BACKGROUND: State highway agency equipment fleets represent a significant capital investment and also require recurring maintenance and operational expenditures. Fleet assets are vital to the delivery of agency programs, projects and services. Efficient management of these assets can yield significant savings as well as improved performance and reliability.  Roadway maintenance equipment technology is continuously advancing such that it is nearly impossible for individual highway agency equipment management organizations to stay abreast of the latest technologies, evaluate them, and move forward with implementation to gain the advantages that they offer.  There is a need to identify the challenges facing equipment fleet managers and the research needed to address these challenges.  Thus, it is important to develop a roadmap of research needs that provides a prioritization of these research needs (e.g., practices, performance measures, advancing technology, utilization, replacement, and economic considerations) and a timeline for addressing them.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this project is to develop a strategic plan for equipment management research that establishes the near, medium, and long-term research activities and identifies the timeline and milestones for these activities.  For the purpose of this project, equipment management refers to all relevant activities (e.g., maintenance, operations, and technology) of all equipment types (i.e., includes vehicles). This objective will be accomplished through a special meeting of individuals familiar with equipment management to reach a consensus on the challenges facing equipment fleet managers and the research needed to address them.

STATUS: Because of the issues associated with holding in-person workshops, no further work will be pursued.