Federally Leased Vehicles: Agencies Should Strengthen Assessment Processes to Reduce Underutilized Vehicles
Highlights
What GAO Found
The General Services Administration (GSA) provides guidance to agencies to assist them in reducing underutilized leased vehicles. This guidance can be written (such as bulletins) or advice from GSA's fleet service representatives (FSR) to agency fleet managers. FSRs assist agencies with leasing issues, and GSA expects its FSRs to communicate with fleet managers about vehicle utilization at least annually. However, 18 of 51 fleet managers GAO surveyed reported that they had never spoken to their FSR about vehicle utilization. GSA has no mechanism to ensure these discussions occur and therefore may miss opportunities to help agencies identify underutilized vehicles.
While the selected agencies—the Air Force, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Park Service (NPS) and the Veterans Health Administration (VHA)—took steps to manage vehicle utilization, their processes did not always facilitate the identification and removal of underutilized vehicles. Certain selected agencies (1) could not determine if all vehicles were utilized, (2) could not locate justifications for vehicles that did not meet utilization criteria, or (3) kept vehicles that did not undergo or pass a justification review. These agencies paid GSA about $8.7 million in fiscal year 2014 for leased vehicles that were retained but did not meet utilization criteria and did not have readily available justifications (see table).
Selected Leased Vehicles That Did Not Meet Utilization Criteria and Did Not Have Readily Available Justifications That Were Retained across Five Agencies
|
Agency |
Percentage of the agency's selected vehiclesa |
Cost paid to GSA in FY2014 |
|
Air Force |
8% |
$1.5 M |
|
Bureau of Indian Affairs |
22% |
$1.2 M |
|
National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
4% |
$0.1M |
|
National Park Service |
47% |
$2.9M |
|
Veterans Health Administration |
14% |
$3.0M |
|
Total for Selected Vehicles |
15% |
$8.7 M |
Source: GAO analysis of GSA and agency-provided data. | GAO-16-136
aThe selected vehicles include all GSA-leased sedans, station wagons, and light trucks, except those that were (1) leased by multiple agencies during fiscal year 2014; (2) tactical, emergency responder, or law enforcement vehicles; or (3) outside the continental United States, among other exclusions. Results for selected vehicles cannot be generalized to vehicles outside of the selected population.
Of the selected agencies, NASA and VHA did not apply their utilization criteria to nearly 400 vehicles, representing about $1.2 million paid to GSA in fiscal year 2014. However, these agencies have taken steps to rectify the issue. The Air Force, BIA, NPS, and VHA could not readily locate justifications for over 1,500 leased vehicles that did not meet utilization criteria, representing about $5.8 million. BIA and NPS are planning action to ensure justifications are readily available in the future. As of May 2015, NPS and VHA had retained more than 500 vehicles—costing $1.7 million in fiscal year 2014—that were not subjected to or did not pass agency justification processes. While costs paid to GSA may not equal cost savings associated with eliminating vehicles, without justifications and corrective actions, agencies could be spending millions of dollars on vehicles that may not be needed.
Why GAO Did This Study
Federal agencies spent about $1 billion in fiscal year 2014 to lease about 186,000 vehicles from GSA. Assessing the utilization of leased vehicles is important to agency efforts to manage their fleet costs.
GAO was asked to examine federal processes for assessing the utilization of leased vehicles. This report addresses, among other objectives, (1) GSA's role in identifying and reducing underutilized leased vehicles and (2) the extent to which the processes used by selected federal agencies facilitate the identification and removal of underutilized leased vehicles, and any cost savings that could be achieved by reducing underutilized vehicles. GAO selected five agencies using factors such as fleet size, and analyzed over 15,500 fiscal-year 2014 vehicle records. At the five agencies, GAO surveyed fleet managers with at least 20 leased vehicles; reviewed fleet policies and guidance; and interviewed federal officials. These findings are not generalizable to all agencies or fleet managers.
