Congratulations to our member Chelan County PUD for being ranked as the 24th best-performing fleet in North America by an industry trade association.  Read their press release below:

The National Association of Fleet Administrators (NAFA) tracks more than 38,000 public fleets. It developed the 100 Best Fleets program 20 years ago to recognize the best operations among government fleets and help taxpayers better understand the value they provide.

This year was Chelan PUD’s highest ranking since making NAFA’s top-performance list four years ago. The PUD ranked 58^th in 2017, 75^th in 2018, and received an honorable mention in 2019. Judges select the winners based on 12 criteria, including accountability, use of technology, team collaboration, creativity in addressing challenges and a high-trust culture.

“We are responsible for managing and maintaining more than $50 million worth of vehicles and equipment for the PUD, including line trucks, digger derricks, cranes, tugboats, snow cats, backhoes, and much more. It’s not easy managing over 1,000 pieces of equipment for a district this size,” said Lance Knudtson, Fleet Services Supervisor.
Chelan County is the third largest county in Washington with four seasons and diverse environments, including lowland marshes, shrub steppe, forested mountains and waterways. 

“We have four administrative staff and 13 mechanics in two shifts at three shops. The hard work by amazing staff, each one doing their part to ensure the success of our fleet, earned us this award,” Knudtson said.

In the last few years, Chelan PUD became the first utility in the state to successfully test and use biodiesel which helped reduce emissions. The fleet was 45 percent below average for net fuel use and 43 percent lower than average fuel expenses last year.

The fleet also achieved 99.82% availability for its critical assets and reduced its running open work order count by 36 percent last year. Total fleet costs were 36 percent below industry average.

“Our goal is to find the sweet spot and extend the life and service of our assets for as long as possible until we need to replace it,” Knudtson said.