Study Scope and Objectives

The most common reasons cited for outsourcing and/or privatization by state DOTs are cost-cutting, improved service quality, lack of resources, and lack of specific skills or expertise. The resources freed up through outsourcing and/or privatization may be diverted to other critical activities within the DOT. In a competitive environment, the profit motive and the opportunity to secure future contracts are sufficient motivation for the private-sector vendors to maximize performance, improve efficiency, and deliver quality service in a cost-effective manner. Vehicle and equipment maintenance are among the services that are typically not considered core or mission-critical, and are ideal candidates for further evaluation.

Because of growing demands and resource limitations on vehicle and equipment fleet maintenance, state DOTs often consider the outsourcing and/or privatization of these services. However, these decisions largely depend on fleet size, vehicle mix, and equipment type, and are influenced by cost-effectiveness, timeliness, and external market conditions. Also, state DOTs can implement outsourcing and privatization in a variety of forms with different levels of agency involvement, such as outsourcing statewide or regional activities and selected outsourcing of specific activities, and with different levels of responsibility for quality control and assurance. Currently, there is no widely accepted process for evaluating the alternatives for outsourcing vehicle and equipment fleet maintenance.

NCHRP Project 13-03A was intended to develop a logical and systematic decision-making framework and process to address the various plausible scenarios in which fleet maintenance outsourcing and privatization decisions should be considered. The resulting decision framework and process addresses the following:

• Various levels, scopes, and scenarios of outsourcing and privatization,

• Performance and quality assurance issues,

• Level of agency involvement and/or delegation,

• Various fleet compositions and existing resources,

• Local and regional operating imperatives,

• Procurement policy and rules extant, and

• Local and regional service markets.