A new report outlining fleet overhaul says the majority of Salt Lake County's fleet will slow to a seven-year replacement cycle, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. The change is expected to reap $2.7 million in savings the first year and $27 million over the next decade. The new plan is part of reforms generated from a task force commissioned after fleet scandals rocked the county last year. County leaders vowed in the spring to reduce the size of the fleet, restrict take-home use and add hybrids, the Tribune report said. Sheriff’s and sanitation vehicles will not go to the seven-year cycle. The report said holding on to the vehicles longer is not expected to increase maintenance costs significantly. The county began the rapid-rotation plan in 1995 with the idea of buying vehicles wholesale and selling retail. But, the report said, it became "buy wholesale, sell wholesale" partly because of the costs involved preparing the vehicles for sale. By 1997, most of the used cars were sold to other government entities and large fleets and had to be discounted. It cost nearly $200 per vehicle to prepare them for sale, the report states. Also, a Fleet Management Board will be created to serve as a "check and balance" to the activities of the fleet bosses, the Tribune report said.
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