Fleet Stores

Equipment and Construction Materials Supply Section

The Equipment and Construction Materials Supply Section was established to provide acquisition, warehousing, and distribution support to King County Fleet Administration, Road Maintenance Section and Traffic Operations. Throughout the years we have prided ourselves on supplying our internal customers with quality products at very competitive prices. Several years ago, we began extending our services to other departments, municipalities, and government subdivisions as a means to improve efficiency and control costs.

Initially, the plan was to act as a central source for road construction materials because of their high shipping costs and long lead times, but we expanded to include all product lines. We have also found selling to other agencies to be mutually beneficial. Increasing our purchase volume leads to better vendor prices that are ultimately passed on to all customers. Clients are under no obligation to purchase from Fleet Stores, and may choose to buy only those items that offer the best savings. The success of this project is obvious. From the nine agreements we began with in 1993, we have now grown to more than 80.

Our catalog shows the products we carry in inventory and the price you would have paid, all-inclusive, when this catalog was printed. Prices do fluctuate, but this information is intended to give you a general idea of where we might be able to assist you. Please feel free to call Marian Honeysuckle, stores operations manager, at 206-296-8160 if you have any questions or would like a tour of the facilities.

Regional partnerships benefit everyone. We are proud to say that in this case, government has not gotten bigger—just better!

Supply catalog

2013 Customer Catalog (144KB PDF)

Benefits of using Fleet Stores

Listed below are just some of the benefits you can derive by using King County Fleet Stores

• Consistent product quality; industrial grade, brand names
• Products often unique to government agency special applications and functions
• Inventory available upon demand
• Ongoing price comparisons to identify potential savings
• Vendor buy-back clause in all contracts, surplus purchased at market value
• Assistance in locating hard-to-find items
• Special orders for non-stock items placed upon request
• Fabrication or in-house manufacturing for some specialty items, including signs
• Lower prices from volume purchasing, competitive bidding, ongoing price comparisons
• Reduced overhead and operating costs due to increased cost distribution
• No funds tied up in maintaining an inventory
• Elimination of waste, loss, obsolescence or spoilage caused by buying in advance
• Expenditures are not incurred until the material is picked up when the job starts
• Extended hours during severe weather conditions or emergency situations
• Assistance with identification and procurement of emergency preparedness products for response staff
• Paperwork reduction: control staff costs and reduce labor by having fewer invoices to process, fewer accounts-payable transactions, fewer checks to be printed, fewer files to maintain, and fewer hours spent reconciling invoices
• One-stop shopping: most items available from a single source
• All products checked for hazardous content; more environmentally friendly product substitutions are continually sought
• Alleviation of possible purchasing ethics violations
• Conformance to state purchasing regulations; bid process done by King County
• Expenditure and policy audits by the state or in-house staff are simplified
• Detailed cost accounting allocation made possible by the Fleet system’s ability to track costs at project level