Donna Bibbo, CAFM, CCTE 

Manager, Fleet & Travel
Novo Nordisk Inc.
Total vehicles: 3,941 (U.S. and Canada)
Staff supervised: 1 in-house employee, and 4 dedicated outsourced workers
Years with current fleet: 7
Years in industry: 23½

Replacement policy: 36 months/70,000 miles

Memberships: NAFA Corporate Fleet Advisory Council and AFLA Commercial Fleet Manager Sounding Board. Past Wheels Client Steering Council, Fleet Response Advisory Board, and World Travel Inc. 

Primary responsibilities: Bibbo always aims to make the employee experience as best as possible as it pertains to company vehicles/driving and travel while keeping in mind fiduciary responsibility to the company and its commitment to the environment. She constantly seeks out value-added services for drivers to allow them to stay productive and safe while maintaining their vehicles. 

Notable achievements: In 2012, Bibbo reduced maintenance costs by 2 percent, depreciation costs by 11 percent, CO2 emissions by 3 percent per mile, and preventable accidents per million miles by 3 percent over 2011. She worked with Novo Nordisk’s leasing company to implement a customized, outsourced fleet administration program, reducing in-house transactional work by 95 percent. This allowed the company’s fleet associate to spend more time on analytical activities and learning fleet management skill sets. She managed a fleet expansion of 765 vehicles. She also completed the bidding process and implemented a new accident management vendor.

Bibbo revised the accident reporting process and the company’s partnership with its insurance claims reporting vendor and implemented a customized vehicle inventory management program with its leasing company to better assign vehicles to new hires and retrieve vehicles from terminated employees. She also manages a $55-million fleet program and a $60-million travel program.

Michael Bieger

Senior Director Global Procurement
Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP)
Total vehicles: 3,360 (1,750 U.S.; 60 Canada; 1,550 Europe)
Staff supervised: 3
Years with current fleet: 8
Years in industry: 15

Replacement policy: 30-40 months/75,000-95,000 miles (North America)

Memberships: NAFA Corporate Fleet Advisory Council, AFLA Commercial Fleet Manager Sounding Board, GE Capital Fleet Services Client Advisory Board, GE Technology Client Advisory Board, and Wheels Client Steering Council. Past member of the GM Commercial Sounding Board.

Primary responsibilities: Bieger oversees all aspects of ADP’s four distinct North American fleets; provides concise, accurate, and actionable financial reporting, cost data analysis (trending), and annual budget projection; provides goals and direction to representatives for all ADP European businesses as corporate global procurement lead; and sets policy direction for ADP fleet.

Notable achievements: Bieger recently utilized the strong North American resale market to replace an additional 54 percent of the fleet early (2013 model-year) with more fuel-efficient cars. He has replaced about 90 percent of ADP’s vehicles in the last two years. He plans to move to hybrids in MY-14.

Additionally, Beiger branched out with MVR work to include all reimbursement drivers as well as fleet car drivers. He instituted a driver program to improve mpg results and further reduce accident costs, which are down significantly from the previous year.

Globally, Bieger launched matrix-bidding and multi-bidding for all new leases, successfully removed vehicle insurance from European leases with more than 90 percent of all ADP vehicles now covered under its global insurance policy — moving to 100 percent as leases expire.

Mike Butsch

Director of Global Fleet Operations
Joy Global
Total vehicles: 1,400 (Global)
Staff supervised: 3
Years with current fleet: 13
Years in industry: 13

Replacement policy: Variable

Memberships: AFLA Commercial Fleet Manager Sounding Board and AFLA Global Fleet Advisory Board.

Primary responsibilities: Butsch oversees and manages all global fleet operations, strategic fleet alliances with OEMs, and DOT compliance for each of the five Joy Global business units, plus Canada.

Notable achievements: Butsch developed a centralized fleet/DOT policy to standardize all company vehicle activities, documented cost avoidance and savings of more than $39 million since 2000, and rightsized the fleet to boost fuel and operating cost savings and resale values with a projected lifecycle savings of $3.3 million on rightsized units. He also lowered accident rates from 20 percent in 2007 to 8 percent in 2012, implemented telematics/GPS technology across the fleet, resulting in more than $1.73 million in savings, and reduced fuel consumption by 260,000 gallons (2012) for net savings of $867,000 and a 2-percent reduction in total fleet emissions. Butsch maximized supplier relationships, resulting in longer-term agreements and increased incentives. In addition, he has authored nine top-viewed articles published in Work Truck magazine on DOT compliance.

