I’ve been predicting for quite a while that gasoline prices would soar, and after fueling up my POV on Monday, I’m feeling pretty confident about that prognostication. Here’s a screen shot from one of the City traffic cameras, at 70th and Adams Street yesterday afternoon.
Rising gas prices have a big impact on the police department. Fuel is the second-largest line in the budget, right after salaries. In anticipation of this trend, we’ve been engaged in a number of strategies to reduce our fuel usage, and for the most part, I’m pretty happy with the results. In 2004, our fleet was averaging 11 MPG. In 2010, it hit 13.1 MPG. When you drive 2.5 million miles annually, that’s a lot of unleaded.
It is very important for us to use our fuel wisely: to minimize unnecessary idling, to concentrate our patrol work where and when it does the most good, to cultivate a more fuel efficient fleet, and to implement strategies that address problems effectively without burning much fuel. This problem isn’t going away any time soon, and the price at the pump will bite hard if we aren’t careful.
26 comments:
I don't have to buy gas.
get some horses.
Chief,
With the limits on high-speed chases, is there really even a need to have cruizers "beefed up" with the big police-interceptor engines anymore? Couldn't the entire mobile force be tweaked down to the 4cyl. & hybrid engines to be more fuel effecient?
Thanks!
Do you think we're going to see an increase in driveoffs from the pump?
While it doesn't change the fact that this increase is affect many people's bottom line, perhaps it's a good thing to keep things into focus.
The United States has some of the cheapest gas in the world. Here in South Korea the figure stands at roughly $6.50 a gallon.
Funny thing is that people still think driving is more convenient than taking the subway or bus (even though it usually takes way longer).
People are getting scared...but my guess is that it won't change behavior all that much...the adaptability of the mind is a powerful tool for apathy. :)
have you thought about going greener with natural gas now that there is going to be a pump station constructed in airpark? NGV is safer, puts out less pollutants, is domestically produced, and right now it's about a dollar per gallon cheaper than gasoline and if the pump station is too far away i'm sure you could get something rigged up(Phill system?) at each of the local precincts
Your department is using a couple of hybrid's on patrol, how are those working out?
9:16-
High unlikely since more and more stations are requiring payment up front prior to pumping. JIMO.
Seems like for lots of cops big engines are an ego thing. Fuel economy is an after thought.
Anon 9:04 is spot on. I think the Chief realizes this but a lot of other agencies don't and are still back in the old days.
Chief,
Maybe you should check in to converting some of the vehicles over to Liquid Natural gas. There was an article in the news recently about the Lincoln Airport Authority installing a filling station at the airport and making it available to the public. The costs would be substantial because the equivalent amount to a gallon of gas is just over $2.??. I have driven vehicles converted to the liquid fuel and in warm weather they do great. Starting on super cold days in the Winter time is a bit of a hassle but block heaters would solve that issue.
Gun Nut
Chief-Due to past blogs, I understand your strategy, and also the position you are in due to Ford not making the Crown Vic anymore. I actually think 13.1 avg. mpg is pretty good considering the amount of time police cars are forced to sit idling getting 0 mpg whether they are a V-8 or a hybrid.
256
How much use is made of the segways that the NE team got a few years back? are they being used in any way to save gas - patrol on the bar strip, patrolling city parks after hours etc..?
When will hijaking fuel trucks begin?
Chief,
I found a link to a video on You Tube that might maximize your departments enforcement efforts. I am not sure how cost effective it would be but there is a summary at the tail end of the video with more info.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2xnWYx8YK8&feature=player_embedded
Gun Nut
Chief-What is the extra cost involved in going to a hybrid or natural gas vehicle? Is there a true savings when you factor this into your fleet pricing?
