By Tatum Hearn
On any given day, police cruisers, fire trucks, dump trucks, utility bucket trucks, lawn mowers, and more traverse Boerne in service to our residents, visitors, and customers.
To ensure the City of Boerne runs smoothly, the equipment needs to be properly serviced and maintained, and one department comes in clutch to ensure Boerne remains an exemplary Hill Country community.
In their shop on Esser Road, you will find the Fleet Services Department team working on a wide array of equipment every single day.
“We love what we do,” Streets and Fleet Program Coordinator Mando Gaitan said. “It may seem like behind the scenes work, but it is rewarding work. This team does a great job making sure everyone is taken care of.”
Fleet Services helps safeguard more than 120 vehicles and other motorized equipment across various departments. With the equipment and vehicles being in constant use, maintenance is never ending.
While they work on all City-operated equipment, a large part of their time is spent servicing the nearly 70 fire and police emergency vehicles to make sure they are operating efficiently. From routine oil changes to making sure the radio systems are in tune and work properly, nothing gets disregarded.
Additionally, Parks and Recreation and Boerne Utilities maintain a large roster of equipment. From sharpening the blades on mowers to repairing the hose on a sewer vacuum truck, the crew at the Fleet Services Department are the ones for the job.
Their attention to detail and proper maintenance has allowed the City to get the maximum life out of its equipment, with some apparatus now more than 25 years old and still in good operational order.
On average they complete approximately 80 maintenance requests a month, with the bulk of their work being preventative maintenance requests, such as oil changes, safety equipment checks, small part replacement, state inspections, and the occasional breakdowns, all split between their small, but powerful, team of six.
“We make sure to check not only routine maintenance, but everything on those vehicles as well,” Gaitan said. “We can’t afford something to go wrong when they are en route to a scene.”
Fleet Services embodies the dedication it takes to keep the City running and operating smoothly, and residents can see their impact front and center every day. It is thanks to their hard work and dedication that our City employees have safe, reliable equipment to do their jobs.
