Vehicle Replacement Forms

On Friday, August 29^th we emailed vehicle replacement forms to the Administrative Contact for those vehicles scheduled to be replaced in FY26 as well as those vehicles that we decided to extend the life of rather than replace. The replacement forms are due back to Fleet Services at the latest on Wednesday, September 10th. If you misplaced the forms and need another set, just let us know and we can email them to you. 

Do You Want To End the Lease on an Assigned Vehicle?

It may be possible to end the lease of your assigned vehicle before the end of its life if we can transfer that vehicle to another customer. To discuss this opportunity, we need to hear from you ASAP. Replacement forms have been sent out and we will soon begin planning new vehicles orders for this fiscal year. We will need to make any lease changes now before vehicles are ordered. If you wish to discuss your vehicle lease, please call Chris at 319-384-0564.

Rental Fleet Re-Fueling

For many years the instruction given to rental customers has been to return the vehicle as low on fuel as possible. This was so Fleet personnel could refuel vehicles between trips with our cheaper on-site fuel. With the relocation of the rental fleet operations to Hawkeye Dr. that policy has officially changed. Now that we no longer have fuel on site to re-fuel vehicles between trips we are asking customers to re-fuel vehicles prior to returning them to the office. To minimize the hassle for customers all rental fleet WEX fuel credit cards will be turned on to work at gas stations in Iowa City and Coralville. All rental vehicles will also include a fuel ChipKey to refuel at the University Fuel Island if that is a convenient option. Our maintenance and fuel website has tutorial videos with instructions for using the WEX card as well as instructions for re-fueling at the Fuel Island.

New School Year Reminders

Now is the time to get your vehicle reservations in, students registered for driving training, and license reviews checked. Driver training registration forms are located on our safety and training website and can be easily sent to us by email. Fall is our busiest time and larger vehicles get reserved quickly especially on home football weekends. Please get your requests in as early as possible, especially If you have a special need, like pulling a trailer and will need a vehicle with a hitch.

Football Parking for State Vehicles

As a reminder, if you have a University of Iowa vehicle that you normally park in lots 43, 53, 49, or 75 you need to move it on football Saturdays. If you need help finding a place to park during this time, please call the Parking Office at 319-335-1475 and they would be happy to help you. 

New Specialized License Plate in Iowa

It’s official! Iowans can now order the newly redesigned specialized education license plate. The reimagined license plate featuring three American goldfinches perched on school books and was designed by Erin Cho, student and winner of the Department’s Iowa License Plate Design Challenge. Visit the IA DOT website to learn more about how to order a license plate. 

Honest Chris’ Used Cars

Currently listed for auction is a beautiful silver 2020 Chevy Suburban with 84k miles, a white 2017 Ford Transit 150 LR Cargo Van with only 18k miles, and a white 2016 RAM 4500 Reg Cab Dump Truck with 43k miles. If a minivan is what you fancy we’ve got some of those too! We have a silver 2020 Dodge Grand Caravan with 67k miles, and 2 white 2020 Dodge Grand Caravans with 67k and 95k miles respectively. We still have many more great vehicles that will being hitting auction through the fall so make sure to check our GovDeals site so you don’t miss out on a great deal!

Fleet Factoid

The origins of the automatic transmission can be traced back to 1904 when two brothers named Sturtevant unveiled a primitive 2 speed transmission. In 1932 a pair of Brazilian engineers named Fernando Lehly Lemos and José Braz Araripe introduced hydraulic fluid to replace air pressure as a means to solve many of the issues of these early transmissions. Their solution was so successful that GM bought their prototype in 1932 and debuted the Hydra-Matic  transmission in 1940. Read the full article from Jalopnik.