Fleet Services

As part of UMass's ongoing commitment to operational excellence, stewardship of public resources, and campus-wide efficiency, Fleet Services will implement the new FY27 Fleet Services Fee. This campus efficiency initiative has been championed by the Chancellor and is designed to strengthen vehicle fleet management across the University while delivering long-term benefits to departments, campuses, and Commonweath taxpayers.

A modern, full-featured fleet management program provides significantly more value than simply purchasing and repairing vehicles. Effective fleet management supports:

• Asset Management: Maintaining accurate records of all fleet assets, including on-road and off-road equipment, while ensuring appropriate utilization and lifecycle planning.
• Liability and Risk Management: Ensuring vehicles are properly insured, registered, inspected, and maintained to reduce institutional risk and exposure.
• Environmental Stewardship: Supporting vehicle right-sizing, emissions reduction initiatives, fuel efficiency improvements, and responsible disposal of aging assets.
• Regulatory Compliance: Managing Commonwealth, RMV, DCR, USEPA, safety, environmental, and internal policy requirements across a diverse fleet portfolio.
• Capital Program Efficiency: Leveraging UMass's scale to reduce overall fleet age, coordinate replacements strategically, minimize emergency purchases, and lower collective capital expenditures.
• Fleet Optimization: Identifying opportunities to share, reallocate, and redeploy vehicles across the UMass community to maximize utilization and reduce unnecessary asset ownership.

We have streamlined a number of variable fees into two primary charges between $308- $311 per asset, charged to the department of record.  This fee funds our Fleet Services organization direct costs, including but not limited to asset management and tracking software, subscriptions to RMV inspection stations, tooling and related, and a full range of other overheads needed to comply with UMass, Commonwealth and USEPA policies. 

The objective of this initiative is to significantly reduce the number of fleet assets owned and operated across UMass while ensuring departments continue to have access to the vehicles and equipment they need to perform their missions. By allocating and moving vehicles across the campus community, we can extend the value of existing assets, reduce fleet age, lower overall capital costs as a Commonwealth entity, and take greater advantage of the University's scale of operation.

This effort also provides a pathway to better serve areas that have historically received limited fleet support. By improving visibility into vehicle utilization and replacement needs, Fleet Services can more proactively cycle vehicles in and out of departments rather than waiting until they become unreliable or unserviceable before replacement. The result is safer, more dependable equipment and a more predictable replacement program for all stakeholders.

Additionally, Fleet Services is responsible for a wide range of enterprise functions that often occur behind the scenes but are critical to the University's operations, including vehicle registration management, insurance coordination, asset tracking, disposition and auction services, compliance oversight, and lifecycle planning. These services support the entire UMass fleet portfolio and help ensure responsible management of public assets.

While the FY27 Fleet Services Fee is a universal charge applied consistently across the University, we recognize that enterprise-wide fees do not always align perfectly with the circumstances of every individual department. Many departments, including Fleet Services itself, experience similar challenges with institution-wide cost allocations. However, these fees have been reviewed and approved as part of the University's broader administrative and operational framework.

We remain committed to delivering value in return for this investment. Our team has already begun working closely with departments to right-size fleets, improve asset utilization, and provide better tools and support. Recent on-site engagement efforts, including multiple days of direct support from Fleet Services staff to review fleet operations and identify opportunities for optimization, reflect our commitment to strengthening service and ensuring that all UMass departments receive the support they need.

Ultimately, the FY27 Fleet Services Fee helps fund the enterprise programs that keep the University's fleet safe, compliant, efficient, and sustainable while ensuring responsible stewardship of Commonwealth resources for years to come.

Thank you for your engagement, participation, and understanding.

UMass Fleet Services