Modern Public Fleet

Source: GM ↗ GM teased the all-new 8.3L Duramax Turbo-Diesel V8, internally called the Mongoose, bound for the refreshed 2027 Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD. GM released a teaser revealing the engine’s name and displacement alongside a brief description: “Built to dominate, this diesel engine packs power, capability, and confidence.” Full specifications, output figures and additional details have not yet been released. Chevrolet and GMC say they will share more soon.

Source: GM ↗ General Motors will debut a redesigned in-cab user interface on the 2027 Chevrolet Silverado and 2027 GMC Sierra light-duty pickups before extending the platform across the broader GM lineup. Built on a single scalable software foundation that spans electric, gas and diesel-powered vehicles, the interface unifies hardware, software and design around customer feedback.

Source: GM ↗ General Motors’ sixth-generation Small Block V8 architecture delivers two new truck engines for the 2027 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500, with the top-line 6.6L producing 481 horsepower, the highest output of any naturally aspirated V8 in the light-duty segment. The new L76 5.7L and L78 6.6L units succeed the previous 5.3L and 6.2L V8s.

When Rachel Darken became Fleet Service Superintendent for the City of Madison, she thought she knew what to expect. She had already spent nearly two years helping fill the role while her predecessor was on leave. She understood the organization, knew the people and had already been making many of the same decisions. “But I definitely thought things wouldn’t change,” she says. “And they did.” The biggest surprise wasn’t learning how to run a fleet.

Football’s back, and I have a confession. I grew up in the Los Angeles area in the 80’s and 90’s and never ”had a team.” They all left me. It makes me a little ambivalent about who to root for so I’m left cheering for the most likeable team… which we all know is more valid reasoning than uniform color. Raider Nation was right there, until they ditched L.A. for Oakland. The Rams ran to St. Louis. Both gone after the same season.

Public fleet operations could track a hundred metrics. Steve Saltzgiver, CAFS, thinks they should focus on three to five. The longtime fleet manager, current RTA strategic advisor and 100 Best Fleets judge says the key is figuring out where the operation needs to improve and focusing their attention there. “You have to understand your operation and figure out where the gaps are,” Saltzgiver said.

Source: CBS 6 News Richmond WTVR ↗ Petersburg, Va., police are replacing a round-the-clock hot-seat vehicle rotation with individual take-home assignments, deploying roughly 38 Ford SUVs equipped with the Police Interceptor Package, with 10 more units on order. The vehicles carry a new graphics package that trades the department’s previous black-and-white livery for a reflective 3D design and adds LED lighting around the exterior for visibility.

John Martin was working as a program manager about six years ago for the Massachusetts office of vehicle management when the governor’s office put his department in charge of an initiative to right-size the state’s vehicle fleet. Martin oversaw the project that resulted in the right-sizing of the Massachusetts fleet by 10%, from about 3,500 vehicles and equipment to about 3,150.