What does it cost when the hybrid mechanicals go bad and need to be replaced? The cars you currently utilize have relatively low maintainence costs. There are plenty of them running around as Chicago cabs with 300,000 miles on them. That is because they are "beefed-up" as one of your posters pointed out. Not for speed necessarily, because high-speed chases are non-existent, but with heavy duty brakes, shocks, seating, alternators, etc. because they are not used like an everyday passenger car. I understand the environmental value of using a hybrid as a passenger vehicle.You need vehicles in your fleet that are designed to take a pounding 24 hours per day, and then be serviced cheaply and efficiently. I like the strategy you use of having hybrids/compacts for some of your fleet. But people also need to realize that police-specific vehicles are designed to do the work and are a fact of life, regardless of the gas mileage. And, you buy them and maintain them at a great cost savings in the long run.
256
9:46-
So far pretty good, but they are in moderate-duty assignments. 256 lays out the issue well, and I don't think we wil have very many of these in the marked patrol fleet.
9:29-
We have one. It gets used primarily around the Nebraska Wesleyan campus. As I'm sure you realize, it is a fair weather machine.
Gun Nut-
Great video. Loved it. Good thing that wasn't a CNG-fueled car, or the narrator might have singed a little hair.
256-
Precisely. I think the consumer-hybrid has a small but limited role. I believe that urban police fleets around the country in five years will be Impalas, Chargers, and Tauruses with V-6 engines, with a smattering of hybrid and gas SUVs.
Off this subject, did you see the political cartoon in last Sunday's paper pertaining to police and fire. It could be taken 2 ways, very very bad or poke at the public. What do you think? Can you post the cartoon on your blog for all to see. I be it will get LOTS of reaction!
6:49-
Yes I saw it. I thought the cartoonist was simply pointing out the irony of some people who are strong supporters of the police through one corner of their mouth, while complaining about their compensation and retirement benefits out of the other.
I am neither a member of the bargainning unit or the police retirement plan, but I can assure you that our officers earn their wages fair and square, as well as their modest retirement. With 62% of your base salary after 25 years of service, a fixed income with no COLA and no Social Security, you'll need to start a second career after LPD.
I realize that there are some cities and departments with far sweeter deals--lower ages and years of service, percentage payouts spiked by overtime, post-employment health insurance contributions, liberal cost of living increases--but none of that is the case in Lincoln.
TI think the Taurus PI with AWD and the "EcoBoost" 380HP 3.5L V6 is rated at 17/25, which isn't bad as regular-duty police cars go. As far as the drivetrain and chassis go, it seems to be an SHO with police goodies.
The CVPI RWD was rated at 15/23, so the Taurus wouldn't give a huge boost in mpg, but 2 more mpg is better than nothing. Needless to say, there would be fewer AWD Taurus PIs getting stuck or needing chains when it starts snowing.
Chief-As a public entity, do you have to pay the gas tax? It would seem silly to me to pay a tax with tax dollars. Our unleaded is 25 cents cheaper. I think it relates to the tax rates for a portion of the difference.
256
When will hijaking fuel trucks begin?"
That's not a problem in the UK, where petrol is more than 2x our price. What makes you think it's going to be a problem here? Was it a problem here in late 2008, when gas prices were higher than they are now?
10:21-
Two MPG is a huge amount of money when you drive 2.5 million miles a year.
256-
We pay the Federal but not the State tax. Or is it the other way around? One or the other, I can never keep it straight and always have to check.
Clean diesels like the VW Jetta get comparable mileage to Hybrids but avoid the rare earth elements contained in the hybrid batteries and controls. The future is not electric or hybrid it is bio diesel from algae. There aren't enough rare earth minerals to sustain electric/hybrid production, it's a flash in the pan.
8:01-
Clean diesel (like CNG) is a possibility in the future of police fleets. You need only look at Europe to get a glimpse of what police cars are likely to look like in America's future.
VW Jetta TDI? That would be stylin'!
It's purely coincidental that there was a knife assault at this location just two days later. Best wishes to the victim for a complete recovery. I don't suppose the camera just happened to capture that assault on a recording, did it?
Chief:
What are your thoughts on the diesel-powered Carbon Motors police car that toured Nebraska last year?
http://www.carbonmotors.com/
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