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Gaithersburg, Md. – November 19, 2007
– Mercury Associates, Inc. is working with several U.S. government
agencies on a variety of fleet management consulting projects
designed to streamline operations, increase efficiency, and reduce
the costs associated with operating and maintaining the agencies’
vehicle and equipment fleets.
Mercury and its partners have won a number of contracts for projects
that include evaluating the General Services Administration’s (GSA)
fleet size and consolidating the Department of State’s (DOS) fleet
management operations.
Here is a partial list of Mercury’s federal government clients and
the work performed for them:
Customs and Border Protection
As part of the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) annually purchases thousands of vehicles which must
be retrofitted to meet the mission of protecting U.S. borders. Under
its Logistics Worldwide GSA Master Schedule contract, Mercury was
awarded a Task Order contract to assist CBP with upfitting new
vehicles and with setting up additional vendor locations to increase
production capacity and speed the preparation of vehicles for
service.
Department of Homeland Security
Mercury Associates is providing professional management support to
the Office of Asset Management and Logistics (Personal Property)
under is Logistics Worldwide contract. Along with its partner
Defense Solutions, Inc., Mercury is delivering executive level
services on aircraft policies and procedures across all Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) bureaus.
In 2005, Mercury reviewed the vehicle allocation methodologies used
by various agencies within DHS. The combined fleet totals over
36,000 vehicles operated by DHS organizations, including the Bureau
of Customs and Border Protection; the Bureau of Immigration and
Customs Enforcement; the Transportation Security Administration; the
Secret Service; the Federal Emergency Management Agency; the Coast
Guard; the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center; the Office of
Inspector General; and Departmental headquarters.
Department of State
Mercury is facilitating and supporting consolidation of DOS’ fleet
management, including vehicles and equipment, operations, and
administration. Consolidation was a key recommendation made by
Mercury and its partner Runzheimer International following their
Agency-wide study of all DOS foreign and domestic fleet programs and
owned and leased vehicles. The goal is to ensure that State manages
its fleet more efficiently and effectively through implementing an
appropriate fleet management organization as well as policies and
tools to support its embassies and diplomatic protection services
worldwide.
To address the challenges posed by consolidation, State has created
a Fleet Working Group which will focus on broad fleet management
issues. Subcommittees of the group will tackle operational
requirements such as a fleet management information system and
updated fleet policy.
General Services Administration
Mercury is assisting GSA with right-sizing its fleet by creating an
electronic tool to determine the appropriate size of its fleet. The
effort is part of a Federal-wide initiative known as a Vehicle
Allocation Methodology (VAM). The electronic tool will require
vehicle users to justify retention of low-use vehicles or the
addition of new vehicles. The users will answers a series of
questions that are processed through proprietary algorithms
developed by Mercury to determine whether the vehicle is approved,
and if so, the type of vehicle recommended. GSA’s fleet includes
approximately 1,200 vehicles with an estimated budget of about $4.8
million. Projected GSA cost savings will be calculated at the end of
the project. Mercury's contract is in cooperation with Runzheimer
International.
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is responsible for approximately 390
parks in seven regions across the U.S. as well as the U.S. Park
Police headquartered in Washington, D.C. Working with its partner
Defense Solutions, Mercury is developing strategic fleet management
plans for the NPS regions. Mercury will identify past and present
fleet management practices and propose new management direction and
improved operational activities. Mercury and Defense Solutions will
also undertake fleet management studies for individual parks
throughout the United States. Parks for which studies have been
completed include:
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Death Valley National Park |
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Golden Gate National
Recreation Area |
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Yosemite National Park |
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Hawaii Volcanoes National
Park |
NPS’ goal is to improve overall cost-effectiveness, management, and
efficiency for its fleet of about 11,000 vehicles, not including
heavy equipment. In addition, NPS is taking action to meet
Department of the Interior requirements and Executive Orders to use
a fleet management information system, right-size its fleet through
a vehicle allocation methodology and justification protocol, and
reduce petroleum consumption.
About Mercury Associates
Mercury Associates, Inc. is the largest independent fleet management
consulting firm in North America. Founded in 2002, Mercury
consultants have provided consulting services to more than 500
private and public-sector organizations, including Fortune 500
companies such as ARAMARK, BNSF Railway, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline,
Laidlaw, and Sprint; U.S. federal government agencies including
NASA, the General Services Administration, and the departments of
Homeland Security, Interior, and State; 33 of the 50 largest cities
in the U.S., including the 10 largest, and more than half the
states. In 2006, Mercury Associates established an international
affiliate program creating a network of partners to assist it in
providing fleet management consulting services worldwide. Mercury
Associates is a U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Small Business
Administration certified small business enterprise. Headquartered in
Gaithersburg, Md., Mercury Associates has consultants located
throughout the U.S. For more information, visit
www.mercury-assoc.com.
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