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Houston Fleet Manager Saves City Big Money

Fleet manager helps city prepare for next disaster by buying fleet fueling trucks for $500 each.

by Staff
December 29, 2005
1 min to read


The city of Houston has cut a money-saving deal that will help them cope with the next big storm after learning the lessons from Hurricane Rita. The city was able to purchase a fleet of fuel tanker trucks for $500 each, according to a KHOU Channel 11 News report. They usually cost $90,000. During Hurricane Rita, the city had only one 5,000-gallon truck to fuel its police cars, fire engines and city vehicles. To prepare for the next disaster, the city decided to buy more. Carl Bowker, the public works fleet manager and a former Army logistics expert, worked a deal to buy old military fuel vehicles. Bowker told KHOU he paid only a $500 administrative fee for a $90,000 truck. The city bought trailers as well for the same fee. Those usually run around $20,000 to $25,000 a piece, Bowker said. Houston got more than a half-million dollars worth of gasoline tankers for about $7,500. The city figures it'll spend about $2,000 each getting them ready for the next disaster.

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