01.01 This UPPS establishes guidelines for
University Fleet vehicle acquisition, use and maintenance as required by the
State Vehicle Fleet Management Plan (SVFMP) administered by the State Office of
Vehicle Fleet Management (SOVFM).
02.01 University Fleet – All university-owned
vehicles used by its faculty, staff, and students. This includes vehicles
maintained with state appropriated funds, regardless of origin of purchase
funds or ownership.
02.02 Rental Vehicle – A vehicle rented daily or leased
long-term from a commercial entity.
02.03 Fleet Manager and Office of Fleet Management
(OFM) – The Director of Facilities Management in the Facilities Department will
serve as the university's designated Fleet Manager.
03.01 Related policy statements pertaining to the
procurement, use, and maintenance of university vehicles include:
- UPPS No.
05.02.02, Texas State University Purchasing Policy
- UPPS No.
05.05.02, Driver Selection (establishes eligibility of employees to drive
state-owned university vehicles)
- FSS/PPS No. 04.05.04,
Alcohol and Drug Testing for Employers with Commercial Driver's License
- FSS/PPS No. 04.05.05,
Driving Safety Policy
04.01 Policy Application
a. The State Vehicle Fleet Management Plan
states the following:
For
institutions of higher education, the determination of fleet size (04.02),
disposal of excess vehicles (06.03), minimum use criteria (04.04), and the
state fleet consolidation requirement (04.04) apply only to vehicles purchased
with appropriated funds.
b. All other sections of this UPPS apply to all
university fleet vehicles.
04.02 Fleet Cap – The university will add new vehicles
only to meet legislative mandates, federal program initiatives, and documented
need resulting from program growth or changes and will abide by all other SOVFM
rules and restrictions regarding fleet size and purchasing. Departments
requesting increases in the university fleet cap should submit requests and
supporting documentation through their vice president prior to forwarding to
OFM.
04.03 Vehicle Acquisition Decisions – To reduce the
total cost of fleet operations by making informed vehicle acquisition
decisions:
a. Departments should use commercial leases to
acquire rental vehicles rather than maintain a fleet for departmental use,
where cost effective.
b. Employees should use purchase orders or a
state-issued (travel) credit card to rent vehicles. If using a different
payment method, the university’s insurance will not cover the employee who must
pay for the rental car insurance directly, and may not receive reimbursement.
04.04 Fleet Consolidation – The university will
conform to the state-mandated fleet consolidation policy and fleet minimum use
criteria where appropriate for the vehicle use activity. The Fleet Manager will
file applicable written justification for vehicles not meeting the following
minimum criteria:
- 2,750 miles every 3 months
-
11,000
miles annually
Fleet
consolidation policy for vehicles with a manufacturer's Gross Vehicle Weight
Rating (GVWR) of less than 8600 pounds:
a. The OFM will document vehicles falling below
the state minimum mileage and prepare the required information, in consultation
with the department head assigned the vehicle, for reporting to the SOVFM.
b. Assigning a vehicle to an individual
administrative head on a regular or daily basis requires submission of written
justification to the OFM and approval of the President. OFM reports approvals
to the SOVFM annually.
c. The department will pool all vehicles not
assigned to staff employees requiring regular daily use of vehicles for their
duties, for use by all employees in that department.
d. The OFM requires documentation of all pooled
vehicles.
e. Departments will forward the names of all
employees assigned to vehicles for daily use to the OFM.
04.05 Vehicle Replacement Schedule – The following
table details the replacement goals for vehicles by type. Available funding
will determine vehicle replacement.
Vehicle Type Purpose Replacement Goals________________________________________________________ Age MileageSedans and Staff or client 6 years 100,000wagons transport Light Basic transport 6 years 100,000trucks/SUV Light hauling Passenger Staff or client 6 years 100,000vans transport Cargo Vans Cargo hauling 8 years 100,000
Specialized equipment, such as heavy
highway construction equipment or vehicles rated at over 8600 pounds GVWR, do
not fall under any of the above categories. Other criteria, such as hours in
service or age may make such equipment eligible for replacement.
05. FLEET
MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES
05.01 Fleet
Manager – The Fleet Manager may curtail department or individual use for
vehicle misuse or for failure to comply with any of the requirements of this
UPPS. The Fleet Manager will:
a. review
and approve vehicle purchasing decisions;
b. review
and approve vehicle replacement decisions;
c. review and approve maintenance decisions;
d. review
and approve repair decisions;
e. review
and approve vehicle assignment to university departments;
f. review
and approve vehicle disposal decisions;
g. manage
university vehicle fuel contracts to ensure utilization of state contracts for
designated purposes and fleet fueling card acquisition and management;
h. control
university fuel purchase, restricting all vehicles to regular unleaded fuel
only, E-85 (ethanol), diesel, propane or other approved alternate fuel;
i. review
reported inappropriate state vehicles use and inform the accused department of
such reports;
j. obtain
fleet insurance cards and provide fleet insurance policy cards for all
vehicles;
k. report
vehicle accidents to Environmental Health, Safety and Risk Management Office
and disburse insurance proceeds for vehicle repairs; and
l. submit
fleet reports to the SOVFM as required.
05.02 Environmental
Health, Safety and Risk Management Office:
a. Monitors
the fleet insurance contract and purchases insurance for all university
vehicles.
b. Reports
accidents to the fleet insurance carrier.
05.03 Associate
Vice President, Financial Services – Administers acquisition of state vehicle
titles and license plates.
05.04 Materials
Management – Requests insurance and title acquisition from the above offices
upon delivery of vehicles purchased.
05.05 Account
manager and department head - Account managers and department heads must:
a. follow
all policies and procedures outlined in this UPPS;
b. review
every driver's Department of Public Safety (DPS) driving record annually (UPPS No.
