Short/Long Term Lease Request
We have created a Workflow form for requesting vehicles for both permanent assignments and short-term leases (3-6 months). This electronic form takes the place of our old cumbersome paper process. You can find the link on our website by clicking ‘Rental/Lease Information’ and then ‘Short/Long Term Vehicle Request.”
Ethanol is the Law
Did you know that every state vehicle that is gasoline-powered must operate on ethanol blended fuel? The good news is when you fuel on campus, we’ve got you covered. Both our E-10 and E-85 fuels are already blended with 10%, and 85% ethanol respectively, so there is no issue there.
When fueling off-site with a WEX card, it becomes the driver’s responsibility to choose an appropriate fuel to ensure compliance with the ethanol requirement. Most stations in Iowa offer multiple versions of unleaded gas, some blended with ethanol, and some without. If you are not sure of which ethanol blend to choose, the answer is on your key tag. Another hint is the color of your gas fill cap, If it is yellow, choose E-85. If your gas cap is not yellow, choose E-10. In Iowa, the fuel blended with ethanol will generally be the cheapest.
Clear the Fog
A recent lifehacker.com article featured a video showing former NASA Engineer Mark Rober’s scientifically proven technique for quickly defogging a windshield. In the video, Rober uses the scientific method to test out a variety of techniques before landing on the method he found works the best. See the steps to the process below.
Turn your car’s heater on full blast. Hot air can hold more moisture.
Turn your car’s air conditioning on. This pulls moisture out of the air as the air passes over the AC’s cold coils.
Make sure inside air circulation is off. “Winter air is cold, and we know it doesn’t hold much moisture,” Rober explains. “So if you bring it into your car and heat it up, it has a lot of absorption capacity.”
Crack as many windows as possible—even for a few seconds—to allow for the exchange of the humid car air with the dry cold air outside.
My Car Does What?
It has gotten to the point where cars are basically fancy computers on wheels with manufacturers adding new features and technologies all the time. Anyone shopping for a new car is going to have buzz words like “Lane Departure Warning,” “Brake Assist,” “Adaptive Cruise Control,” and ‘AEB’ thrown at them with little context as to what they actually do.
The University of Iowa’s own National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS) in conjunction with the National Safety Council have developed a great website, mycardoeswhat.org, to help consumers understand how these new features work, when to use them, and whether or not your car has them.
Back That Thang Up!
We had a discussion recently within our department about a problem with some limited visibility vehicles and backing out of parking spaces. This sparked a bit of a debate about the virtues of backing into a parking spot versus pulling straight in. Quite simply, it is much safer to pull forward from a parking space so you can actually see as you are pulling into traffic. AAA recommends “drivers reverse into parking spaces whenever possible, except where prohibited by law or parking lot restrictions.” Check out the great article from VOX that breaks down the safety benefits and other issues related to backing into parking spots.
Fleet Factoid
Speaking of modern safety features, a new Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study based on insurance claims data, found that vehicles equipped with rear Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) had 28% fewer property damage liability claims and 10 % fewer collision claims than vehicles without the technology.
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