Andrew Railz, Manager Fleet Services at Bundaberg Regional Council in Queensland, discusses the value of networking and learning from other councils, and the challenges that come with being located off the main trucking route.
How did you end up working in fleet management?
I’m a diesel fitter by trade and spent 20 years in workshop operations, including 12 years at Gold Coast City Council (GCCC). While at GCCC I completed a postgraduate course in maintenance management, which eventually led me to my current role as fleet manager at Bundaberg Regional Council.
As a member of the IPWEA National Fleet Panel, what do you see as the main value of the Institute and the Fleet Community of Practice?
Networking with other councils is probably the most important part for me. I don’t wish to reinvent the wheel, so if I can learn from someone else without having to go through all that hard work and pain, I’m more than happy to do so!
Do you have a specific example of learning from another council?
We were discussing permits for the use of flashing lights on vehicles at an IPWEA Fleet Workshop, a process that we were still working through, when Central Highlands Regional Council mentioned that they had already been through the process. They showed us their permits and how they rolled it out. We came back and have managed to do the same – it has saved us a lot of grief.
Are there any unique challenges you face in your work in Bundaberg?
If I looked at the difference in the workshops between a place like the Gold Coast and Bundaberg – in the cities you have access to multiple dealerships of cars, trucks and plant, whereas in Bundaberg we don’t have any local truck dealers. We rely on people to come out of Maryborough or Gladstone or Rockhampton to do the servicing. What that has meant is we have invested fairly heavily in tooling and training for our technicians, to enable them to do a lot of the work in-house.
That is definitely a challenge going forward, particularly with technology changing so rapidly. Some of the trucks we deal with now are pretty high-tech, and a lot of the software you need to diagnose them is proprietary software from the manufacturers, and they don’t like to let it go, which can be a challenge.
Although Bundaberg is not as remote compared to other councils, the fact that we’re half an hour off the main trucking route makes us mildly isolated. It seems ridiculous – we’re only 4.5 hours north of Brisbane – but it really brings some unique challenges.
A timely issue for Fleet Managers at the moment is whether they should be prioritising Australian-made vehicles in their fleet procurement. What is your council’s approach?
Our purchasing decisions are based on the most cost-effective options for the council and for ratepayers – regardless of whether they are Australian-made or not, to be honest. The only exception for us is we have a local garbage truck manufacturer in town (Superior Pak), so we exclusively buy their product for our garbage truck fleet.
What other big issues are facing fleet managers at the moment?
From what I can see at my council and other councils around here is the issue of funding for capital purchase. Councils in general seem to be doing it tough at the moment and Bundaberg has a limited rate base, so there is only so much in rates that council can pull in. At the same time, we have a growing community and a lot of our infrastructure is old, so we fight for every dollar we can get in fleet for our capital purchase program.
What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
I started here a week prior to amalgamation (2008). There were limited processes in place to deal with fleet management on a larger scale for an amalgamated Council. Since then the Fleet team has been able to move forward and achieve best practice standards and meet our KPI targets. Along the way we have developed a business process manual which allows us to have a consistent approach with regards to quality, safety, compliance and overall management of our fleet. We have a pretty tight system in place now. Seeing the positive results achieved by my staff and the positive feedback that they receive – that is pretty rewarding.
In the picture: Andrew Railz (centre) with Bundaberg Regional Council fleet staff.