ACQUISITION OF VEHICLES - 4120

Overview

Purchase of State vehicles will be made by consolidation of agency annual requirements in order to affect savings by volume buying. See Government Code Section 14615 and Public Contract Code Section 10308. In addition, Government Code Section 13332.09 provides that:

"No purchase order or other form of documentation for acquisition or replacement of motor vehicles shall be issued against any appropriation until the Department of General Services has investigated and established the necessity therefor. No surplus mobile equipment may be acquired from any source by any State agency for program support until the Department of General Services has investigated and established the need therefor."

The Department of General Service, Office of Fleet and Asset Management (OFAM) are eliminating the use of the Vehicle Acquisition Request Form (OFA 160); state departments will no longer submit individual fleet acquisition request to OFAM. This policy applies to all emergency and non-emergency vehicles and mobile equipment, henceforth referred to as fleet assets.

Beginning in Fiscal Year (FY) 2012-13, state departments are required to submit an electronic Fleet Acquisition Plan (FAP) to OFAM each fiscal year for all new and/or all existing asset replacement needs that have not been previously approved by OFAM. The plan should include any long-term rentals or leases of fleet assets. The FAP contains the documents listed below which must all be included to be considered a complete (FAP). An electronic copy of the FAP documents below can be found at the DGS website located at FAP Documents:

1. Fleet Acquisition Plan Narrative
2. Fleet Acquisition Plan Spreadsheet
3. Fleet Acquisition Certification
4. Other Supporting Documents, as applicable
5. Fire Truck Questionnaire (Addendum A), as applicable

Fleet Acquisition Plan Narrative
OFAM has created a written narrative format that must be followed. It outlines vital areas that are necessary in order to ensure that the planned acquisitions comply with existing policy and other requirements.

Fleet Acquisition Plan Spreadsheet

The Excel spreadsheet created by OFAM includes the line item detail of each planned new or replacement asset including justification for the need to add or replace an asset. Fleet replacement requests will be analyzed by applying utilization metrics to vehicle utilization data retrieved from the Fleet Asset Management System.

Fleet Acquisition Certification
This certification is required by Public Contract Code Section 10295.2(a) and Executive Order (EO) B-2-11. The certification must be signed by the department Director or the Chief Deputy Director. If there is no Director or Chief Deputy Director within the state entity, the signature shall be by the highest level of the executive staff within the applicable state entity. Designees are not acceptable. If the state entity reports to an Agency, the certification must also be signed by the Agency Secretary or authorized designee. The certification shall include the date, title, and signature of the person(s) authorizing the acquisition. The Director of DGS must approve all such purchases, subject to review by the Secretary of Government Operations Agency.

Other Supporting Documents
Departments should include with their request other documentation if it helps justify the acquisition. For example, if additional fleet assets are being requested that increase the size of the department’s fleet baseline, supporting documentation must be provided to substantiate the request for additional fleet assets.  Such documentation may include, but is not limited to, a copy of an authorized budget change proposal, a Governor’s budget line item, or other documentation supporting an increase in staffing or workload corresponding with the need for additional fleet assets.

Fire Truck Questionnaire (as applicable)
This questionnaire requests additional supporting information and is required for the purchase of fire engines.

Due Dates:

Electronic copies of the FAP and all required applicable documents must be submitted to OFAM, via email to the department’s assigned FAMS analyst, on or after the first day of the fiscal year (July 1) for which the FAP is being submitted and no later than:

• First business day of February for one-time-buy acquisitions (Purchase Estimate Form STD. 66 and STD. 66A);
• First business day of April for master vehicle contract acquisitions, donations, and long-term rental/lease acquisitions.