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Win-Win Program

130 regional government agencies are saving money through King County’s Fleet Services Win-Win Program.

Your organization can save too! Learn how much.

More than 130 regional government agencies, including municipalities, sewer and fire districts, housing authorities, libraries, and law enforcement, use the award-winning King County Fleet Administration Division for their fleet services.

Why are these agencies coming to King County rather than doing it on their own?

The answer is simple: they get better, faster, and more cost-effective fleet services from King County.

An astounding 97.5 percent of the participating government entities gave the King County program high marks in a recent survey. The list of satisfied customers also helps explain why the number of government entities participating in the program keeps growing. Between 1999 and 2004, the number of government agencies using King County Fleet Services increased by 115 percent; and over the past five years 67 agencies joined the program.

King County Fleet Services: unparalleled experience

Whether your agency owns, leases, or rents one vehicle or dozens, whether you need a highway flare or giant off-road construction equipment, no matter what your fleet size or need, King County Fleet Services’ Win-Win Program can help your agency save money.

The King County Fleet Administration Division manages the acquisition, maintenance, replacement, and disposal of more than 3,000 diverse vehicles and equipment and accounts for $2 billion in personal property (non-real estate assets). Government organizations in the program currently lease more than 650 vehicles and buy thousands of supply items annually from King County at significant savings.

Benefits to participating agencies

Participating agencies get the exact vehicles and equipment they need, plus expert advice and services, for less money than if they tried to do it themselves. At the same time they slash operating costs, because King County provides the personnel, administrative services, accounting, warehousing, maintenance services, and routine repairs at cost (plus a share of overhead). Government agencies and the public can purchase surplus items at our monthly auction. We advertise specialty items on eBay and the dates of the auction in local newspapers.

Any municipality or government agency can enjoy these and other benefits by becoming a participant in the Win-Win Program.

Savings up to $4,000 per vendor

For example, an agency can save up to $4,000 per vendor when it buys fleet related products through King County’s one-stop shopping and one-point billing service. You tell us what products you need; chances are we already have it in stock. We conduct price comparison shopping for all our products to ensure that we purchase the best products for the lowest possible prices. And you’re assured of receiving the absolute lowest competitive prices from our practice of taking advantage of early payment discounts and from bulk purchases.

In addition, the Win-Win Program conforms completely with all federal, state, and county purchasing requirements. All participating agencies have to do is write one work order and one check to purchase multiple items from multiple vendors.

Other cost-savings available

Here are some other cost-saving services King County Fleet Services can provide:

• Auction of surplus vehicles. This service reduces administrative costs to all participants. The pooling of auction items also creates an opportunity to obtain higher prices in a competitive bid environment because staging inventory from participating agencies in a central location attracts more buyers. (This is permissible under Washington State law.)
• Piggyback on vehicle and equipment purchases. This eliminates time writing specifications, conducting pre-bid conferences, and awarding contracts, a process that can take as much as 60 days from drafting specifications to awarding the bid.
• Installation of various types of auxiliary equipment on vehicles at competitive prices.
• Vehicle maintenance at the lowest competitive prices. This service allows agencies to forgo building their own facilities, hiring staff, and incurring all of the overhead and expenses associated with service and repair.
• Provide fuel, including alternative fuel facilities. King County purchases fuel in bulk, so it is cheaper than commercial vendors. Agencies with alternative fuel vehicles do not have to incur the cost of purchasing and installing their own facilities. Fuels available include:
  • Compressed natural gas (CNG)
  • Liquid propane gas (LPG)
  • Unleaded gasoline
  • Diesel
• Emergency preparedness supplies. King County stocks emergency supplies that agencies can purchase without going through the bid process.
• One-stop shopping for more than 6,000 items ranging from street signs and construction materials, such as pipes and culvert, to general supplies, such as paints, protective clothing, and automotive parts and supplies. Agencies can reduce their procurement costs by billing with a single monthly invoice and paying for their items with a single check. It can save up to $4,000 per bid by not having to go through the procurement process for each solicitation, which can take as long as 60 days from drafting specifications to awarding the bid.
• Provide project accounting of all materials, parts, and supplies at the point of sale.
• Deliver rental cars at the lowest vehicle rental rates of all commercial and public sector agencies through an online vehicle rental reservation system and 24-hour access.
• Implement a state-of-the-art fuel management system to monitor fuel consumption and identify fuel usage irregularities.
• Provide a fleet user guide with information about fleet services and how to access them.

How King County benefits

King County benefits from the relationship with other government agencies as well. For starters, King County saves on overhead by sharing costs with other government agencies. We have an experienced workforce and operating facilities, and maximize economies of scale in terms of purchasing and operations efficiencies.

For example, Fleet Administration recently added a second maintenance shift so that vehicles can be serviced during off hours; that increases customer productivity and convenience and increases vehicle availability. Also new vehicle preparation is now centralized at one location, reducing ferrying costs and resulting in a faster turn-around for vehicles entering service.

In-house factory warranty service

In addition, Fleet Administration has been certified by Ford, General Motors, Daimler-Chrysler and others to operate manufacturer in-house warranty programs for maintenance and repair of vehicles. The ability to do our own maintenance work instead of contracting out to dealers reduces the turnaround time for returning a vehicle to service from the typical three days to just one day.

As a result of implementing these innovative practices, King County’s average vehicle maintenance cost over five years has decreased by 1.48 percent; during the same period, inflation exceeded 10 percent.

Awards and honors received

This record of innovation and excellence has not gone unnoticed. Fleet Services has recently been awarded the following honors:

• Recipient of Business Week Magazine and the National Association of Fleet Administrators Award for "Quality Fleet Management Ideas and Practices".
• Recipient of the ASE "Blue Seal" Certified Shop—the highest award from the automotive industry for service excellence.
• Recognition as one of the 100 Best Fleets in North America, from among 90,000, by Utility Fleet Management Magazine.
• Recognition by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as Co-Recipient of the Wastewise Award.
• Recipient of the Enviro Star Award 5 Star Rating—the highest rating given to businesses and agencies in recognizing commitment to preventing pollution and reducing hazardous waste.
• Recipient of the Larry Goill and National Association of Fleet Administrators Awards for regional partnership.
• Recipient of the National Association of Counties Award for "Quality and Efficiency in Fleet Management".
• Selected as Lead Agency for the National Consortium for Hybrid Vehicles to lead public agencies to procure hybrid electric vehicles.

How to participate in the program

Participation in King County’s Win-Win Program is open to all government entities in geographical proximity to Seattle. To enroll or learn more about the program you may contact the following individuals:

Fleet Stores: Marian Honeysuckle, 206-296-8160
Vehicle Maintenance: Bob Toppen, 206-296-8159
Surplus Property Auction: Russ Johnson, 206-263-6263

King County Fleet Administration Division
201 S. Jackson Street, Room 822
Seattle, Washington 98104
Windell T. Mitchell, Division Director

Last update: November 19, 2007