What We Did
We determined whether the Navy, Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA), and Washington Headquarters Services (WHS) had controls in place to accurately assess their requirements for nontactical vehicles in the National Capital Region (NCR) and whether vehicles met the DoD annual mileage standard. We classified vehicles that used less than half of the mileage standard as excess.
What We Found
Navy, DLA, PFPA, and WHS did not have controls in place to accurately assess their requirements for 774 nontactical vehicles, costing $2 million in 2011, in their NCR vehicle fleets. Specifically:
- Navy, DLA, PFPA, and WHS fleet managers did not perform annual mileage reviews of staff vehicles;
- Navy, DLA, and WHS fleet managers did not maintain adequate daily mileage logs; and
- DLA and WHS did not centrally manage their NCR vehicle fleets.
This occurred because fleet managers had staffing shortages and staff turnover; were unaware of or lacked the authority to enforce the requirements to conduct annual reviews and maintain daily mileage logs; and did not prioritize the task to identify excess vehicles. As a result, the Components had 511 excess nontactical vehicles, including 89 vehicles driven less than 1,000 miles, with annual base lease costs of about $1.2 million. Eliminating these unneeded vehicles would save about $7.2 million over the next 6 years. Further, Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and PFPA did not establish guidelines on the use of 335 law enforcement vehicles. DLA’s Ft. Belvoir fleet manager used the mailroom manager’s Government purchase card (GPC) to pay $57,000 for the DLA director’s leased vehicle, rental cars, and taxis without valid contracts in place. This occurred because personnel did not follow procedures on the use and required oversight of the GPC. As a result, unauthorized commitments of funds occurred and DLA might not have received the best value for rental cars.
What We Recommend
Among other recommendations, the Commanders of Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Naval Research Laboratory, and Navy Installation Command; Chief Executive Officer, Navy Exchange Service Command; and the Directors of DLA and WHS should eliminate or justify excess vehicles, perform annual mileage reviews of vehicles, and establish daily usage logs. The Directors of NCIS and PFPA should establish usage guidelines for law enforcement vehicles. The Director, DLA needs to initiate action to review unauthorized commitments and begin ratification actions in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation and Defense Logistics Agency Directive.
Management Comments and Our Response
Management comments from the Vice Director, DLA; Director, PFPA; Director, WHS; Inspector General, Navy Installation Command; Commanding Officer, Naval Research Laboratory; and the Director, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy were generally responsive. Management comments from the Acting Director, NCIS were partially responsive. Management comments from the Commander, Naval Supply Systems Command and Inspector General, Naval Facilities Engineering Command were generally not responsive. We request that the Navy, DLA, and WHS provide additional comments.