No Saturday Hours
Fleet Services will no longer have Saturday hours starting this Fall Semester. As a result, any vehicles that will not be used until the weekend will need to be picked up the Friday or last business day of the week. We can delay your charges to the actual start date of your trip if you schedule your pick-up after 5 pm on that last business day. Please note your trip start date and time in the reservation comments.
What Kind of Fuel Do Our Vehicles Use?
You may have noticed that all of our non-diesel University vehicles have a yellow sticker that says this vehicle uses ethanol. That does not mean that all University vehicles are E85 compatible. Even the base gasoline that we have on campus has 10% ethanol in it. So, how do you tell if your University vehicle is E85 capable? Here are a couple of ways to tell:
- The vehicle will have a yellow gas cap.
- The writing on the fuel fill door will indicate the vehicle can take E85.
- The key tag for your vehicle lists the fuel that should be used to fill the vehicle.
This is mainly a concern if you purchase fuel off-campus using our fuel card. If you purchase fuel at the Fleet Services fuel island, our controls will not allow the incorrect fuel to be used. If there are any doubts, please call our office.
Specialized Fleet Services Rental Vehicles
Fleet Services has three specialized vehicles in our rental fleet; a 12’ box truck with a liftgate, a ¾ ton, crew-cab pick-up truck and a high-roof cargo van. Since we only have one of each of these vehicles, please make your rental reservations as soon as you can. We are not always able to obtain a substitute vehicle with the same capabilities if our vehicle is being used by another customer.
New Hand-Free Law in Minnesota
Just like Illinois, Minnesota has implemented a law that prohibits the use of a hand-held telephone device unless you are making an emergency call. This law went into effect in Minnesota on August 1, 2019. You can use a hands-free device to interface with your phone, but it must be single touch activation only. This includes smart watches also. Keep in mind, that even using a hand-free device is still a distraction and so a best practice would be to turn your phone off while driving or put the phone in the back seat or the trunk to reduce temptation.
Do you use DLRS?
DLRS is the Risk Management Driver’s License Review System. With the new school year starting now is a good time to think about updating your department's vehicle drivers. Anyone who drives for University business must be entered in this system. When a driver is registered, the person must be assigned to one of two groups; those who are required to drive for their job and those who are not required to drive for their job. Once registered, those who are not required to drive for their position will receive an email asking them to certify that they meet the University’s Driving Policy. That email will be sent immediately after they are registered, so have the driver check her/his email right away. Also check Spam folder and trash if they don’t see it.
Honest Mike’s Used Cars
It’s truck week at Honest Mike’s Used Cars. We currently have posted a 2016 F150 4X4 with 87,000 miles, a Ram 2500 crew-cab 4X4 SLT with 73,500 miles, a 2011 Ford Ranger XLT, 4X4, with a topper with under 10,000 miles. Check the GovDeals page to see these and others.
Fleet Factoid
According to the author Doug Newcomb at Wired.com, the average new car has over 100 million lines of code. Per Quora, that code supports about 150 Electronic Control Units. That will only increase as infotainment systems (think Apple CarPlay and Android Auto) become more complex and comprehensive.
Fleet Services Info
Manager: Mike Wilson
Phone: (319) 384-0564
Fax: (319) 335-5865
Hours: 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Monday-Friday
Shop Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday
Shop Phone: (319) 335-5105
Fueling Hours: 24 hours/ 7 days a week
E-mail: Fleet-Services@uiowa.edu
Web Site: Parking and Transportation - Fleet Services
View more newsletters: Fleet Services Newsletters