John Dmochowsky, CAFM

Senior Sales Fleet Manager
Mondelez International
Total vehicles: 3,300
Staff supervised: 2
Years with current fleet: 12
Years in industry: 12

Replacement policy: 36 months/60,000 miles

Memberships: NAFA Corporate Fleet Advisory Council, AFLA Commercial Fleet Manager Sounding Board, and GE Capital Fleet Services Client Advisory Board. Past member of the Ford Fleet Advisory Board. 

Primary responsibilities: Dmochowsky handles the overall management of Mondelez’s U.S. sales fleet program, including fleet policy administration, strategic partner relationships, management, budgeting, vehicle acquisition and disposal, driver safety, auditing, reducing the fleet’s GHG emissions and carbon footprint, fuel management, and repair-maintenance cost-saving initiatives.

Notable achievements: Dmochowsky worked on a nine-month action plan for Kraft as it split into two separate entities. This required frequent meetings with stakeholders; internally and with suppliers to accomplish a 125-plus point project plan including splitting contracts, restructuring the business format for billing, reporting and IT feeds, re-registering 3,300-plus vehicles for the new Mondelez International fleet, and hiring and training two new people to ensure processes were on-track to meet deadlines to spin-off the company.

Dmochowsky advocated for a more fuel-efficient vehicle that reduced emissions by 16 percent and total cost of ownership by 17 percent, which required an agreement from the executive level to implement this initiative for the new sales’ fuel-efficient vehicle. He also chose to accelerate 47 percent of his fleet to optimize gains on sales due to the strong resale market, which resulted in multimillion dollar saving as a result of this accelerated vehicle replacement initiative. Dmochowsky also reduced preventable accidents by 10 percent by implementing a new accident reduction initiative. 

Dean Dunton, PMP

Global Procurement, Global Fleet Manager
NCR Corporation
Total vehicles: 5,100 (2,800 U.S., 460 Canada, 140 Mexico, 1,700 Europe)
Staff supervised: 2 NCR Employees, 6 outsourced dedicated staff
Years with current fleet: 3
Years in industry: 8

Replacement policy: 48 months/120,000 miles

Memberships: Chrysler Fleet Advisory Board and GE Capital Fleet Services Client Advisory Board.

Primary responsibilities: Dunton develops and executes strategic programs for fleet and fleet management commodities deployed in support of NCR’s global infrastructure. He delivers “best-in-class” tool vehicles, support services, and vehicle experience to NCR’s customer engineers with a focus on enabling them to provide an exceptional customer experience. He manages $80 million in global fleet spend over 15 countries.

Notable achievements: Dunton aligned NCR’s replacement cycle to capture the maximum remarketing opportunity over the past two years, achieving $3.2 million in gains in 2011 and $2.6 million in 2012. Also in 2012, he consolidated and aligned outsourced fleet management companies to provide a unified reporting platform within global regions, which resulted in $2.2 million in savings in lease financing, service fees, maintenance costs, and idle inventory reduction. In addition to direct cost reductions, the accessibility of fleet data provided greater visibility to operational managers of the performance metrics of their territory level fleet.

Dunton also established a cross-functional steering committee to address fleet safety and policy, which includes EH&S, HR, legal, risk, and NCR service operations members. He wrote new NCR U.S. Fleet Safety standards with global standards targeted for completion in 2013.

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Jonathan Kamanns

Enterprise Fleet Manager
Ingersoll Rand
Total vehicles: 5,200
Staff supervised: 6 (4 fleet & safety specialists, 1 fleet data analyst, 1 fleet compliance analyst)
Years with current fleet: 11/2
Years in industry: 10

Replacement policy: Sedans/crossovers typically 3 years/75,000 miles; light-, medium-duties typically 5 years/125,000 miles; heavy-duties by TCO.

Memberships: AFLA Commercial Fleet Manager Sounding Board, GE Capital Fleet Services Client Advisory Board, CEI DriverCare Users Group/Global Advisory Board, and NAFA Chapter Chair.

Primary responsibilities: Kamanns manages fleet operations, inclusive of total cost of ownership, driver risk management, compliance, and supplier relationships.

