Keeping Public Power Rolling

Fleet management looked quite a bit different when Mike Donahue first walked through Omaha Public Power District’s doors in the early 1990s. For starters, much of the technology integral to today’s fleet operations simply did not exist yet.

Now, almost 35 years later, Donahue has borne witness to – and helped to lead – one of the most transformational periods in utility fleet management history. He currently manages the OPPD fleet, overseeing approximately 1,350 capital assets and 60 employees.

“Our responsibility is providing safe, reliable, available, capable, sustainable and suitable fleet assets to the organization so OPPD can perform the critical work necessary to provide the critical product – electricity – to our customers,” he said.

Kicking Things Off
Donahue’s fleet career kicked off during college, when he accepted a cooperative position with OPPD as a fleet specification engineer.

“I was able to carry that to a permanent position when the manager at the time converted the role from co-op to full-time,” he recalled.

OPPD is the 12th-largest public power utility in the U.S. Fleet department personnel manage assets – including cars, trucks, trailers, construction equipment, production vehicles, coal dozers, locomotives and specialized attachments – from acquisition through retirement, overseeing capital and operating budgets, replacement, fuel management and related services. Department customers include every major division within OPPD as well as members of the public. Per Donahue, “Our external customers are the customer owners of OPPD.”

Donahue’s early responsibilities included writing specs for new vehicles and equipment while learning the ropes in both fleet management and the electric utility business. Gradually, his role expanded to capital budgeting, investment recovery, supervising parts and administration, and ultimately leading the fleet department.

Front-Row Seat
During his tenure, Donahue has had a front-row seat to the ever-quickening pace of change in utility fleet management.

“When I started, we barely had air-conditioning and AM radios in vehicles. Today, the technology on a vehicle is probably way more than was on the original Space Shuttle,” he mused.

The industry’s transformation has extended well beyond in-cab electronics, with manufacturers engineering aerial devices, digger derricks, cranes, vacuum excavators and other machines for increasingly greater capabilities over time.

Maintenance, too, has rapidly evolved. Donahue said modern fleet technicians are essentially “the equivalent of [information technology] experts these days” given the industry’s growing reliance on GPS tracking, fuel management systems, telematics and artificial intelligence tools.

Changing times have specifically resulted in OPPD expanding its fleet while welcoming a much younger workforce, he shared.

Notable Anomaly
There is at least one notable anomaly in Donahue’s career: the repeated movement of OPPD’s fleet department among different business units over time. Each instance required new reporting relationships and other operational adjustments.

“A massive challenge for me as a department manager,” he explained, “is to navigate and figure out how to operate while keeping the troops focused on their tasks, staying safe and keeping the fleet rolling.”

In combination with personal challenges, the department moves – along with his faith and perseverance and the support of industry colleagues – have significantly shaped Donahue’s leadership approach. “I am forever grateful for every experience, event, person and circumstance. It has all led to growth, improvement and a little bit of wisdom I can only hope to share.”

Staff Recruitment and Development
Successful fleet management is about people, Donahue believes, and the best organizations hire candidates with a positive attitude and strong work ethic, create opportunities for professional development and encourage continuing education.

“Fleet is filled with amazing people who are willing to share their experience, knowledge and history to help you grow,” he said. “Continuous learning is a commitment, not an entitlement.”

Donahue encourages fleet professionals to seek new responsibilities and willingly confront the obstacles that will inevitably arise from them: “Expect to be challenged, no matter the outcome. You’ll come out of it with an experience you can use to grow.”

Further, he advised, “Align yourself with good people” – not those solely seeking recognition or a promotion, but genuine professionals who truly enjoy the work and want to do it well.

Data-Driven Decisions
Fleet managers just stepping into their role should strive to fully understand their employer’s goals and make business decisions based on reliable information, Donahue urged.

“Know your data and what it represents – and what it does not. Bad data equals bad assumptions, which lead to bad decision-making.”

In this context, “data” includes details about fuel use, engine mileage and hours, maintenance costs and benchmarking. Donahue cautioned managers to ensure that they are “comparing apples to apples” when reviewing data from other organizations.

Still, people matter more than numbers. Employees closest to the work often have the clearest understanding of day-to-day operations, Donahue said, so it is wise for management to regularly seek their feedback.

Post-COVID Progress
The COVID-19 pandemic created substantial long-term supply chain challenges for utility organizations across the country and beyond. When asked about OPPD’s recovery status, Donahue explained that the company is “just now getting out of the COVID-related supply chain impacts on our new vehicle acquisitions.”

Even so, fleet size has increased by more than 7% over the past six years. Average asset age has decreased by nearly 18 months. Overall fleet value has increased approximately 46%. And the department has successfully navigated retirements while hiring more than 10% of its current staff in a single year.

With the pandemic in the rearview mirror, Donahue is supportive of the return to on-site, face-to-face work. He shared that he is “a firm believer in the benefits, personally and professionally, of working in person, together, to meet common objectives.”

A Look Ahead
OPPD employees continually adapt while staying true to the organizational mission, Donahue said, pointing to his team as his proudest professional accomplishment. “We have been through so much change and have done so much together to come out pretty well thus far,” he said, while acknowledging that the experience “has not always been easy nor straightforward.”

In terms of future goals, the fleet team will remain focused on improving personnel and public safety, financial stewardship, preventive maintenance, backlog reduction, software modernization and fleet capabilities.

But even as he and his team forge ahead, Donahue will likely never stop reflecting on all that he has learned throughout his decades-long career.

“Looking back on all our accomplishments and how fleet has evolved within OPPD is incredibly sentimental and something I am truly grateful to have experienced – and get to keep on experiencing,” he said.

About the Author: Grace Suizo has been covering the automotive fleet industry since 2007. She spent six years as an editor for five fleet publications and has written more than 100 articles geared toward both commercial and public sector fleets.