace them; agency witnesses said supply lead times remain a challenge.
Law described a routine target of roughly 30 truck‑equivalent replacements per year and said recent years’ procurement had been affected by capital priorities and occasional large equipment purchases. The agency described an equipment fund and a capital process used to encumber funds for body equipment purchases; items ordered in fiscal 2024 were carried forward when deliveries did not arrive in the same fiscal year.
On pavement, witnesses explained a notable increase in paving activity in 2021–22 driven by an unusual influx of federal funds and some surplus maintenance dollars. Those years, the agency said, allowed it to "catch up" on deferred projects; 2023–24 and the FY2025 projections reflect a return to more typical funding levels. Senators asked whether the reduced paving miles in the current budget would require higher preventive maintenance to preserve the gains from the catch‑up years.
Maintenance staff also described operational data from a recent winter storm: the agency logged roughly 97,000 plow miles during a two‑day period and ran about 275 trucks on the roads; depot staff reported roughly 10,000 personnel hours for operations associated with that event.
Committee members asked detailed budget and asset‑management questions — how many vehicles are truly in service versus on order, how encumbered purchase orders are carried forward across fiscal years, and how depreciation is tracked in the equipment fund. Agency officials said they maintain straight‑line depreciation and that purchased equipment is activated, placed into service and depreciated per asset‑management rules; funds encumbered for ordered equipment remain allocated for that equipment. The agency said it aims to restore a 30‑unit annual replacement pace but that delivery lead times can leave short gaps in availability.
No vote or committee action was recorded; the agency returned to answer clarifying questions after earlier testimony in the hearing.
