Carroll commissioners approve purchase of four new trucks for use by roads department

The Board of Carroll County Commissioners unanimously approved the purchase of four new trucks that will help to prepare roads for inclement weather during the winter months.

The four trucks will replace vehicles that are old and costly to maintain, according to Reid Oliver, of the Bureau of Fleet Maintenance and Warehouse. The cost of the four trucks is $1.188 million; they will be delivered in about 18 months, he added.

Commissioners’ President Ed Rothstein asked whether the vehicles being replaced are in good enough condition to last more than a year.

“If one of the trucks needs an engine replacement in the near future we’ll have to go ahead and commit to that repair to get us through until the new trucks come,” Oliver said. “If it’s something that happens maybe a few months prior to the new trucks coming in, if we have the ability to, we’ll hold off on those costly repairs.”

Supply chain issues on many items, such as new vehicles, has been a problem for consumers and companies, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Rothstein questioned whether Fleet Management waited too long to order the replacement trucks.

“I don’t believe we’d be able to order anymore if we wanted to,” Oliver said. “The trucks of this caliber that we ordered in 2021, we have two of them that are just about finished being built, and one that is going to take a couple more months. We still have trucks coming in from all the way back then. But we’re doing what we can with the situation.”

The four new trucks will be used by the county’s Bureau of Roads Operations.

“These trucks allow for a wide range of services to include the transportation of stone, mulch, soil, asphalt, and other materials to and from job sites,” a county briefing document states. “Each unit will also be equipped with snowplows and salting equipment for winter weather preparations and clean up.”

Once the new fleet of trucks arrives, the four older trucks will be auctioned off.

“The dump trucks, they are tricky,” Oliver said. “It’s a very specific market. But each vehicle will be auctioned, and anyone has the ability to bid on those vehicles.”

The new fleet includes two hook lift trucks.

“The hook lift trucks will allow the Bureau of Roads to expand their road brine operations,” Oliver said. “Currently, there are only two hook lift trucks in the fleet, so having four total, one for each quadrant of the county, [will] better prepare the roads for inclement weather during the winter months.

“In addition to the vehicles, the salt brine tank and spray system is included, as well as an upper body for spreading salt, a flatbed platform, and a dumpster body for transporting various materials,” he said.

The trucks are being purchased from National Auto Fleet Group. The purchase was made through a contract that was competitively bid.

The purchase is within the current fiscal 2023 budget. The start of the fiscal 2024 budget year is July 1.