05.05.02);
c. submit
requests on the form available from the OFM for new driver approval within two
weeks of hire or thirty days prior to operating a vehicle (UPPS No. 05.05.02);
d. confirm
that drivers meet the vehicle operating requirement in FSS/PPS 04.05.04,
Alcohol and Drug Testing for Employees with Commercial Driver's License;
e. ensure
that staff assigned vehicles provide the OFM monthly mileage logs and receipts
by the fifth of each month;
f. ensure
that staff assigned vehicles or their designee deliver all vehicles, on the
date assigned, for preventive maintenance to the Facilities' garage or notify
the garage (5-2831) and make arrangements for delivery on an alternative date;
g. ensure
that all vehicle accidents are promptly reported to the OFM as prescribed in FSS/PPS 04.05.05, Driving
Safety Policy; and
h. report
to the OFM vehicles assigned to individual drivers and document vehicles pooled
by the department prior to September 30th of each fiscal year.
05.06 Vehicle
Drivers – Authorized drivers of university vehicles must:
a. follow
the requirements for vehicle inspections as prescribed in FSS/PPS 04.05.05,
Driving Safety Policy;
b. maintain
the vehicle logbook and submit the mileage report to the account manager
monthly;
c. load
passengers and materials in a secure manner and ensure the vehicle is not
loaded above vehicle capacity;
d. use
regular fuel, unless otherwise instructed by the OFM;
e. report
any traffic citations received in a university vehicle to the OFM; and
f. report
every accident in which they are involved when driving a university vehicle as
prescribed in FSS/PPS
04.05.05, Driving Safety Policy. The OFM should receive accident reports
immediately after all accidents.
06.01 Authorized
Use of a University Vehicle. The following items regulate and limit the use of
university vehicles:
a. University
employees – Any university employee may use a university vehicle provided they
qualify under UPPS
No. 05.05.02, Driver Selection.
b. Students
– All university work program students may drive a university vehicle if they
qualify under UPPS
No. 05.05.02, Driver Selection. Students not employed by the university
must file an Automobile Use Release and Indemnity Agreement with their account
manager prior to driving a university vehicle.
c. Individuals
may use university vehicles for official university business only and drivers
must comply with Texas Government Code §2203.001 (e):
A
person commits an offense if the person does not file a report [mileage log filed monthly with the account
manager, per Section 05.05] as required by this section on or before the
tenth day after the date on which the person uses the vehicle. An offense under
this subsection is punishable by a fine of not less than $5 nor more than $100
dollars.
d. Individuals
may not use university vehicles for travel outside the continental boundaries
of the United States without prior approval of the OFM. Such travel requires special insurance and
documentation. Account managers must contact the OFM three weeks prior to the
departure date to obtain the required documentation.
e. Employees
may not use university vehicles for transportation to and from their home or to
lunch.
06.02 Acquisition
and Receipt of Vehicles
a. Departments
seeking to order vehicles must submit the written justification for the
purchase, including a cost benefit analysis comparing purchase to leasing or
spot rental of a vehicle, the name of the person assigned the vehicle and an
estimate of the annual mileage to the OFM.
Departments should use Attachment
I, Request for New Vehicle. The OFM will process all approved requests and
obtain purchase price or bids prior to issuing the approval of the acquisition.
1) The
U.S. Department of Energy has levied alternate fuel requirements for state
agencies with fleets of twenty or more vehicles, requiring that alternate fuel
capable vehicles make up 75% of general purpose vehicles (those under 8600
pounds GVWR) purchased in any given model year. The DoE also mandated that the
alternate fuel be used if it is available. Texas State uses E-85 or propane.
The OFM will determine the distribution of non-alternative fuel vehicle quotas
for the university.
b. All
purchase orders for vehicles must include the following statement: "Ship
to Central Receiving." The Materials Management Department at the Central
Warehouse will receive new vehicles and hold them until the Office of the
Associate Vice President for Financial Services processes the title and the
Environmental Health, Safety and Risk Management Office obtains insurance.
Materials Management will deliver vehicles to the OFM for decaling, numbering,
and final processing.
06.03 Vehicle
Disposal – UPPS
No. 05.01.02, University Surplus Property (Equipment and Consumable
Supplies) states the manner in which to dispose of vehicles. The Facilities Department will prepare
vehicles to ensure the maximum sale price.
06.04 Vehicle
Maintenance
a. The
OFM must service all vehicles unless alternative service methods are approved
in writing. 1) OFM provides service to all Education and General (E&G)
funded Facilities’ Sections and to Materials Management at no cost. 2) OFM will
charge all other departments for service, maintenance and repairs.
b. All
university departments, including those approved to service vehicles at
alternative locations, and personnel assigned fleet vehicles must report all
vehicle-related activities monthly.
c. The
OFM will maintain a preventive maintenance schedule for all vehicles serviced
through the Facilities' fleet maintenance shop and will provide scheduled
services to those vehicles.
d. The
OFM will maintain warranty information on all vehicles and coordinate all
warranty service required during the life of each vehicle warranty. Departments
will inform the OFM of needed service during the warranty period.
e. The
OFM will maintain maintenance and usage records on all vehicles owned by the
university and report this information to the SOVFM as prescribed in the State
Vehicle Fleet Management Plan.
07.01 Reviewers
of this UPPS include the following:
Position Date
Director,
Facilities Management June 1
E4Y
Director,
Purchasing June
1 E4Y
Director,
Environmental Health, June 1
E4Y
Safety,
and Risk Management
University
Attorney June
1 E4Y
This UPPS has been approved by the
following individuals in their official capacities and represents Texas State
policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded.
Director, Facilities Management;
senior reviewer of this UPPS
Associate Vice President for
Facilities
Vice President for Finance and Support
Services
President