Audit reveals Orange County fleet of vehicles aren’t being serviced properly

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — According to an audit done by Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond, hundreds of vehicles in Orange County’s Fleet Department- including ambulances, were not serviced on time.

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There are currently 65 ambulances on the road ready to respond in Orange County, but the audit reveals an issue with the way they’re maintained.

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“We found that a substantial number were serviced late, or some not serviced at all,” Diamond said.

Of the 484 services auditors analyzed, like oil changes, they found 94-percent of them services were done late.

According to the audit, the delayed services were the result of human error when inaccurate and untimely odometer readings were manually entered into the system.

“Without proper maintenance, these ambulances could break down traveling to or from an emergency when response is critical,” the auditors wrote in their report.

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In all, the county has approximately 4,000 vehicles in its fleet for code enforcement officers, maintenance workers, supervisors, firefighters and more.

Like any other vehicle, they need to be serviced with oil changes, new tires, and brake checks, but the audit found those weren’t being done in a timely manner either.

“For taxpayers, what that means is that people who are relying on those cars to do their jobs at the county can actually do their jobs,” Diamond said.

However, it also means it could cost taxpayers more when the cars break down, when a new car is needed to replace one that was neglected, or when that neglect leads to more costly repairs.

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According to a letter to Diamond from other county officials, it was common knowledge that there were challenges for the fleet. They said they’d already made the decision to replace their outdated information system with something more user friendly.

The audit also found that the average county vehicle is about nine years old, and about 30-percent have 100,000 miles or more on them. However, those vehicles are still considered to be safe and reliable.

“We appreciate the time and effort the auditors spent working with us through this process,” Orange County Fleet Management said in a statement included in the report. “Fleet Management is aware that we still have many challenges, but we will continue our commitment to ensure our customers have safe, productive vehicles and equipment available to service the citizens of Orange County.”

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