The DeKalb County Operations Committee approved a procurement request to buy 19 international MV607 crew cab chassis trucks with service bodies for the Department of Watershed Management, awarded to Rush Truck Centers of Georgia, Inc. d/b/a Rush Truck Center Atlanta, for an amount listed in committee materials not to exceed $3,757,877. The committee’s approval was recorded as “pending audit.”

County staff described the vehicles as crew trucks to transport work crews and equipment and said the purchases are replacement vehicles used to tow heavy equipment to job sites. Commissioners pressed staff about electric vehicle alternatives for heavy‑duty trucks. Commissioner Robert Patrick asked whether an electric version exists for heavy‑duty crew trucks; Director Gordon replied that current heavy‑duty electric options have underperformed in some sanitation and heavy‑duty applications, that the one candidate truck was “way, way more” expensive (roughly double the cost per truck), and that charging infrastructure would be a major constraint—placing many trucks at one site could require a mini substation, not just a transformer.

Commissioners asked for a year‑end update on the county’s electric vehicle strategy and charging‑infrastructure investments; staff agreed to brief the committee later this year. The committee approved the motion to authorize the purchase pending completion of the audit process and recorded the voice vote in favor.

No amendment to the purchase was made in committee; the administration said the procurement will return to the Board of Commissioners as part of the county’s normal audit and approval process.