AIKEN, S.C. - The Savannah River Site (SRS) management and operations contractor has refurbished a fleet of more than 1,300 pieces of equipment without cost using novel solutions such as incorporating a “replenishment" fee into rental rates.
To keep rental rates low, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) substantially downsized the fleet, eliminating older equipment with high maintenance costs. The newly refurbished fleet led to an increase in rentals, helping stabilize the fleet budget.
“We are looking for every opportunity to deliver infrastructure services to the site as efficiently and effectively as possible," SRNS President and CEO Stuart MacVean said. “We are proud to be able to deliver a modern, reliable equipment fleet and look forward to implementing further efficiencies and innovation."
In 2013, pieces of equipment in the fleet numbered 1,348, with more than half of that total at or beyond life expectancy and more than 70 percent set to exceed life expectancy by 2016. Currently, 30 percent of the fleet is less than 3 years old. SRNS removed over 300 old items and added 164 new ones, including emergency response vehicles, cranes, bulldozers, forklifts, and generators. In fiscal year 2018, the contractor expects to purchase 21 pieces of equipment, including a new tow truck and fire pumper truck.
“An important part of this initiative has been right-sizing the fleet," said Bob Bonnett, cost accounts manager in the SRNS Portable Equipment Commodity Management Center. “We looked at which equipment was being used regularly and which pieces were not, allowing us to remove excess equipment from our inventory and focus on replenishment and replacement of equipment that is most in demand."
The use rate for the fleet is more than 88 percent, exceeding goals DOE set for SRNS.
SRNS is working to upgrade the site’s crane fleet.
“We’re going to follow the same successful model we have with the rest of our equipment fleet, right-sizing the fleet based on usage and putting a fee in place to fund replenishment," Bonnett said. “We are also looking at the possibility of exchanging several of our older, rarely used cranes for a single new one, without money changing hands."
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
