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Presenting AF's 2009 Fleet Manager of the Year Nominees

Eleven qualified fleet managers were nominated to compete for this year’s award. The field will be narrowed to three finalists and the winner announced April 26 at the NAFA Institute & Expo in New Orleans.

by Staff
March 4, 2009
Presenting AF's 2009 Fleet Manager of the Year Nominees

 

8 min to read


Click here for PDF of article, including photos.

Theresa F. Anderson
Corporate Equipment Manager, Parsons
Total vehicles: 1,200+
Staff supervised: 29
Years with current fleet: 3  
Total years in fleet industry: 13
Replacement policy: 4 years/125K miles

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As operations manager for the $100 million construction fleet, Anderson manages 1,200-plus vehicles and 600 owned and leased units of construction equipment. Having served more than 12 years in the construction industry, she is a certified crane inspector, rigger inspector, and forklift trainer. She is working with fleet to implement programs to reduce GHG emissions and its carbon footprint, as well as cut fuel and maintenance costs. Anderson is a current member of NAFA, ISM, ACEM, and AEMP (first ACEM-certified female equipment manager in 2002 and current board VP).

Theresa Belding
Senior Manager – Fleet Services,
Forest Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Total vehicles: 2,900
Staff supervised: 3
Years with current fleet: 16
Total years in fleet industry: 16
Replacement policy: 36 months/75K miles

Belding’s team is responsible for fleet administration and safety. Over a 10-year span she has turned a 250-vehicle closed-end leased, fully-insured fleet into a 2,900-vehicle, open-end leased, self-insured fleet. Cost reductions in fleet expenses have continued since a 2007 RFP consolidated the fleet with one fleet management company. MY-2008 offerings included more four-cylinder vehicles due to a focus on fuel consumption. Despite year-over-year mileage increases, her safety group continues to see accident reductions per million miles. Belding’s team continues efforts to provide the most fuel-efficient vehicles to meet business needs, increase driver safety, and ensure fleet uses industry best practices.

Sue Burke
Fleet Operations Manager,
Carestream Health        
Total vehicles: 500 (U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico)
Staff supervised:  0
Years with current fleet: 2
Total years in fleet industry: 2
Replacement policy:  3 years/55K miles (cars); 3 years/65K miles (vans)

Since May 2007, Burke has served as operations manager for the Travel Fleet and American Express Programs in Rochester, N.Y., managing approximately 500 vehicles for the sales and service organizations in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. In addition to fleet, she manages the corporate card program and handles travel policies and guidelines for Carestream travelers. Burke’s focus in fleet is working with suppliers to set cost savings goals while evaluating the program’s effectiveness. Prior to joining Carestream, Burke was employed at Eastman Kodak Co. for more than 30 years. She holds a Six Sigma Green Belt Certification.

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[PAGEBREAK]Christy Coyte
Global Fleet Manager,
Johnson Controls, Inc.
Total vehicles: 14,500+ globally
Staff supervised:  3 direct reports
Years with current fleet: 14
Total years in fleet industry: 14
Replacement policy: 72 months/150K miles (service vehicles); up to 44 months/50K miles (management cars – U.S. and Canada)



As global fleet manager for Johnson Controls, Inc., an automotive systems and facility management control company, Coyte oversees fleet operations in more than 20 countries, managing more than 14,000 vehicles. In this role, she oversees the strategic direction, coordination, and implementation and management of fleet activities throughout North and South America, Mexico, Europe, and the Asia Pacific.
Before joining fleet 14 years ago, Coyte began her career with Johnson Controls in 1978, holding various positions in audit, legal, and human resources. She has been a NAFA member since 1994, currently serving as Michigan chapter secretary. Coyte also serves on the LeasePlan’s Future Directions (U.S.) and Global Advisory boards.

Joe Fiorelli
Director of Fleet Operations
(National & International), TBE Group Inc.
Total vehicles: 200
Staff supervised:  1
Years with current fleet: 8
Total years in fleet industry: 12
Replacement policy: 38-48 months/85K-125K miles

Fiorelli has served as national/international fleet manager for the past five years. He has brought to the 200-vehicle fleet an enhanced system of operations, optimizing vehicle utilization, and outsourcing non-core services for maximum fleet efficiency. Fiorelli has developed and implemented fleet-specific standard policies and procedures to ensure continuity of proper equipment operation and maintenance, and has established an accounting system to track vehicle expense data by vehicle group to maximize cost-effective fleet operations. He continuously monitors market/remarketing trends for optimum fleet vehicle disposal, and his cost-saving and regulatory compliance programs have resulted in measurable efficiency and reliability improvements, leading to substantial cost savings and giving TBE a competitive industry advantage.

Jeffrey Hurrell, CAFM
North American Fleet Manager,
Hewlett-Packard       
Total vehicles: 9,100
Staff supervised:  3
Years with current fleet: 1.5 years
Total years in fleet industry: 10
Replacement policy: 12-36 months based on country

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Hurrell is responsible for the overall management of the Hewlett-Packard (HP) fleet program for Canada and the U.S., including fleet policy administration, vendor relationship management, budgeting, driver safety, risk management, auditing, and asset management. Over the past year, he has focused his efforts on creating operational efficiencies as well as implementing fleet policy changes to influence a higher level of performance, addressing issues such as risk management, asset management, fuel usage, driver eligibility, and spousal privileges — resulting in more than 10-percent cost savings to the annual budget. He is currently working on an initiative to develop a global model that incorporates the best practices from the North American fleet model.  Additionally, he is working on implementation of a fleet strategy to overcome current financial and OEM obstacles in the industry and save millions of dollars for HP in the upcoming years.

