TDOT Announces Fleet Cutbacks

Part of Commissioner’s Plan to Make T.D.O.T. More Fiscally Respnsible

July 11, 2003

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Department of Transportation is reducing the number of state-owned vehicles used by TDOT employees across Tennessee. TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely is ordering a fleet cutback of 15 percent at all of the department’s facilities, in all four of its regions.

TDOT’s action is part of Governor Phil Bredesen’s directive, issued to all departments, to review the use of state-owned resources.

“We need to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars,” said Bredesen. “We need to make wise choices, which will ultimately keep costs under control and restore the public’s trust in state government.”

Before the Commissioner’s order, TDOT had 1,735 pickup trucks and sedans assigned to employees and regional units for use. The fifteen- percent reduction means 263 sedans and pickup trucks will be sold. That takes the fleet down to 1,472 vehicles.

“When I was appointed by Governor Bredesen to take over the management of TDOT, I was charged with making the department more efficient and more fiscally responsible. Reducing the number of cars and trucks used by our department will save state taxpayers approximately one million dollars a year. It’s one of many steps being taken within TDOT to improve the way state money is used.”

Also, before, 300 TDOT employees statewide had commuter privileges, allowing them to take the vehicles home. Now, only 255 people out of the department’s 4,500 employees will be permitted to take cars home.

Nicely adds, “We are the Department of Transportation and we need to be able to travel to many roadways at a minute’s notice when there are emergencies. We have more than 500 active construction projects working around the state at any given time, worth about $1.7 billion dollars. We are working hard to be more responsive the many needs of our drivers. But, the current strains on the state’s budget make it necessary for TDOT, like every other state agency, to streamline its operations as much as possible and I believe it’s important to be able to make this reduction where fleet usage is concerned.”