Aaron Marsh/Fleet Owner
Keith Kerman, deputy commissioner of New York's Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services, talked new safety initiatives for the NYC municipal fleet and progress in alternative fuels/sustainability at the 28th annual NYC Fleet Show Thurs., May 12.
Keith Kerman, deputy commissioner of New York's Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services, talked new safety initiatives for the NYC municipal fleet and progress in alternative fuels/sustainability at the 28th annual NYC Fleet Show Thurs., May 12.
Keith Kerman, deputy commissioner of New York's Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services, talked new safety initiatives for the NYC municipal fleet and progress in alternative fuels/sustainability at the 28th annual NYC Fleet Show Thurs., May 12.
Keith Kerman, deputy commissioner of New York's Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services, talked new safety initiatives for the NYC municipal fleet and progress in alternative fuels/sustainability at the 28th annual NYC Fleet Show Thurs., May 12.
Keith Kerman, deputy commissioner of New York's Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services, talked new safety initiatives for the NYC municipal fleet and progress in alternative fuels/sustainability at the 28th annual NYC Fleet Show Thurs., May 12.

One of nation's greenest fleets eyeing safety, too

May 13, 2016
NYC fleet boss says no hands-free phone use for municipal fleet drivers, side guards coming for trucks; big response for alt fuel info request

Having just launched big initiatives to expand its use of alternative fuels, New York City's municipal fleet has another directive in mind as well: drivers will be prohibited from even hands-free cell phone use in trucks and other vehicles.

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) Commissioner Lisette Camilo made the announcement yesterday, and DCAS Deputy Commissioner and Chief Fleet Officer Keith Kerman discussed the move at the 28th annual NYC Fleet Show held in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

New York municipal trucks on display at the NYC Fleet Show. CLICK PHOTO TO VIEW SLIDESHOW FROM THE EVENT. (Aaron Marsh/Fleet Owner)

"The 80,000 New York City fleet operators who drive our 29,000 vehicles will no longer be allowed to use hands-free phones while driving," Kerman said. DCAS was asked to consider "all we could do" to improve safety, he contended, and examining cell phone use, surmised "there's absolutely no difference in the dangerous distraction in conducting a phone conversation — whether you're holding it [the phone handset] or you have a hands-free — when you're trying to drive."

DCAS will make the no-phones policy part of driver training going forward, according to Kerman. "If you see a city operator driving and using a hand-held phone, texting or having a conversation on a Bluetooth [headset], let us know about it; call 311," he told listeners.

Meanwhile, Kerman had a question for truck manufacturers: Why do you have safety features in place on your products for some countries and remove them for the U.S. market?

All of New York City's municipal heavy trucks and private waste hauler trucks are required to have side guards, like this one seen on a Parks

The case in point was side guards for trucks, which essentially are bumpers or barriers on the sides of trucks that help prevent struck pedestrians or bicyclists from getting dragged under the rear wheels. Kerman noted that such side guards have been the norm or required in Europe for decades. After determining their effectiveness, Mayor de Blasio signed legislation last summer requiring side guards on all the city's large trucks and private waste hauler trucks by 2024.

"All of them will be retrofitting and installing truck side guards," Kerman said. "We know based on the statistics that they will prevent about 10% of fatalities in accidents with pedestrians and bicyclists." He pointed out that NYC currently has "the largest rollout in the country" of some 375 truck side guard installations, but doesn't necessarily want the distinction.

"There should be millions of these and we should just be playing our small role," he argued.

Green fleet initiatives

On the sustainable fuels front, New York announced in December its NYC Clean Fleet initiative, which among other things puts the city on a trajectory to have the largest electric vehicle fleet in the country besides the federal government's within a decade.

"I'm happy to tell you the first orders of 225 electric vehicles have been placed and we're on pace," said Kerman. Some new NYC fleet electric vehicles including Nissan LEAF cars were on display at the show.

One of New York City's new electric vehicles, a Nissan LEAF, on display at the NYC Fleet Show in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. CLICK PHOTO TO VIEW SLIDESHOW FROM THE EVENT. (Aaron Marsh/Fleet Owner)

​DCAS is also targeting a 50% total emissions reduction across the municipal fleet over the same time frame. The city has one of the most diverse portfolios of alternative fuels you'll find in fleets, with everything from electric to natural gas, hybrid power, biodiesel and solar energy powering vehicles of various kinds.

"The only way we'll meet that 50% goal is to change, almost completely, how we fuel, and get off fossil fuels for trucking," Kerman contended. "And we have every intention of doing that."

The city put out a request for information in December concerning alternative fuels, and Kerman praised the industry's "extraordinary engagement" in delivering more than 100 formal proposals. "We intend to respond to every single vendor that reached out to us," he said.

"The mayor has put the city's money where our ambitions are," Kerman quipped. "We have $4 billion we're going to spend on fleet and fuel over the next 10 years, and we want to direct as much of it as possible to the alternative fuel industry."

About the Author

Aaron Marsh

Before computerization had fully taken hold and automotive work took someone who speaks engine, Aaron grew up in Upstate New York taking cars apart and fixing and rewiring them, keeping more than a few great jalopies (classics) on the road that probably didn't deserve to be. He spent a decade inside the Beltway covering Congress and the intricacies of the health care system before a stint in local New England news, picking up awards for both pen and camera.

He's written about you-name-it, from transportation and law and the courts to events of all kinds and telecommunications, and landed in trucking when he joined Fleet Owner in July 2015. Long an editorial leader, he's a keeper of knowledge at Fleet Owner ready to dive in on the technical and the topical inside and all around trucking—and still turns a wrench or two. Or three. 

And he's never without a camera, or so rumor has it.

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