Recommendations
GAO recommends, among other things, that GSA develop a mechanism to help ensure that FSRs speak with fleet managers about vehicle utilization, that the Air Force and VHA modify their processes for vehicle justifications, and that NPS and VHA take corrective action for vehicles that do not have readily accessible written justification or did not pass a justification review. Each agency concurred with the recommendations and discussed actions planned or underway to address them.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| General Services Administration | To help improve the accuracy of Drive-thru data to allow agencies to better manage their leased-vehicle fleet data, the Administrator of GSA should evaluate the 9,999-mile/month electronic safeguard for Drive-thru odometer readings to determine if a lower threshold could improve the accuracy of customer data and adjust this safeguard accordingly. | Federal agencies spent about $1 billion in fiscal year 2014 to lease about 186,000 vehicles from GSA. As the lessor, GSA collects data on leased vehicles and offers it to agencies to help them manage their leased-vehicle fleets, and stores this information in a system called Drive-thru. In 2016, GAO reported that despite the overall indications that the selected Drive-thru data were accurate, its odometer data might be less accurate than most of the other information GAO studied. Specifically, GAO found that 3 percent of monthly odometer entries in May 2015 were lower than the previous month's odometer reading. An odometer reading that decreases from one month to the next indicates that... there was an error at some point in time-either the previous month's entry was too high, or the current month's entry is too low. Agencies supply monthly odometer to GSA as part of the billing process and odometer errors result in temporary billing errors as agencies pay additional fees based on mileage. As part of this process, Drive-thru warned users that they may have entered incorrect data if their reported odometer reading was 9,999 miles greater than or less than the previous month's odometer reading. GSA officials stated that they chose the 9,999 mile warning point because they did not want the system to generate cautionary messages to customers when there was a valid reason for the mileage difference. However, using such a large mileage difference to trigger a warning means that GSA may be unlikely to catch the majority of errors. GAO found 52 cases where the mileage difference was 9,999 miles or greater, but more than 4,800 cases where the previous month's odometer reading exceeded the current month's reading. Although the resulting billing errors can be resolved the following month and the overall error rate is low, resolutions take time and resources for both GSA and the customer. Therefore, GAO recommend that the Administrator of GSA evaluate the 9,999-mile/month electronic safeguard for Drive-thru odometer readings to determine if a lower threshold could improve the accuracy of customer data, and that GSA adjust this safeguard accordingly. In 2019, GAO confirmed that GSA evaluated Drive-Thru's 9,999 mile safeguard and subsequently updated their system so that warnings would be triggered if the reported odometer reading was either: (1) 4,999 miles greater or less than the previous month's reported reading; or (2) more than three times the average monthly mileage. As a result of this change, GSA has greater assurance that the data entered into Drive-Thru are accurate and allow agencies to better manage their leased-vehicle fleet.
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| General Services Administration | To provide better assurance that Fleet Service Representatives (FSR) are having conversations with leasing customers about utilization in accordance with GSA expectations, the Administrator of GSA should develop a mechanism to help ensure that these conversations occur. | Assessing the utilization of leased vehicles is important to agency efforts to manage their fleet costs. In 2016, GAO reported that GSA has a limited role in identifying and reducing underutilized leased vehicles, as agencies are responsible for managing their vehicle fleets. Rather, GSA focuses on providing guidance and advice to federal agencies on utilization by (1) developing written guidance and reviewing agencies' Vehicle Allocation Methodology update submissions and (2) holding conversations with federal agencies' fleet managers to advise them about vehicle utilization at least annually. Specifically, GSA expects its fleet service representatives to hold these annual...
