Vehicle and Equipment Best Practices Buying Guide for Local Agencies

Status:  Complete
Report Date:  03/04/2026

Summary:

Agencies regularly need to purchase fleet vehicles, equipment, and materials. One common approach to accomplish this is using MnDOT’s Cooperative Purchasing Contracts. This process can be difficult to navigate for staff unfamiliar with it. Additionally, this process sometimes raises concerns from local constituents because it typically results in buying from non-local dealers vs. buying local, which is sometimes the request of local elected officials. Since Covid-19, there have been supply chain issues as well as multi-year-long delays in material and equipment delivery. ADA version available in the MnDOT Digital Library.

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Related Research:

Project Personnel:

Principal Investigator:  John Brunkhorst

Co-Principal Investigator:  Britt Berner, Natalie Fetter

Technical Liaison:  Sam Muntean

Project Coordinator:  David Glyer

Panel Members: 
Andrew Engel - McLeod County
Ben Perkey - City of Crystal
Mitch Litfin - City of Elk River
Sam Anderson - City of Bemidji