Notable achievements: Kamanns centralized fleet services decision-making and instituted enterprise alignment with EHS, risk management, HR, legal, and business leaders in support of safety and productivity of fleet. He improved the fleet policy, incorporating safety and providing transparency and accountability enterprisewide. Kamanns received alignment and support from company leadership to support a compliant and efficient direction in fleet, executed in field by managers. He created a driver risk management program inclusive of at least annual MVRs, MVRs post collision, and 10 percent random checks, combined with collisions. He implemented HRMS data integrity and integration with suppliers, and data analytics for internal stakeholders through a daily HR feed to internal/external suppliers.

Kamanns also shortcycled nearly 1,000 vehicles, taking advantage of the opportunistic resale market and put more fuel-efficient vehicles on the ground, which signficantly decreased maintenance and fuel costs, ultimately resulting in more than $5 million in year-over-year productivity through two years.

Scott Lauer

Associate Director, North American Fleet
Administration
Merck, Sharp & Dohme Corp.
Total vehicles: 8,000
Staff supervised: 2
Years with current fleet: 6
Total years in industry: 6

Replacement policy: Variable, depending on resale loss/gain projections

Memberships: NAFA. Past Ford Fleet Advisory Board and Wheels Client Steering Council.

Primary responsibilities: Lauer provides operational leadership and management of Merck’s U.S., Canadian, Puerto Rican, and Caribbean fleet services. Responsibilities include fleet safety, purchases, leases, and contract oversight for all aspects of vehicle program management, as well as administration of fleet policy. He implemented a total-cost-of-ownership model to reduce expenses, improve fuel economy, and ensures sustainability.

Notable achievements: Lauer successfully managed the integration of Schering-Plough and Merck fleets. He documented savings of $7.5 million in 2009, $14.3 million in 2010, $3 million in 2011, and $9 million in 2012/2013 related to a rigorous application of the TCO model and accelerated vehicle replacements, which took advantage of resale gains.

Lauer implemented a comprehensive safety program, resulting in a significant reduction in accidents and zero driver fatalities during his tenure. He set up a managed a fleet program in Puerto Rico and Jamaica, including selling off dozens of unused and underutilized vehicles. He introduced compact vehicles in the sales fleet to reduce costs and fuel consumption. Lauer also led the pharmaceutical Fleet Manager Benchmarking Survey session at the NAFA I&E for the past two years. 

Dick Malcom

Fleet Administrator
State Farm Mutual
Automobile Insurance Co.
Total vehicles: 11,058 U.S. and Canada
Staff supervised: 0
Years with current fleet: 12
Years in industry: 12

Replacement policy: 85,000 miles

Memberships: AFLA (board member); and GM Commercial Sounding Board.

Primary responsibilities: Malcom oversees policies and procedures relating to the purchase, lease, sale, and operation of the company’s fleet of cars and trucks. He conducts contract negotiations with varying levels of complexity to obtain/maintain supplier agreements (including legal terms and conditions and business requirements).

He monitors and manages vehicle expenses, including fuel, maintenance, and depreciation. He researches vehicles, choosing safe, reliable, cost-efficient, and comfortable vehicles appropriate for various business needs. He leads and/or coordinates project work.

Notable achievements: Malcom increased oversight and accountability of the fleet. Combined with an updated business model, this has resulted in downsizing from more than 20,000 vehicles to 11,058. He collaborated efforts with State Farm Bank to create the program behind the State Farm Bank Visa Fleet card (fuel, maintenance, tolls, license fees, and accident repair), which reduced internal costs and provided internal income. He introduced a rental option to the pool car fleet, which eliminated underutilized vehicles and lowered internal expenses.

Malcom oversaw the design, development, and implementation of new fleet management software. He designed and implemented a new driver policy and internal charge-back system to increase accountability and compliance. He coordinated a collaborative project with claims, catastrophe, strategic resources, safety, and systems divisions to develop an advanced ergonomic/efficient mobile office for more than 2,500 claims employees.

Malcom also introduced “domestically assembled foreign vehicles” (Toyota, Nissan, and Subaru) into the fleet, increasing driver satisfaction and reducing cost of ownership. He initiated a centralized purchasing program to take advantage of the State Farm buying power, and created and implemented an online Employee Purchase Program, which increased fleet’s return on sale and resulted in a sales tax savings of more than $3 million through the trade-in program.

