Chad Stone, fleet services administrator, told the City Council at the Sept. 29 work session that Fleet Services is responsible for “over 1,300 pieces of equipment” and that the city currently staffs 26 mechanics to maintain that fleet.

Stone said 83 percent of the fleet relies on unleaded or diesel fuel, 4 percent is hybrid and 2 percent electric, and that the city plans to increase hybrid vehicle purchases next year. “We will be adding an additional 26 hybrid vehicles this next year,” Stone said, projecting a total of 76 hybrid vehicles by the end of fiscal year 2026.

Stone framed the city’s vehicle‑fuel transition around three constraints: cost, vehicle characteristics and availability through the Department of Administrative Services cooperative contracts. He said hybrid vehicles often carry a lower total cost of ownership than pure electric vehicles in the city’s analysis and that some high‑use police applications led the department to prioritize hybrid interceptors. “If we can make a customer like that happy, then that speaks volumes to the quality of the hybrid vehicles,” he said, referring to the Des Moines Police Department’s early adoption of hybrids.

The fleet presentation included short‑term steps staff have taken and near‑term issues to address: quarterly contracting for fuel to exploit lower prices; a biodiesel supply line at one fueling site that freezes in winter and limits biodiesel use; and a lifecycle replacement process that weighs department needs, budget availability and alternative‑fuel options. Stone said recent procurement changes yielded estimated cost avoidance of more than $100,000 this fiscal year by moving to quarterly fuel contracting.

Recruiting and workforce retention was a major focus. Stone presented projected attrition that will remove decades of institutional vehicle‑maintenance experience in the next five to ten years and described outreach to DMACC and local technical programs to attract new technicians. He said the fleet shop recently hosted classes and career fairs and that the city used temporary hires from DMACC while two mechanics were on limited duty.

Stone reported progress on emissions and fuel diversification: hybrids increased from 40 in 2019 to 50 at the end of FY25 and electric vehicles grew from 1 to 29 in the same period; biodiesel comprised 14 percent of diesel consumption in the presented calendar‑year data. He quantified avoided emissions from fuel diversification and hybrid adoption at almost 1,300 metric tons of CO2e — equivalent, Stone said, to removing 289 gasoline vehicles operating for one year.

Council members asked for the fleet’s cost‑of‑ownership spreadsheets and for annualized fuel‑savings metrics; Stone agreed to provide the ownership and fuel‑savings analyses. No formal votes or procurement decisions were made at the session; staff described ongoing evaluation criteria for vehicle replacement and said future purchases will be based on departmental use cases, DAS availability and total lifecycle cost.

Stone closed by listing priorities for FY26: expand hybrid purchases where appropriate, continue biodiesel and alternative‑fuel testing while fixing fueling infrastructure constraints, implement quarterly fuel contracting, and amplify local recruitment and apprenticeship efforts to address a projected technician shortage.