Arnold Public Works Director Judy Wagner is hoping five pickups in the city’s fleet will hold up for at least one more year.
The city of Arnold wants to replace trucks used by the Public Works and Stormwater departments, but they are having trouble finding any to buy because of longer than normal wait times for orders to be fulfilled and Ford suspending its government-discount program.
Wagner said Ford notified Enterprise, which Arnold uses to lease vehicles, on Nov. 4 that the company has stopped offering government discounts for vehicles for at least a year.
She said she had planned to ask City Council members to approve a purchase of four pickups through the discount program the day she learned the program had been suspended.
So, city officials and Enterprise worked together to try to strike a deal with Bommarito Ford to order pickups from the dealership, which said it would try to acquire the vehicles at the reduced price and charge Arnold $500 for each order.
Even with that deal in place, though, Wagner said the pickups likely would not be available for at least 28 weeks or longer.
However, Wagner said Ford stopped offering the discount to dealerships on Nov. 23, five days after council members agreed to pay $160,546 for four pickups to replace five pickups the city wants to take out of service.
The city wants to purchase a 2022 Ford F-250, a 2022 Ford F-350 Chassis, a 2022 Ford F-350 and a 2022 Ford F-450 Chassis, and without the government discount, the invoice price for all four trucks would be $192,923 and the manufacturer’s suggested retail price would be $201,595, according to city documents.
Wagner said the city wants to replace a 2000 Ford F-350, which has about 70,000 miles on it and is used by the Street Department to transport tools; a 2011 Ford F-150, which has 93,000 miles and would be swapped out for a Ford F-250 that can be used to help plow streets after snow falls; a 2005 Ford F-450 with about 89,000 miles that Arnold wants to replace with a F-450 Chassis with a spreader for snow removal and a dump bed that will also replace a pickup that has a rusted-out dump bed; and a 2010 Ford F-350 with 130,000 miles that the city wants to replace with a pickup that runs on gas instead of diesel fuel.
Unfortunately, the city will have to wait to get the vehicles they need, Wagner said.
“Right now, we will limp these along,” she said. “Knowing there is nothing new coming when an expensive fix comes, we will likely say it is worth fixing it because we won’t be getting a new one.”
If one of the existing trucks breaks down and can’t be repaired, the city will likely have two options for replacing it, buying one at auction or buying one directly from a dealer at market value, City Administrator Bryan Richison said.
“There are not a lot of options,” he said. “With an auction, you don’t know what the cost is going to be until after it is over, so there would have to be an up-to amount. If we are able to find one through a dealer, we could buy it normally with a quote and approve it that way.”
Richison said the city, like other municipalities, is in this position because the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed supply chains across the nation.
“I have never seen a situation where you couldn’t get a vehicle like this,” he said.
Bucket truck
Arnold has agreed to purchase one truck the city needs, striking a deal with Altec Industries of Birmingham, Ala., to purchase a bucket truck, which has a hydraulic platform capable of lifting a worker to access projects on utility poles and rooftops.
City Council members voted unanimously Nov. 18 to purchase the truck for $117,041.
Wagner said Arnold may not receive the truck until 2023, though.
She said Arnold also has applied to receive a bucket truck from Ameren, which donates trucks it replaces in its fleet. However, she said the city is one of 38 applicants, and it is not known if or when Ameren will make trucks available to cities.
“I don’t know if I would if I was them,” she said.
Wagner said the city currently rents a bucket truck from Gerstner Electric in Fenton. The rental costs Arnold $120 per hour and includes a truck and an operator.
She said Arnold typically needs to use a bucket truck about 30 times a year for a variety of tasks, like hanging Christmas lights or flags.
“The good thing is we don’t have to maintain the truck,” Wagner said.
However, she said the rental fee does cost Arnold more in the long run than purchasing its own bucket truck.
“When you buy a bucket truck, it can last 20 years if you maintain it,” Wagner said. “We can make it last.”
At the current rental rate, Arnold would pay about $288,000 to rent the truck from Gerstner Electric over a 20-year period.