Frederic McKinnon

Director, Fleet Operations and Travel
Lorillard Tobacco Company
Total vehicles: 1,000
Staff supervised: 3
Years with current fleet: 6
Years in industry: 21

Replacement policy: Each vehicle is reviewed with three years of service and projected mileage of 65,000 for replacement.

Memberships: Ford Fleet Advisory Board.

Primary responsibilities: McKinnon directs the procurement, maintenance, and operations management of vehicles to provide safe and reliable transportation for Field Sales. He annually replaces more than 300 vehicles while processing the annual purchase in August for two deliveries in October and February.

Notable achievements: McKinnon joined the Lorillard Tobacco Company in 2007 after 15 years in the rental car industry, managing profit center operations in Boston, Portland, Charlotte, and Atlanta for two car rental companies National/Alamo and Dollar/Thrifty.

He transitioned the Lorillard fleet from the Dodge Magnum to the new Dodge Journey in 2009 as the primary vehicle for field sales. He tested 17 new models during economic downturn to determine the most appropriate vehicle for field sales, selecting the Ford Escape, Taurus, Explorer, Flex, and Edge. After the spring 2013 delivery cycle, fleet consists of 99.97 percent Ford models.

During 2010 and 2011 the company developed a report card in key fleet areas, which would mostly impact financial results, and was able to benchmark key performance indicators against other similar vehicle fleets. Lorillard achieved national account utilization of 94 percent in 2012 and 97 percent in 2011 (over a benchmark of 83 percent) resulting in saving of more than $34,000 in 2012 and more than $42,000 in 2011.

McKinnon improved the fleet’s fuel economy from 21.47 mpg in 2011 to 22.54 mpg in 2012. He reduced gasoline purchases at Tier 1 stations from 70 percent in 2010 to 30 percent in 2011 and 2012, saving $52,000 in 2012. He reduced accidents in 2011 from 13.05 accidents per million miles to 11.27 in 2012.

Brandon Morris

Director Fleet Services
DIRECTV
Total vehicles: 5,750
Staff supervised: 7
Years with current fleet: 8
Years in industry: 17

Replacement policy: 100,000 miles

Memberships: AFLA, GM Fleet & Commercial Sounding Board, ARI Customer Technology Advisory Group, Fleet Response Advisory Board, and WEX Lead User Group.

Primary responsibilities: Morris is responsible for the management of the overall fleet operations for DIRECTV’s 125-plus sites. He develops safety policies and procedures, new-vehicle specifications, green fleet initiatives, oversees vendor management, optimizes fleet utilization, creates maintenance parameters, performs expense analysis, and handles vehicle disposals.

Notable achievements: Morris started as a temporary employee in 1996 working for Ryder TRS in the maintenance department. Since then, he has worked for and managed several large fleets including AT&T Broadband, Charter Communications, and most recently DIRECTV.

Over the past five years, the original fleet has doubled in size due to acquisitions by DIRECTV. With this growth came the opportunity to build a team to manage the overall fleet operations of DIRECTV. He created a fleet team that is totally integrated with the operations they support and works closely with them to promote safety, improve tech productivity, and reduce expenses. The fleet safety policies and procedures have resulted in considerable reductions in their auto claims.

His implementation of an aggressive replacement policy and the creation of a regional fleet manager structure to work with local vendors has reduced maintenance spend by 30 percent over two years. Morris has developed direct relationships with leasing, damage, fuel, and remarketing companies which has significantly reduced DIRECTV’s total cost of ownership.

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Richard Odell

Global Sr. Category Leader, Fleet &
Indirect Services
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Total vehicles: 5,000 globally; 2,550 in North America
Staff supervised: 0; Governance over 40 fleet administrators globally
Years with current fleet: 5
Years in industry: 5

Replacement policy: 48 months/90,000 miles

Memberships: PHH Client Advisory Board and AFLA Global Fleet Management Advisory Board. Former member of LeasePlan Advisory Board.

Primary responsibilities: Odell provides strategic direction to maximize the value of the company’s sales and service transportation assets globally. He collaborates with business operations, human resources, and risk management to provide governance for fleet policy and administration.

Notable achievements: Over the past five years, Odell moved 1,000 employees from a per diem program to a leased company vehicle program, doubled the size of the fleet in the U.S. from the per-diem transition and 500 new vehicles from corporate acquisitions, reduced total cost of ownership through a period of rising fuel cost, and saved the company more than $5 million by leveraging the favorable residual market in the past three years.

