Transforming Fleet Management: DC Water’s Journey with FleetWave

Industry: Utilities

Fleet Size: 1,400 + Vehicles

Asset Count: 1,000 +

Region: Washington, United States

Customer Since: 2011

Products Used: FleetWave, FleetWave Technician App

Background

DC Water is a leading water and sewer utility provider serving Washington, D.C., as well as surrounding areas in Maryland and Virginia. The company manages a comprehensive range of services, including drinking water supply, wastewater collection and treatment, and maintaining the world’s largest wastewater treatment plant. In addition to these services, DC Water is responsible for maintaining and upgrading public fire hydrants across the region.

The DC Water fleet comprises 1,400 units, including both vehicles and equipment. Of these, approximately 670 are vehicles, ranging from light-duty to heavy-duty models, while the remaining units are various types of specialized equipment essential for the company’s operations.

We interviewed members of the DC Water team to gain insights into how they manage this diverse fleet using FleetWave and the challenges they face.

Challenges

DC Water sought out FleetWave to address a significant asset management challenge within the organisation. The primary goal was to streamline and resolve the issues surrounding their fleet’s management: “So as the fleet director for DC Water, we looked to Chevin to implement FleetWave because we had an asset management issue that we wanted to resolve. So that was the initial intention for getting FleetWave.”

DC Water faced several operational challenges, including managing complex union structures with five different unions and collective bargaining agreements, handling older infrastructure, and customizing their fleet to meet the specific needs of their business.

“There are many challenges! Ranging from five different unions with five different collective bargaining agreements, some older infrastructure and customising our fleet to fit the business we operate in,” shares Tim Fitzgerald (Former Fleet Director).

Tim also highlights the critical importance of ensuring vehicles are deployed on time and with the correct tools, as well as ensuring that technicians and operators are adequately trained to meet the organisation’s high standards: “We try to make sure that we get vehicles on the road on time, we put the right tools in the right hands the first time, and we make sure that all of our technicians and all of our operators are comparable to what we’re doing as an organisation as well.”

Our Solution

DC Water has been using FleetWave for over 10 years to manage all aspects of their fleet. As Fleet Director Nija Ali explains, “Over the span of 10 plus years now, we have used FleetWave to manage all of our fleet units and equipment, service, repair, costs, acquisitions, disposal, scrappage. So we use FleetWave for everything, including technician time and driver credentials. All of that happens in FleetWave. So it is really our lifeline for how we do fleet management.”

FleetWave is used across multiple departments within DC Water to manage maintenance and determine when to replace vehicles, making it an essential tool for their entire fleet operations. “We use FleetWave to manage our fleet at DC Water. We actually have multiple departments that use FleetWave on some level, but we use FleetWave to track the maintenance of our fleet. We also use it to determine when it’s time to replace vehicles in our fleet,” says Rona Myers, Fleet Management Data Analyst.

For new users like Rona, the system is easy to navigate, which helps streamline onboarding and reduces the learning curve. “For me, it’s relatively easy to use, being as though I’m new to fleet and new to FleetWave, I appreciate how easy it is for someone that’s new to it to use,” she adds.

The integration of technology is crucial for improving fleet management, but Tim emphasizes that user adoption is equally important. “Absolutely, the integration of technology is important. But so is changing the mindsets of the users, so that they see it as a way of doing things faster, better, cheaper, but also more efficiently and effectively,” Tim explains.

DC Water also focuses on prioritizing critical data, especially in times of crisis. In the water utility industry, understanding pain points and prioritizing the right data is essential for effective decision-making. “You could become overwhelmed with the amount of data you get from all these systems. So you need to focus on exception management and understanding where your pain points are to be effective. These days, you have to look at prioritising the types of data that are important to you. In our business, it’s water main breaks, it’s all those types of critical points of failure – as well as those critical points of success. We’ve got to become smarter with what we use and how we use equipment, as well as how we’re customising and specifying that equipment going forward,” Tim states.

Impact

1 – Business Improvement Based on Data and Feedback

FleetWave has empowered DC Water to not only analyze and control their business performance but also to foster an environment where employees can better understand processes and their value to the organization. As Nija Ali, Fleet Director, explains, “The system has enabled us to create a way of not only analyzing and controlling all of our business performance but provides us with an environment where employees can be cultivated to understand processes and their value to the authority.”

