Agenda Item Wording:
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Approve purchase of solid waste mini-loader truck - Authorize the purchase of one solid waste mini-loader truck from Coast Counties Peterbilt Truck and Equipment of Porterville, CA through the Sourcewell Cooperative contract in the amount of $286,837.86 and appropriate an additional $14,338 from the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund.
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Agenda Date: 11/16/2026
Prepared by:
Jason Serpa, Public Works Manager, jason.serpa@visalia.city, 713-4533 Nick Bartsch, Public Works Director, nick.bartsch@visalia.city, 713-4052
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the purchase of one solid waste mini-loader truck from Coast Counties Peterbilt Truck and Equipment, Inc. of Porterville, CA through the Sourcewell Cooperative contract (032824-PMC) in the amount of $286,837.86 and appropriate an additional $14,338 from the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund.
Summary:
In the current budget year, the Solid Waste Department has included a purchase of a solid waste mini-loader truck designed for non-Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) operations to improve collection efficiency, reduce operating costs, increase service flexibility, and allow qualified employees to operate the vehicle without requiring a CDL. This truck will be able to replace the need for the City’s larger solid waste trucks to service special requests, “go-backs” for missed or additional services, and work orders that need to be completed daily.
Background Discussion:
The City of Visalia’s Solid Waste Department currently receives an average of 50-60 work orders per week for special pickups. This number can increase to about 100 work orders in a week around holidays. Currently, these work orders require a standard, full-size solid waste truck to service and are dispatched to operators during normal route operations, often times requiring trucks to interrupt a route or complete the services at the end of the work schedule. Even though these extra services are dispatched mindful of efficiency in terms of proximity and downtime, the number of work orders that our City generates calls for a more viable application.
For a more efficient method of collecting these specials, and reduce the impact to normal route operations, the Solid Waste Department proposes purchasing a solid waste mini loader truck for non-CDL operators to improve collection efficiency, increase staffing flexibility, and eliminate the dependence of larger collection vehicles for lower-volume and specialized collection activities. The vehicle would provide a cost-effective, maneuverable option for residential service, supplemental collection routes, and targeted cleanup operations while preserving the department’s larger fleet for high-volume collection needs. This investment is intended to optimize fleet utilization, support reliable service delivery, and improve overall operational efficiency while ensuring compliance with applicable vehicle licensing and safety requirements. Any employee with a C-Class license and appropriate training would be able to operate this vehicle, including solid wase hourly workers.
Because the mini-loader truck does not require a commercial driver’s license, the vehicle provides many benefits to the operation other than just the flexibility of the employee that operates it. These benefits include:
• Reduced Operating Costs: A non-CDL mini loader costs less to purchase, maintain, fuel, and ultimately replace than a standard, full-size collection truck.
• Improved Collection Efficiency: Provides a smaller, more maneuverable vehicle for collecting solid waste in residential neighborhoods, narrow streets, alleys, parks, municipal facilities, and other areas where full-size collection trucks may be impractical.
• Enhanced Service Responsiveness: Supports special collections, overflow pickup, targeted cleanup activities, and supplemental collection routes without requiring deployment of a larger collection vehicle.
• Reduced Wear on Larger Equipment: Allows the department to reserve full-size collection trucks for high-volume routes and heavy-duty operations, potentially reducing equipment wear, maintenance demands, and unnecessary use of larger vehicles.
• Improved Operational Flexibility: Offers a practical option for smaller routes, limited-volume collection assignments, and seasonal or special-event cleanup activities.
• Potential Safety and Accessibility Benefits: A smaller vehicle may improve maneuverability and visibility in confined areas, depending on its design, operator training, and operating conditions.
Electric Option Explored:
City staff originally felt that a small application such as a solid waste mini-loader would be an excellent opportunity to increase our electric fleet to comply with CARB’s mandated transition to zero-emission vehicles. In theory, the reduced daily route size would match well with the battery-electric application and/or possible limitations.
Staff tested a nearly identical mini-loader truck with an electric powertrain and found that due to the size of the chassis, the battery size was too small to offer the amount of range that would be needed for daily operations. Alternatively, when equipped with a larger battery for greater range, the payload was greatly reduced and was not adequate.
In summary, staff felt that the electric truck’s limited range and reduced payload capacity were too inferior in comparison to an internal combustion engine (ICE)-powered truck and would not work for Solid Waste Operations.
The purchase price quoted for the electric option was $349,610.23 before any incentives. The incentive that staff identified at the time was a $60,000 HVIP voucher that would bring the purchase price down to $289,610.23. This would still make the electric option the greater cost between the two options by nearly $3,000.
Fiscal impact including annual maintenance and operating costs:
The City’s capital improvement plan includes $272,500 to purchase one solid waste mini-loader in fiscal year 26/27 (VH0371). The Sourcewell quote received from Coast Counties Peterbilt of Porterville, CA is $286,837.86, requiring an additional $14,338 to be appropriated from the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund (441).
This purchase will be for an addition to the fleet and will not be replacing any current vehicle. Coast Counties Peterbilt is the Peterbilt dealer in the area and is able to extend pricing according to the Sourcewell Cooperative contract (Contract# 032824-PMC). Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing helps the City save time and money by purchasing from ready-to-use, competitively solicited contracts. Cooperative Purchasing is “Procurement conducted by, or on behalf of, one or more Public Procurement Units,” as defined by the American Bar Association Model Procurement Code for State and Local Governments. Sourcewell streamlines the purchasing process by developing Requests for Purchase for national competitive solicitations that meet or exceed local requirements.
Prior Council Action:
N/A
Alternatives:
Alternative #1: Choose to direct staff to return with an authorization to purchase the electric mini-loader truck with the same configuration. Staff does not recommend this option as the truck’s tested range and capacity was inferior to the ICE version due to the weight and size of the batteries.
Alternative #2: To not purchase a mini-loader at this time and continue utilizing the department’s existing full-size fleet of solid waste collection vehicles and personnel to handle smaller collection routes, supplemental pickups, and specialized cleanup activities. This approach avoids the immediate capital expenditure associated with purchasing a new vehicle; however, it continues to add wear and tear on the fleet’s larger collection trucks, reduce fleet availability for primary collection routes, and create scheduling and staffing challenges. The department will continue to experience reduced flexibility and efficiency when servicing areas that are difficult for full-size collection vehicles to access.
Recommended Motion (and alternative motions if expected):
recommendation
I move to authorize the purchase of one solid waste mini-loader truck from Coast Counties Peterbilt Truck and Equipment, Inc. of Porterville, CA through the Sourcewell Cooperative contract in the amount of $286,837.86 and appropriate an additional $14,338 from the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund.
Environmental Assessment Status:
N/A
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Review:
N/A
Deadline for Action: 11/16/2026
Attachments:
Coast Counties Peterbilt Sourcewell Quote
Sourcewell Contract #032824
Vehicle Purchase Authorization
Levine Act Statement
Strategic Goal: Indicates which City Strategic Goal(s) this item supports. Select all that apply.
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