Public Service committee approves suspension to lease 26 packer trucks to replace aging sanitation fleet

The Public Service Committee on the Akron City Council unanimously approved suspending the rules to allow the director of public service to enter an agreement to lease 26 packer trucks from Premier Truck Sales and Rental Inc. for a 36-month term.

The ordinance read into the record described a 36-month lease for 26 packer trucks without publicly advertising for bids. Sarah (clerk) read the ordinance aloud: "Item number 9 is an ordinance authorizing the director of public service or his designee to enter into an agreement or agreements with Premier Truck Sales and Rental Inc without the formality of publicly advertising for bids for the lease of 26 packer trucks over a 36 month period and declaring an emergency."

Chris Lehi, the city's service director, told the committee the lease would cover 22 side-arm packer loaders and four rear-loader vehicles. He said the sanitation division currently owns most of its rolling stock and that the majority of those vehicles are 2013 models, with a few from 2018 and four purchased in 2024. "We are going to sell all our older stock," Lehi said, noting the city has sold equipment on govdeals.com in the past but that some units are "beyond [their] useful life."

Lehi said the city expects to receive brand-new trucks partway through the lease: "we will receive brand new stock in 18 months." He framed the lease as a cost-saving move driven by maintenance and downtime: older packer side arms and major driveline repairs are expensive, and replacing an aging fleet should reduce overtime caused by route delays. Lehi added that the four packers purchased in 2024 will be retained for street-cleaning and large debris operations and estimated the purchase will save street cleaning about $100,000 in 2025 rental costs.

Committee members moved and seconded suspension of the rules; the chair called the vote and recorded unanimous "aye" responses with no opposition. The item was handled under suspension and the committee adjourned.

The committee did not provide further budget detail in the meeting. Lehi said the public works and finance departments had conducted a multi-month analysis of equipment spending over the past decade and that the lease would reduce annual costs, but specific annual lease payments or total contract value were not provided on the record at this meeting.

The committee adjourned after the vote.