Paul Youngpeter, CAFM, director of fleet for Rollins, Inc., has relinquished his fleet and other home office responsibilities following a promotion to assistant division vice president of the Southeast Division for Orkin in October. Rollins is the parent company of Orkin, a wholly owned subsidiary.

“It was a really tough decision to leave the fleet industry, but this promotion is a good move for me and the company,” said Youngpeter. “My association with fleet over the past six years has been the most enjoyable and rewarding time of my career. The friendships and business relationships will be sorely missed.”

Mike Baessler, fleet manager, will continue to run the day-to-day fleet operations for Rollins. Youngpeter assumed responsibility of the Rollins fleet in 2010. As Rollins’ director of fleet, Youngpeter managed 8,400 vehicles and supervised a staff of four. Youngpeter’s responsibilities included overseeing the procurement and remarketing processes for all vehicles, managing the daily activities of fleet staff, liaising with executive management, negotiating or coordinating all vendor contracts, and managing the relationship and performance of Rollins’ fleet management company.

Youngpeter’s most notable achievements while in fleet was the successful transition of its primary vehicle from the Ford Ranger to the Toyota Tacoma. Light-duty trucks make up 82% of the company’s fleet and Rollins had 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 had in the Rollins business.

A key ingredient to the successful product transition was holding 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 element to the successful product transition was close communication with Rollin’s internal customer — the operations team.