Anne O’Neill-Regan

Senior Manager, Fleet
Eisai, Inc.
Total vehicles: 750
Staff supervised: 1
Years with current fleet: 9
Years in industry: 25

Replacement policy: 3 years/65,000 miles (U.S.); 3 years/100,000 km (Canada & Mexico)

Memberships: NAFA, AFLA, and Wheels Client Steering Council.

Primary responsibilities: O’Neill-Regan negotiates all contracts and manages all phases of the fleet lifecycle, including vehicle costs and operation, maintenance, insurance, and safety. Her responsibilities currently encompass overall budgeting for the U.S., Canada, and Mexico with future plans to expand into Brazil.

Notable achievements: O’Neill-Regan renegotiated contracts and created policy from the result of an acquisition thereby saving $2 million. She achieved positive results from continuous negotiations and forecasting of the market — FY-12 savings in vehicle sales were $2.5 million.

She has developed customized maintenance schedules for each vehicle model to ensure correct maintenance is being applied according to the manufacturer specifications and company policy, lowering costs by $150,000. She maximized current inventory by stalling the order season and negotiating maintenance/warranty on higher mileage vehicles with a savings of $3 million.

She has implemented a year-round safety initiative to include several safety initiatives: online module training, annual MVR checks, quarterly safety newsletters, a safe driver program with cash incentives for drives with a clean record for the full fiscal year, and annual driver participation in Wheels’ ChangeDriver online safety competition, which provides safety tips, fleet policy questions, and trivia.

Overall, this has reduced accident costs by $300,000 and lowered accident rates 2 percent.

Ralph Schatz Jr.

Senior Industry Manager, Fleet and Distribution
PepsiCo
Total vehicles: 10,000 light-duty; 75,000 Class 2-8; 10,500 trailers; 13,500 forklifts.
Staff supervised: 0
Years with current fleet: 16
Years in industry: 40+

Replacement policy: Leased 3 years/75,000 miles; owned 250,000-275,000 miles (light-duty only)

Memberships: Hendrickson Fleet Council, International Truck and Engine Company Fleet Advisory Board, GM Commercial Sounding Board, GM Global Sounding Board, Great Dane Trailers Customer Focus Group, Technology & Maintenance Council of ATA, and WEX Lead Users Group.

Primary responsibilities: Schatz is responsible for the strategic procurement of automobiles, trucks, tractors, trailers, and material handling equipment for the U.S. and Canada. In addition, he consults with fleets in Mexico and Europe.

Notable achievements: Schatz has delivered strategic leasing alternative in both material handling and heavy-duty trucks and trailers. He implemented a retail fuel card program, which led to a comprehensive fuel hedging strategy. He delivered substantial savings to fleet graphics programs.

Schatz is involved in the implementation of self-guided vehicles in the company’s warehousing operations. He was responsible for developing an NYMEX-based lead index for industrial batteries. As part of the company’s corporate sustainability initiative, Schatz worked with OEMs on the implementation and delivery of various hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Phil Schreiber

Fleet Manager, North America
Otis Service Center
Total vehicles: 3,600
Staff supervised: 0
Years with current fleet: 12
Years in industry: 26

Replacement policy: 60 months/100,000 miles

Memberships: NAFA

Primary responsibilities: Schreiber is responsible for the management of fleet, including vehicle acquisitions and disposal, all issues with maintenance, and accident management. He also handles strategic reviews of fleet financials; DOT compliance; as well as contracts and vendor relations.

Notable achievements: Schreiber credits his achievements to the long-lasting relationships he has forged with Otis fleet providers, OEMs, upfitters, and bodymakers. He maintains a mutually respectful relationship with customers and suppliers and applies fresh new ideas towards the management of fleet.

The fleet accident rate dropped steadily from 24.7 percent before he took the position, to below 15 percent in 2013. In 2012, he saved Otis nearly $3 million in fleet operations and collected $2.7 million net over book in vehicle resales.

He was named one of Green Fleet magazine’s Environmental Leadership Award winners in 2009 and a Sustainability All Star in 2011. In the past four years, Otis fleet has reduced operating cost by more than $5 million, as well as 16 percent of its CO2 emissions due to a massive fleet rightsizing project, in which 800 Ford Transit Connects replaced larger, less fuel-efficient vehicles.

