Columbia County is excited to share that our Fleet Services department received the Southeast Governmental Fleet Managers Association’s (SGFMA) Award for Quality Fleet Management during their Annual Meeting on September 15, 2021.

Each year at the Annual Meeting, SGFMA presents the award for Quality Fleet Management based on a department’s accomplishments and judged on originality, innovation, effectiveness, and applicability in their specific area. It is based on an organization’s top four initiatives over the past year; however, since SGFMA did not hold their Annual Meeting in 2020, the award for this year consisted of the past two years. Columbia County Fleet Services was judged based on the following four initiatives:

1. Joint effort with Columbia County Emergency Management Agency, Fire Rescue, and Water Utility to secure grants for two new stationary generators and six new portable generators. The county was approved for all eight generators requested.

2. Partnership with Columbia County Sheriff’s Office Training Division to develop, design, and modify training cars for their new training track. This included installing roll cages and other safety devices.

3. Addition of new technology for diagnosis, repair, and programming of county vehicles. Fleet Services now has the Cummins Insight, Diesel laptops, Bosch HD for heavy duty vehicles and equipment repairs. For light vehicles, Fleet has added programming through Autel, HP Turners and Bosch. With the new technology, Fleet has added numerous ASE certifications and EVT certifications.

4. Joint effort with the Columbia County Internal Services Division and County Administration to host the inaugural Columbia County Auto Skills Competition. The competition included twenty-seven student participants from three local high school automotive programs. The students competed at Fleet Services in three levels; beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Thanks to business partners, students competed for their part of more than $5,000 in cash prizes and more than $5,000 in tools.

Nick Hayes, Director of Fleet Services, states “The accomplishments within Fleet Services is the result of a team effort. Without the dedication of each employee, we would not be able to provide the level of support needed to service, repair, and maintain county vehicles and equipment. I am proud of the way each person brings their own unique skill set to the table to help us be innovative, effective and efficient.”

The SGFMA was established in 1993 in South Carolina. In 2005, they expanded to include the entire southeast, and the association currently has over 950 members in six states.

Congratulations to the entire Fleet Services team (pictured below).