Testimonials

Here is a summary of our process for vehicle replacement and how PROFIT$ has become an integral part of those decisions.

Back in 2018, when attending the GFX Conference in San Diego, I visited a booth that had created vehicle replacement software called PROFIT$. I thought that it looked very robust and attractive. After a demo, I decided to give it a try.

The Town of Castle Rock uses the FMIS from Faster Asset Solutions and it does a great job of tracking everything happening in our fleet. Faster also has a good replacement scoring feature using a 15-point scale based on age, maintenance and mileage or hours. In my meetings with our Town’s departments to discuss their upcoming vehicle replacements, the question of just what that score meant kept coming up. It was a little vague. What if their vehicle had a score of 11-points the year before, would that make it eligible for replacement? I was spending a lot of time in meetings explaining what the score meant and how close to the 15-point max they needed to be before replacement.

After installing PROFIT$ software, the replacement scoring feature that it offers made explaining the replacement score much easier. The extra weighting PROFIT$ uses, like vehicle condition and how hard that vehicle is used, gave us the way to make better decisions.

Two of the features that have helped the most are the reports and the color-coded scale. With all the various PROFIT$ reports now in front of department managers, they now get a better idea where they are in the replacement cycle.

By using PROFIT$ reports, I have also been able to show departments that they needed to push back replacement and also show some that they needed to replace sooner than estimated. With the current pandemic we are experiencing, Town management put a hold on all the remaining vehicle purchases for 2020. We are doing a very comprehensive review of the coming replacements that are due in 2021. I anticipate that the PROFIT$ software will be a tremendous help in making cases to replace and cases to extend.

This software, plus the help from our FMIS, has given us a very good grasp on our vehicle replacement expenditures.

Additionally, the staff at Longobart-Ross has been very helpful and quick to respond to any questions that come up. Having the retired Fleet Manager, Rick Longobart, to help with questions or just pick his brain has been an added bonus.

I am the Fleet Maintenance Superintendent for the City of Inglewood. Prior to this position, I worked with Rick D. Longobart from July 2003 to April 2010. He was the Fleet and Transit Superintendent at that time for the City of Inglewood. During my seven year tenure with Rick, he was very energetic, trustworthy, knowledgeable, and dependable in accomplishing tasks and projects, such as; securing grant funding for the city, installing a Compressed Natural Gas Station, installing a Propane station, installing a carwash to service city vehicles and more. Rick was instrumental in bringing an awareness to global warming and lowering the City’s carbon footprint.

For well over ten years, I have looked to Rick for his assistance and extraordinary insight regarding municipal fleet operations. Rick’s leadership, knowledge and the tremendous assistance he offered to help me meet new contacts was truly the most major asset in my endeavors and success. I am forever grateful and highly recommend Rick for any assistance that may be required.

I have known Rick Longobart since I started as the City of Glendale Fleet Administrator in1998. Rick is extremely knowledgeable in the field of Fleet Maintenance. Whenever I got in a jam or had something interesting come along, I would network with Rick. Rick is always on the leading edge of fleet solutions from computer software to hands-on training. Working with Rick over the years has been extremely enjoyable. He is not only a very talented individual, but also a genuinely great guy. He is a true professional and I would recommend him to anyone that could use some help with their fleet.

Rick Longobart is clearly regarded as one of the top public sector fleet managers in the country. Through his lead-by-example, energy, and innovative leadership style, he has successfully transformed the public fleets he has managed into highly-effective and efficient fleet organizations that others strive to emulate. But, what separates Rick from his peers is his ability to patiently and effectively teach others the business side of fleet management. I know this first hand, because he has given outstanding fleet management presentations to public sector fleet managers at several educational events that my company, Public Fleet Summits, has sponsored. During these two-day summits he is constantly inundated with questions seeking his advice from professional fleet attendees. No one in our industry does this as well as Rick has for the last 25 years.

Mr. Longobart has received numerous environmental awards due to early adoption and non-conventional thinking. He has spearheaded and championed various projects that have given him name recognition in the industry as a true leader and pioneer in the operation of Fleets and Facilities.

Learning the language of the government sector was extremely beneficial in helping us clarify the steps involved in the overall bid process. How to find bids being sent out by municipalities was also a valuable learning experience, in that we were not familiar with the individual platforms available that would enable us to see the bids in one location rather than having to register at each individual municipality. Longobart-Ross also provided consulting that allowed us to restructure our company in a way that would allow us to pursue the government sector. Our executive staff found this to be instrumental in our now focused venture.

Dear Mr. Longobart and Ms. Ross Working with LRC to re-develop the Vehicle and Equipment Replacement Criteria and Guidelines for Eastern Municipal Water District has been a pleasure and great benefit. You were very sensitive and responsive to our busy schedules that seem to change daily. Your every concern was driven by our needs and making sure we were happy with the end product. You did not just offer a canned, one size approach. This was very refreshing. I stepped into this position a short time ago and recognized the need to update the replacement criteria of our vehicles and equipment. After discussing this with several other Fleet Managers and reviewing the many systems out there I came to realize there was not a one size fits all replacement system. Many systems called for much more very accurate historical data and resources than we had available. I reviewed a version of your system in the past and recognized it as customizable to available resources while demonstrating the costs involved of deferring replacement. LRC was already familiar with our software systems and already had established relationships with our software vendors. Together we were able to solve the challenges of developing a system far better than the District had previously while leaving room for further development as our other systems are updated. I welcome the opportunity to discuss our experience with other clients as you find the need. Thank you for all of your help.