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Abe Stephenson

Fleet & Administration Manager
DISH Network
Total vehicles: 4,500+
Staff supervised: 6
Years with current fleet: 6
Years in industry: 6

Replacement policy: Average of 7 years, or based on uneconomical repair event.

Memberships: GE National Customer Advisory Board, GE Technology Customer Advisory Board.

Primary responsibilities: Stephenson is responsible for supply-chain relationships, fleet procurement and vehicle selection, bailment pool management, deliveries, and replacements. He handles fleet financial analysis and planning, reporting, and billing processes. He is in charge of day-to-day management of administrative and repair and maintenance processes, policies, and support of field customers/drivers.

Stephenson develops and executes the company’s alternative-fuels strategy. He leads the cross-functional fleet council, including general manager representation from each region, corporate fleet team, IT/telematics, safety, inventory, and engineering. His additional responsibilities include uniform program and other accounting and administration tasks.

Notable achievements: Stephenson is currently in the process of on-roading 200 ROUSH CleanTech Ford E-250 propane-autogas vans, with onsite fueling provided by Ferrellgas, representing the largest service fleet rollout of propane vans to-date, according to DISH, with announcements generating more than 215 million media impressions.

The fleet has accomplished three consecutive years of declining lifecycle costs and fleet costs per job through retirement and replacement parameters, reduced lease and maintenance expenses, reduced downtime, and increased mpg efficiencies, resulting in $5 million in net savings last fiscal year.

Stephenson completely redesigned the company’s upfitting package, coordinating with field customers and upfitter Leggett & Platt. He also implemented a fuel reduction safety initiative through idling reduction and top speed governors provided by SCT Fleet Solutions.

Gage Wagoner

Senior Manager, North American
Fleet Management
Philips Electronics NA
Total vehicles: 4,800
Staff supervised: 2
Years with current fleet: 12
Years in industry: 13

Replacement policy: 1-3 years

Memberships: NAFA; AFLA; LeasePlan USA Future Directions Client Advisory Board; and Ford Fleet Advisory Board.

Primary responsibilities: Wagoner is responsible for strategic administration of Philips’ fleet in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, and part of the company’s global fleet purchasing and advisory council.

Notable achievements: Wagoner centralized Philips’ U.S. fleet management and invoice payment — formerly decentralized to 20-plus operational units. He drafted, championed, and administers the Philips N.A. Fleet Policy accepted across all U.S. businesses. He established closed-end leasing as the Philips standard in 2005 and developed IFRS compliance reports in concert with vendors to meet continuing internal global financial reporting requirements. Initiated and vetted quarterly FMC competitive bidding for CE lease contracts establishing this model’s value over a single-supplier model. Wagoner changed Philips’ fleet purchasing culture globally. He generated fleet savings (not cost avoidance) significantly exceeding the departmental budget each year.

Philips’ U.S. Fleet will surpass internal 2015 CO2 emissions reduction targets by 2014 through the adoption of four-cylinder engines and aggressive adoption of more efficient engines across all vehicle selector segments each model-year. A full deployment within the Philips sedan and crossover segments will yield an approximately 20-percent reduction in CO2 emissions and approximately $2.5 million per year reductions in fuel spend (2012 pricing) over a 100 percent V-6 fleet.

Wagoner drafted and championed Global Fleet Policy, including the addition of driver safety requirements applicable across all countries. His other accomplishments include driving continued professionalization of the Philips’ Fleet Competency Team to increase global reach, access to services provided, increased team service level, and further standardizing fleet management across all Philips global business regions. Shifted European standard to OEM off-invoice discount as well as attending European OEM RFQ to support global leveraging of preferred suppliers.

Bret Watson, CAFM

Manager, Corporate Fleet
Sprint
Total vehicles: 2,356
Staff supervised: 1
Years with current fleet: 24
Years in industry: 30

Replacement policy: Floats based on the economy, e.g., interest rates and resale values.

Memberships: Current member of GE Client Advisory Board, Fleet Response Client Advisory Board, AFLA, and NAFA. Past NAFA Chapter and Committee Chairs, past treasurer of AFLA.