Jason Pucely
Sr. Mgr., Services Operations, Best Buy    
Total vehicles:  4,645
Staff supervised:  5
Years with current fleet:  2.5
Total years in fleet industry:  2.5
Replacement policy:  60 months/90K miles (vans/trucks), 48 months/65K miles (passenger cars)

Pucely manages a fleet of light trucks and vans supporting Best Buy’s Geek Squad teams. In this role, he created a replacement planning and bailment pool implementation; saved fleet nearly $900,000 by relocating and reducing underutilized vehicles; developed and implemented a fleet standard operating procedure; standardized and automated MVR review process fleet-wide; streamlined upfit packages; ensured vehicles meet business needs; established monthly exception and quarterly performance reports for field distribution; rebranded all home theater and repair division vans; implemented quarterly metrics to monitor fleet performance; standardized fuel card program across the enterprise; managed procurement of all services related to Goods Not For Resale; managed technical license functions for Best Buy services businesses; implemented an online fleet safety program; and established a national toll account program.

[PAGEBREAK]Milton “Bud” Reuter
Director, Fleet & Procurement, Comcast
Total vehicles: 40,158
Staff supervised:  0
Years with current fleet: 9
Total years in fleet industry: 13
Replacement policy: 7 years /130K miles



Reuter is responsible for the acquisition of 3,000-6,000 vehicles annually and general operation of a 40,000-unit fleet for Comcast Corp., a national provider of cable, entertainment, and communications products and services. He currently has no direct reports, but constantly communicates with representatives at more than 200 locations.
Recently, Reuter obtained responsibility for all capital spending for vehicles, centralizing the acquisition process, increasing diversity spending, negotiating fuel and maintenance program discounts and internal acceptance of electronic invoicing, increasing capable AFVs and workforce management, and tracking implementation.
In addition to fleet, Reuter is also responsible for managing contracts for uniforms, hand tools, premium items, office supplies, and employee household good moves.

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Dean Saunders
Senior Director of Purchasing, The Wackenhut Corp.
Total vehicles: 1,100
Staff supervised: 8
Years with current fleet: 15
Total years in fleet industry: 17
Replacement policy: 3 years/70K miles

Saunders began at Wackenhut Corp. as a personnel manager in 1991, holding several titles before promotion to his current role in 2008. In 2007, Saunders saved fleet more than $1 million by splitting manufacturers and securing a discount to replace Jeep Libertys with Dodge Nitros. He has helped Wackenhut Corp. sister companies leverage buying power and streamline fleet operations, with five fleets currently operating under the company’s name. In 2008, he took on additional responsibility to manage the Canadian fleet and has completed the first physical inventory of 150 units. In 2008, Saunders replaced all fuel cards with fuel-only cards, reducing fraud and non-fuel related purchases and gaining control of total fuel spend. He also reduced monthly fuel spend by one tank of gas per vehicle. He uses GE’s mobile resource management solution to measure fuel spend and idle time. Saunders is a member of NAFA and GE Capital Solutions Fleet Services’ Client Advisory Board.

Jack Scott
Supervisor, Fleet Administration,
ConocoPhillips Company
Total vehicles:  5,500
Staff supervised:  4
Years with current fleet: 14
Total years in fleet industry: 32
Replacement policy:  85K miles (cars); 125K miles (trucks/SUVs)

Scott has helped streamline fleet processes and improve the ability to measure costs and bolster field productivity. He supervises vehicle and mobile equipment fleet management in the U.S. and Canada, two vehicle maintenance shops in Oklahoma, and manages the Corporate Auto Equity Program, employee-paid rental and medical permit parking, and local Red Cross Blood Drives. Scott transitioned to leasing vehicles and equipment, implemented a fleet management process using ARI, managed vehicle transfers for multiple acquistions and asset divestitures, created and implemented corporate vehicle selector and policy, and implemented a fuel management program. He has held ASE certifications in both automotive and truck disciplines, and  is a current member of NAFA, ARI’s Customer Technology Advisory Meeting, and the Ford Fleet Advisory Board.

Michael Sims
Fleet Operations Manager, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Total vehicles: 12,500
Staff supervised: 2 direct reports, 8 indirect reports,16 additional co-staff
Years with current fleet: 25
Total years in industry: 35
Replacement Policy: 4 years/75K miles (trucks); 3 years/ 55K miles sedans)

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Sims’ responsibilities include vehicle acquisition and specification, manufacturer agreements, ordering, invoicing and rebates, Web-based global and budget assistance, business development, qualifying miles, supervising vehicle service center and motor pool employees, and maintaining employee Internet purchasing programs. He improved the lifecycle cost tool to ensure proper vehicle selection and implemented a Web-based automated motor pool reservation system, saving time and money. Sims has served as Ford Fleet Sounding Board chairman, GM domestic Fleet Sounding Board chairman and global GM Fleet Sounding Board member, and AFLA Sounding Board member. He and his team are working on major projects focusing on GPS-based driver accountability, establishing a global fleet system, and improving global business processes and purchasing.

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