IPWEA’s Fleet Panel has named Dubbo City Council’s Fleet Manager Steven Colliver as the inaugural chair of the group to drive the fleet agenda.
The interview below with Steven was originally published in the IPWEA Fleet e-news in March 2015.
Tell me a bit about your career to date in fleet.
I’ve worked at five different councils, ranging from Victoria st McIvor Shire in 1980 then Nguiu Council, which is on Bathurst Island about 80km north of Darwin followed by Deniliquin, Parkes and finally Dubbo for the past 17 years.
I’m a motor mechanic by trade. I worked in a number of industries including the mining industry and aircraft industry where I was an aircraft maintenance engineer on helicopters. What the aircraft industry did for me was enforce the importance of quality control and the philosophy that you should do the job right the first time.
I also have qualifications in mechanical engineering and an MBA. I am a strong believer in maintaining my mechanical competencies and have found the business qualifications to be an essential part of my position as a Fleet Manager.
How did you first get involved with the IPWEA?
My boss at Dubbo City Council is Stewart McLeod, who has been very active in the IPWEA for many years and he has always promoted and supported his managers to actively participate in IPWEA activities. I’ve presented papers at IPWEA conferences – that’s how I met Ross (Moody) and Grant (Andrews), two of my colleagues on the Fleet Panel.
How long have you been on the Fleet Panel?
From it’s inception, probably about 10 years now.
How has the industry changed in this time?
There’s been massive change. In the early days we were mechanical focused only, and the working conditions were average, we used to work on dirt floors. In terms of procurement, there was little interaction with the workshop, if we got a new piece of equipment we generally found out about it a week or so prior to delivery. All procurement was done by the engineer and often in isolation.
Now most councils have identified that fleet items are significant assets and the management of mobile short term assets present a range of complexities. Therefore, many councils have invested heavily into the development fleet management and are reaping the rewards that effective management provides with the equipment required to provide core services to the ratepayer. As a result, the work that IPWEA has done has supported this growth, in particular through the professional development training programs.
Why is it important for people in fleet to maintain professional development?
It’s such a dynamic industry. There are numerous regulators that place demands on fleet. IPWEA is the best forum to keep abreast of all the trends and compliance changes. We are on the same level and face the same problem and the ability to learn from each other is invaluable.
Even the chain of responsibility laws, the WHS laws and the compliance laws in terms of licensing requirements are constantly changing. I think that’s one of the reasons it’s really important to maintain the IPWEA as it is the best place to network and keep abreast of that industry change.
You started as a mechanic, is this the typical entry point into fleet?
If you look at a range of current Fleet Manager/Workshop Supervisors it is quite common to come from a mechanical background. I started as a mechanic and worked my way up ensuring that I educated myself along the way with the relevant training required.
Unfortunately when I was coming through the ranks there was no IPWEA professional development courses in place. As fleet has changed over the years, the people that want to progress have realised the importance of professional development and bolstered their qualifications to shift with that change in the industry.
You’ve got a lot of highly qualified people who started at the bottom, as in diesel mechanics or motor mechanics who have progressed to become the fleet manager and I think there’s a huge advantage in that they understand all aspects of the business.
Why do you say that?
They can drive the business from all angles rather than come in with for example an accounting background and purely look at a financial equation and not understand the mechanics of the business – pardon the pun.
I think a lot of fleet managers have come along that stream and that’s why I think there are such strong skills in the industry at the moment, they understand all aspects of the business.
In saying that people with other backgrounds such as admin officers etc now have a pathway to becoming the Fleet Manager by the professional development provided by the IPWEA.
How can IPWEA help improve the skills of the industry?
I think that this is where the role of the IPWEA comes into it by trying to embed the Fleet Managers Certificate into position descriptions. That is a great start for anyone starting out in the industry.
There are also the regular professional development workshops that also provide a unique networking opportunity. The next series is in May and we are dedicating a session for the exchange of information and presentation of local case studies.
Often you will get a trades type person applying for those entry positions and they need that introduction to the next level of education to move up the ladder.
We are currently running some courses on the role of a maintenance supervisor – how do you transition from the mechanic to the maintenance supervisor to the procurement person to the fleet manager and setting that career path and the steps associated with it. I see that as one of the roles that the IPWEA will deliver in terms of professional development in the future.
How does starting at the bottom benefit a person?
Certainly, I’ve no issue with bringing people in from outside because often they bring a different set of skills. But if you can bring someone through that avenue from the mechanic up, it just gives them such a huge understanding of what the business is about.
Personally, when members of my staff go away on holiday, I do their jobs. I try to know every aspect of my business and I’m very comfortable that I can argue in any forum that we are doing the right thing.
I am not the exception. I am hopefully more the rule.
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Click here to find out more about the Fleet Managers Certificate
Click here to find out more about the IPWEA One Day Professional Development workshops in May