Primary responsibilities: Watson manages all aspects of running the corporate fleet from sales vehicles to custom portable cell tower trucks to tractor trailers. He manages purchasing with a select dealer group and manages remarketing through three channels that are measured. He also manages the company’s safety program and the MVR process for all drivers in company vehicles as well as all those in defined driving positions.

Notable achievements: Most recently, the greening of Sprint’s fleet the “SmartWay” was recognized by Green Fleet magazine. Company integrations of multiple companies into one process has been achieved many times in Watson’s career. His most notable ongoing accomplishment is the combining of the best companies in the industry to become one support team. He utilizes a fleet management company in combination with body companies, remarketers, dealerships, safety management companies, etc., to provide the best service available. Watson has also contribured to several Automotive Fleet articles.

Paul Youngpeter, CAFM

Director of Fleet
Rollins, Inc.
Total vehicles: 8,400
Staff supervised: 4
Years with current fleet: 31/2
Years in industry: 31/2

Replacement policy: Light-duty trucks 48 months/90,000 miles; sedans 36 months/80,000 miles

Memberships: NAFA and AFLA.

Primary responsibilities: Youngpeter oversees the procurement and remarketing processes for all vehicles, manages the daily activities of fleet staff, liaisons with executive management, negotiates or coordinates all vendor contracts, and manages the relationship and performance of Rollins’ fleet management company.

Notable achievements: Rollins highest achievement for the past year has been the successful transition of its primary vehicle from the Ford Ranger to the Toyota Tacoma. Light-duty trucks make up 82 percent of the company’s fleet and Rollins has been one of the largest Ford Ranger purchasers for more than 20 years. The change required working with several new suppliers, redesigning several key upfitting components, and addressing the cultural impact the vehicle has in our business.

One major step taken was to hold an organizational meeting with all key suppliers (national and regional OEM staff, upfitter, FMC, decals, telematics, and toppers) and the internal support team before beginning the ordering process. Another key component has been the communication with Rollin’s customer — the operations team. With all of its vendors committed to the project and participating in weekly status discussions and operations onboard with the changes, the company has smoothly delivered more than 1,500 new fully upfitted Tacoma trucks for the 2013 model-year and improved on-time deliveries.

Brad Zieske

Corporate Equipment Manager
Crossfire LLC     
Total vehicles: 222 Pickups, 96 Trucks, 116 Trailers, and 300-plus pieces of equipment
Staff supervised: 15
Years with current fleet: 5
Years in industry: 10

Replacement policy: When costs to repair greatly exceed value of truck.

Primary responsibilities: Zieske is in charge of maintaining the entire company’s equipment, pickup, truck, and trailer fleet. He manages shop and field mechanics in five districts across 11 states and ensures all vehicles meet DOT, MSHA, and OSHA requirements. Four shops perform 90 percent of the fleet’s maintenance inhouse. Zieske is also in charge of making sure parts are ordered and stocked on the shelves; acquiring equipment, trucks, trailers, and vehicles; and maintain equipment registrations, annual inspections on trucks and vehicles, and all certifications for cranes and forklifts. 

Notable achievements: Zieske implemented Ford factory-installed GPS tracking in all factory-ordered vehicles, which provides live data from the ECM to track mpg, minimize idle time, monitor seat belt usage, minimize hard braking and acceleration, thus saving fuel and reducing overall maintenance costs.

Zieske also implemented this in the company’s Cat equipment fleet, which minimized shipping costs by knowing exact locations of machines. This has also minimized downtime on machines by telling Zieske and other company management generally what is wrong prior to sending out a technician. It has minimized downtime by tracking hours on equipment so he and his team maintain the equipment according to the recommended service intervals.

Zieske implemented a national rental agreement with Enterprise, reducing rental costs by more than 15 percent. He implemented a national rental agreement with United Rentals and reduced the fleet’s overall rental costs by 10 percent. This minimized the need for project managers to shop pricing, because they match and beat everyone’s price through this agreement.

Zieske also minimized the number of vendors by setting up accounts that can supply everything the fleet needs and negotiated pricing that has reduced overall maintenance costs by 10 percent. 

About the author
Lauren Fletcher

Lauren Fletcher

Executive Editor - Fleet, Trucking & Transportation

Lauren Fletcher is Executive Editor for the Fleet, Trucking & Transportation Group. She has covered the truck fleet industry since 2006. Her bright personality helps lead the team's content strategy and focuses on growth, education, and motivation.

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