BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, California—Recently Beale partnered with FedVan to acquire a fleet of free use vehicles. FedVan is a veteran owned and operated company, which offers federal employees a free commuting service option.
Chuck Maddox, FedVan chief executive officer, and his partner Jeff created this company with the goal of providing free commuting options for service members at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. Since FedVan was established in 2011, it has serviced more than 2,500 customers with its fleet of more than 90 vans and busses at bases across the U.S. to now include Beale.
“FedVan was founded out of a real need to reduce commuting costs for Airmen at Creech,” said Cassy Diroff, Sacramento branch manager. “Creech has a unique need for this service because the base is located about 40 minutes outside of Las Vegas in the middle of the desert. The Nevada desert conditions are hard on vehicles and in addition the drive is quite long, so paying for gas becomes a real financial strain.”
According to a DOT study, traffic congestion wastes 1.9 billion gallons of gas, which costs $100 billion in wasted fuel and time a year.
“This program is perfect for Beale,” Cassy said. “With Airmen commuting from places like Roseville and Rocklin, to Nevada City, downtown Sacramento, and as far as Chico and Fairfield, we know the need exists here to have better commuting options. Our vans are perfect for this.”
FedVan operates through a subsidy provided by the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Mass Transit Benefit Program (MTBP), which offsets the commuting cost for federal employees.
“Through the use of the MTBP we provide our members with free, clean, reliable and safe vehicles to commute to and from work,” Cassy said. “We utilize seven to 15 passenger vans, shuttles and busses to get you to where you are going, and even pay for gas. We estimate that with the cost of fuel, oil, tires, brakes and general maintenance, which the average member can save around $400 a month.”
Additionally, FedVan is working with base leadership to develop a shuttle transportation service for Beale’s dorm and housing areas. This would give customers the option to get around base to places like the clinic, Exchange and other facilities.
“The federal government may look at this program as a way to reduce traffic, emissions and as a benefit of being a federal employee,” Cassy said, “we look at it as a way that we can give back and serve those of you who serve our country in the Armed Forces.”
For more information and to register for FedVan services, please visit https://fedvan.com/