What do you have to do to ensure everything is planned?

I ask for new requirements and replacement details for plant and equipment four months prior to the new financial year to ensure all requests are considered and funding is directed appropriately. I will even personally contact those I know will be problem children. Somehow, they still can’t remember this!

Even with all this communication the system still fails. Come the new financial year and I’m ready to spend, I get comments back to me like “That’s not what we want now. We want two of this make and model together with this body set up”. It’s only another $34,000 (each)!

The custodians go the OH&S department and work up a story to support what they say is now a mandatory requirement. Neither their manager or I have heard anything over the last 12 months about any changes, let alone last week. They now try and turn the blame back on us for not delivering their dream.

Well, it’s time to suck it up all you princesses out there in fantasy land. It’s time to take some initiative and provide input in advance, especially considering the budget restraints we have to deal with.

To stop our Anonymous Fleet Manager (AFM) blowing a gasket, we created Internal Combustion, a monthly column for fleet-related rants that lets him blow off some steam. Got a fleet gripe you'd like to get his opinion on? Email emily.ditchburn@ipwea.org and she'll pass it on to AFM – when he's in a good enough mood, that is.