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| General Services Administration | To help strengthen the leased-vehicle justification processes across federal agencies, the Administrator of GSA should examine the Federal Property Management Regulations to determine if these regulations should be amended to require that vehicle justifications are clearly documented and readily available, and adjust them accordingly. | In 2014, federal agencies spent about $1 billion to lease vehicles from the General Services Administration (GSA) to carry out agencies' missions, such as transporting personnel or hauling equipment. Assessing the utilization of leased vehicles is important to agency efforts to manage their fleet costs. Agencies are responsible for managing their vehicles' utilization in a manner that allows them to fulfill their missions and meet various federal requirements. Federal provisions on vehicle justification and determining what makes a vehicle "utilized" are detailed in the Federal Property Management Regulations (FPMR). In 2016, GAO reported that the FPMR provide some guidance to federal...
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| Department of Defense | To improve the justification process, the Secretary of the Department of Defense should direct the Secretary of the Air Force to modify the current process to ensure that each leased vehicle in the agency's fleet meets the agency's utilization criteria or has readily available justification documentation. | Federal agencies spent about $1 billion in fiscal year 2014 to lease about 186,000 vehicles from GSA to carry out agencies' missions. Agencies may own or lease the vehicles in their fleets and are responsible for managing their vehicles' utilization in a manner that allows them to fulfill their missions and meet various federal requirements. Agencies determine the number and type of vehicles they need to own or lease and when a vehicle is no longer needed to achieve the agency's mission. Under federal regulations, agencies can define the utilization criteria for the vehicles they use, such as mileage or days used. According to GSA, the only requirement in the utilization portion of the...
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | To improve their justification process, the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs should direct the Under Secretary for Health to modify the current process to ensure that each leased vehicle in the agency's fleet meets the agency's utilization criteria or has readily available justification documentation. | In 2014, federal agencies spent about $1 billion to lease vehicles from the General Services Administration (GSA) to carry out agencies' missions such as transporting personnel or hauling equipment. Assessing the utilization of leased vehicles is important to agency efforts to manage their fleet costs. Agencies are responsible for managing their vehicles' utilization in a manner that allows them to fulfill their missions and meet various federal requirements. Federal provisions on vehicle justifications and determining what makes a vehicle "utilized" are detailed in the Federal Property Management Regulations (FPMR). Specifically, the FPMR provide how agencies can define utilization...
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| Department of the Interior | To facilitate the elimination of unnecessary vehicles, the Secretary of the Department of the Interior should direct the NPS Director to take corrective action to address each leased vehicle that has not met the agency's utilization criteria or passed the justification process. This corrective action could include (1) reassigning vehicles within the agency to ensure they are utilized or (2) returning vehicles to GSA. | AIn 2014, federal agencies spent about $1 billion to lease vehicles from the General Services Administration (GSA) to carry out agencies' missions such as transporting personnel or hauling equipment. Assessing the utilization of leased vehicles is important to agency efforts to manage their fleet costs. Agencies are responsible for managing their vehicles' utilization in a manner that allows them to fulfill their missions and meet various federal requirements. Federal provisions on vehicle justifications and determining what makes a vehicle "utilized" are detailed in the Federal Property Management Regulations (FPMR). In 2016, GAO reported that the FPMR do not require agencies to take...
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | To facilitate the elimination of unnecessary vehicles, the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs should direct the Under Secretary for Health to take corrective action to address each leased vehicle that has not met the agency's utilization criteria or passed the justification process. This corrective action could include (1) reassigning vehicles within the agency to ensure they are utilized or (2) returning vehicles to GSA. | In 2014, federal agencies spent about $1 billion to lease vehicles from the General Services Administration (GSA) to carry out agencies' missions such as transporting personnel or hauling equipment. Assessing the utilization of leased vehicles is important to agency efforts to manage their fleet costs. Agencies are responsible for managing their vehicles' utilization in a manner that allows them to fulfill their missions and meet various federal requirements. Federal provisions on vehicle justifications and determining what makes a vehicle "utilized" are detailed in the Federal Property Management Regulations (FPMR). In 2016, GAO reported that the FPMR do not require agencies to take any...
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