The system has become a key tool for driving continuous improvement, with the team actively using it to champion new ideas and enhance operations. “Our team now champions improvements through use of the system and we are always discussing new ideas,” Nija adds, highlighting the ongoing collaborative effort to optimize fleet and asset management.

 2- Improved maintenance processes with the FleetWave Technician App

DC Water utilizes the FleetWave Technician App to track employee time and improve task management. As Rona explains, “We also use it to track time for our employees. We have kiosks on the shop floors, where they can clock on and off of work orders. So it actually, you know it’s really nice to have because we can actually see how long it’s taking technicians to work on certain tasks. Where if we estimate like 2 hours for a task and they’ve been on it for three hours, you know, then we can, you know, we have the ability to say wait, that’s taking a little too long, let’s check and make sure everyone’s okay. So there is a safety aspect in that sense, you know, so it’s actually been really good for us.”

This feature not only provides transparency on task duration but also ensures technician safety by flagging any time discrepancies, allowing the team to intervene when necessary. The app’s integration has been highly beneficial, offering both operational insights and a safety net for DC Water’s fleet management processes.

3 – Streamlined Asset Management

Tim shares: “FleetWave’s integrated key control and reservation system means we can now manage how equipment is provided to DC Water’s staff—including pretty much any asset from rugged laptops all the way to vehicle keys. These items are stored in secure locking compartments so that our people can access their allocated property with a secure reservation code and employee ID. This has made sharing equipment across departments and the wider business much easier while increasing the utilization of our assets.”

This streamlined approach ensures secure and efficient access to essential assets, maximizing their use across the organization.

4 – Integrations Provide Fueling Insights
DC Water has implemented innovative measures to optimize its fueling processes, eliminating wastage and misfuelling while generating precise reports on fuel spend and efficiency. FleetWave’s integration with other key systems has been central to this success.

As Timothy explains, “We use the EJ Ward system to fuel our vehicles. There are approximately 10 fueling stations across the city, and our drivers can access the fuel pumps using Wi-Fi devices located in the vehicles. This technology recognizes vehicles and the fuel and, of course, integrates to our fleet management software to provide us useful fuel information from fuel usage to alternative fuel usage, compliance, and costs.”

In addition to fueling insights, FleetWave integrates with DC Water’s telematics platform (Geotab) and its motor pool and key control system. Tim highlights the benefits: “For example, our telematics system feeds driver behaviour information into FleetWave. This allows us to generate reports that highlight poor driving practices that lead to unnecessary fuel usage. The system also sends automated ‘bad practice’ alerts directly to personnel and management on a daily basis while also linking to training programs to help support a culture of improvement.”

This seamless integration allows DC Water to manage all systems from one platform, creating actionable reports that enhance fuel efficiency and cost management. It has also enabled the organization to go fully paperless, consolidating all operational data—including non-fleet-related tasks—within FleetWave

Conclusion

Timothy highlights how FleetWave’s adaptability has been transformative for DC Water:
“A lot of software offers some level of customization but ultimately the business must adapt to the software’s structure. Instead, FleetWave has been truly adaptable to our exact business requirements.”

The collaborative relationship between DC Water and Chevin has been a key factor in their success. Nija explains, “We have a very intimate relationship with our service providers at Chevin, and any issue—or even obstacles they’ve learned from other clients—they bring to us so we can troubleshoot, and they have solutions ready on the spot. They have really grown with us over the 10 years.”

As DC Water’s needs and goals evolve, FleetWave continues to adapt. “This unique capability and the overall reach of the software across our organization is why internally we now call the system simply ‘Wave.’ I tell my people that if the data isn’t in the system, then the job hasn’t been completed. I don’t allow them to use separate spreadsheets or bits of paper because that quickly leads to disparate process and data,” says Tim.

When asked for advice for fleet managers hesitant about embracing technology, Tim offers valuable insights: “Dig deep. You’ve got to adapt, adjust, and overcome. And you have to be able to do that in a way where you’re not afraid of technology. It’s your friend, you know, it’s that neighborhood person that’s coming to help you, and you’ve got to be accepting of it all. It can drive you into places that you’ve never been and stimulate your thinking. It will help you get to the thought process of ‘what else can we do?’ And when you open that world up to people, you know, it’s infinite. There’s nothing that you can’t do with it. But do it smartly, and do it in the right way.”

This visionary approach to technology integration underscores how FleetWave continues to be an invaluable tool for DC Water’s evolving needs.

Watch the full interview with Timothy Fitzgerald here.