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Cochise County public works reports fleet replacements, auction results and plans to extend heavy-equipment life
Summary
Cochise County Public Works told the Board of Supervisors it completed most vehicle replacements for the fiscal year, sold surplus at auction, and plans repairs and selective purchases to extend the life of expensive heavy equipment.
Public Works staff provided the Cochise County Board of Supervisors a quarterly fleet update, reporting that the department has received the bulk of its planned vehicle replacements and sold surplus equipment at auction.
The presenter said 17 of 18 replacement vehicles shown in the department's earlier packet had been received by the time of the meeting and that all remaining ordered vehicles for the fiscal year were now in county possession. In the next fiscal year the department expects to order 19 replacement vehicles. The department also reported completing 16 upfits in-house and outsourcing five to a contractor in Tucson.
On the recent auction, Public Works staff said 24 county vehicles were listed with the Blue Book value set as a minimum; 23 completed sales were confirmed and one buyer backed out. "We sold 24 but 1 of them backed out on payment," the presenter said, adding that 23 vehicles had been paid for and picked up.
The department described a strategy of extending the service life of heavy equipment rather than replacing machines at fixed hour thresholds. The presenter said one machine in need of an engine is valued at about $1,100,000 and that an in-frame engine rebuild would cost roughly $200,000 and could yield an additional 5,000 hours of service. "To buy an engine for it, we're looking at probably somewhere around the $200,000 mark," the presenter said.
Solid-waste fleet items highlighted included a walking floor trailer to improve recycling transport to Tucson; the presenter described the trailer as a 42-foot in-dump trailer that should double the amount of material transported per trip compared with current roll-off can operations and reduce handling time. The department also budgeted for a transport truck and another roll-off truck, and noted one roll-off truck currently under in-frame repair may be traded in if parts cannot be obtained.
For highway operations, Public Works said it budgeted for a chip spreader (used in chip-seal surface treatments) and that the county retains a backup chip spreader. The presenter noted a milling machine (planer) would primarily be used on asphalt roads rather than the county's predominately chip-seal network—"probably 90% is chip seal"—so the county has not prioritized purchasing a large planer.
The department said it completed an equipment in-frame rebuild on a roll-off truck and is monitoring parts availability that could prompt a trade-in. It also described the practice of choosing cheaper midlife repairs when feasible to stretch capital dollars.
The update closed with an invitation for supervisor questions; no formal action was requested or taken during the presentation.
