Pittsburgh City Council approved legislation requiring the fleet manager to provide an annual status report to the council, detailing the condition of every city vehicle, including information about mileage, age, and repairs.
RELATED COVERAGE >>> Councilman introduces legislation to create annual report on Pittsburgh’s vehicle fleet
This comes after 11 Investigates has discovered a potential problem with the city’s aging fleet of garbage trucks that could impact garbage collection.
“If something happens to the repair center for a few days or a week, you know we may not be picking up trash,” Councilman Bobby Wilson said.
Councilman Wilson on Wednesday expressed concern about the status of the city’s garbage trucks.
Many are broken down, and on some days, there aren’t enough to cover all the routes.
Workers are forced to sit and wait for a free truck. Many collect overtime.
“We’ve had challenges with our environmental services fleet in recent weeks,” said Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak, who indicated he is trying to work through the issues.
But it’s not just garbage trucks.
11 Investigates has exposed multiple issues with the city’s aging fleet of vehicles in EMS, Public Works, Fire and Environmental Services.
One DPW worker told 11 Investigates that the trucks are in such bad shape, he’s worried about his safety every time he gets into a city vehicle.
RELATED COVERAGE >>> 11 Investigates: Pittsburgh employee sounding alarm about dire conditions of city vehicles
Councilman Wilson said nearly half of all city vehicles are too old and that creates even more problems with expensive repairs.
“That means we’re spending more on maintenance than we should be and all we are doing is wasting taxpayer dollars and council has been in the dark on this,” Wilson said.
But legislation, introduced by Wilson and passed by city council, will now require the fleet manager to provide an annual report to city council on the status of all vehicles.
“This will really shed some light on how we really should be investing in the fleet in the future,” Wilson said.
“Making that public will provide a factual basis for what we’re working with there,’ Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak said.
Deputy Mayor Pawlak says he supports Wilson’s legislation.
Pawlak said the problem started decades ago when the city was under financial distress and didn’t invest in the fleet.
He said the Gainey administration has put $40 million in new vehicles during the past four years.
Some council members have said that the city should be spending at least $20 million on new vehicles.
And they have complained that the administration should have used more of the American Rescue Funds on purchasing new vehicles, such as ambulances, fire trucks and public works trucks.
While he acknowledged that hasn’t been enough, he promised more soon.
“We expect to bring to council in this year’s budget a more comprehensive fleet investment plan than we have in the past,” Pawlak said.
Pawlak declined to release details and said he’s still working on the budget proposal.
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