Fourteen Nominated for 2022 Edward J. Bobit Fleet Manager of the Year

Fourteen leaders are nominated for the 2022 Edward J. Bobit Fleet Manager of the Year award. These are some of the most progressive, respected, and efficient professionals working in fleet today. Presented below in alphabetical order, the award is sponsored by AFLA and Wheels Donlen.

 

Mike Camnetar

Global Fleet Services Manager, General Mills

• Vehicles managed: 1,500  -  Staff managed: 2
• Years with current fleet: 2  -  Total years in fleet: 24

Mike Camnetar started his journey with General Mills during Covid-19 lockdowns in mid-2020 and began by applying the same principles that he has taught many others in the industry in the areas of simplification, vehicle acquisition, and safety. He has produced solid results towards achieving a best-in-class fleet program for General Mills.

Camnetar automated and streamlined the on-boarding and employee transition process, improving the employee experience with fewer and more professional communications. His work reduced rental expenses from $269,000 to $15,000 in the previous 12 months, saving the program $254,000. The Fleet Services team was reduced from five full-time employees to three for an annual savings over $150,000.

Due to the global vehicle shortage, Camnetar changed the vehicle acquisition process from every three years to annually and focused on total lifecycle costs and guaranteed order allocation. For the 2022MY, General Mills received 100% of all orders placed which allowed the fleet to stay within its 36-month / 60,000-mile replacement cycle. Along with a historic resale market, over $7 million in resale credits was returned to the program, pushing depreciation down to the fourth largest expense category behind fuel, maintenance, and safety. Camnetar is following the same strategy for the 2023MY and expects to achieve the same results once new vehicles are received and replaced.  

With safety, Camnetar realized the value of standardizing safe-driving expectations across all three fleet groups. He implemented consistent fleet policies, updated and simplified the Driver Performance program, and expanded safety enforcement and monitoring. To ensure full transparency, Camnetar made the new risk levels visible to all drivers via mobile and online, then he and General Mills actively announced the change and its purpose to the drivers and followed up by communicating high-risk infractions both to drivers and to their managers.

With a newly level playing field, Camnetar made a commendable safety record even better. The crash rate dropped from 18% in 2019 to 11% in 2021 while the incident rate dropped from 16% to 11.5%. The accident rate plummeted from 34% to 22%. All reported occurrences were down by 16% per million miles and crashes per million miles were down by 18%.     

Camnetar’s extensive fleet background has served him well as he’s increased safety of the General Mills fleet, increased transparency across all levels, and transformed the vehicle acquisition process into a more sustainable and agile program.

 

Sharon Etherington

Manager, regional administrative services, credit card, fleet, and travel, Roche Diagnostics

• Total vehicles: 1,500  -  Staff supervised: 1
• Years with current fleet: 6  -  Years in industry: 15

For forward-thinking Etherington, sustainability is critical. Roche casually added hybrids to the fleet selector in 2005 with minimal response. In 2016, however, Etherington started initiating only hybrids into her fleet as vehicles for sales and service aged out for replacement. Fast forward to 2022, and her fleet currently has 3% BEVs, 9% PHEVs, 80% hybrids, 5% diesel vehicles, and 3% gasoline vehicles.

Her goal is to lead to an all-electric fleet by 2030. The goal for electrification has also carried over into all three major campus sites within diagnostics. Even as the fleet vehicle totals increased, total fuel cost dropped: the $2.4 million 2019 fuel spend marked a $2.4 million cost decrease in just seven years.

Etherington has overhauled the fleet safety program, adding continuous motor vehicle record (MVR) monitoring, training programs, proactive lessons for all drivers, and behind-the-wheel training. Telematics devices are now installed in high-risk and severe-risk drivers’ vehicles. She created an “Innovation Day” where select drivers visit their fleet management partner’s headquarters for idea sharing and learning via roundtable discussions, interactive tech demonstrations, and an EV ride-and-drive. She also includes continuous education sessions with drivers on BEVs with key strategic partners within the industry (OEMs, EV charging companies, and their fleet management company). The partner’s consultants recommend the event to other fleets.

 

Kimberly Fisher

Director, global fleet and travel services, NOV

• Vehicles managed: 3,000  -  Staff supervised: 6
• Years with current fleet:  10  -  Years in industry: 20

Fisher has been in the fleet industry for more than 20 years and with National Oilwell Varco for more than 10 years. She and her team have effectively managed the fleet as it continuously fluctuates in size to accommodate industry demands. She currently manages the company’s expanding global fleet and travel programs. Being flexible and agile to shift as the company’s needs change is one of Fisher’s strengths. She and her team’s ability to meet the needs of their field is key to their success as a department.

In the past year, Fisher was able to successfully propose the concept of cycling services bodies onto new chassis to extend the life of the service body. This is a change management process for her field. Historically, the field has viewed the service body as part of a single chassis, therefore good for only one cycle. Moving to a multi-chassis cycle will save $2 million over the next two years. Fisher is active in industry events and serves on the GM Commercial Sounding Board, the Element Customer Advisory Board and the recipient of the 2021 Global Fleet Visionary Award.

 

Jonathan Kamanns

Associate director, fleet and driver safety, Boehringer-Ingelheim

• Vehicles managed: 3,200  -  Staff managed: 0
• Years with current fleet: 2  -  Total years in fleet: 18

When Kamanns took on the role of fleet manager in January 2021, his goal was to perform every administrative task with maximum efficiency so that the fleet department could prioritize and execute higher-level strategic objectives. BI sought a 50% reduction in fleet tasks executed in-house through vendor consolidation and by leveraging technology. Kamanns conducted reviews of every task currently managed by BI fleet and turned Vehicle Inventory Management over to the Fleet Management Company. He improved aspects of compliance, optimized end-of-service vehicle sales, created a sustainability review and roadmap, improved employee satisfaction and visibility, updated the account structure for more efficient billing and reporting, enhanced batch data feeds while reducing administrative tasks, improved driver education, and more.

His work allowed the fleet department to focus on strategic goals, and under his direction, BI has realized over $2 million in estimated annual savings from the decision to leverage outsourced remarketing and a 26% reduction in average cost per mile. In the 12 months ending in March 2022, BI’s Fleet Department realized $7.6 million in direct savings, with the expectation that the savings will grow as the program matures.

 

Joe Lukacs

Global director of fleet operations, Sherwin Williams

• Vehicles managed: 11,000+  -  Staff managed: 10
• Years with current fleet: 25+  -  Total years in fleet: 7+

Joe Lukacs has made a career of developing and executing strategies at the highest level, driving process improvements and cost savings throughout several organizations both domestically and globally throughout The Sherwin Williams Company, including but not limited to the most recent success of rolling out a pilot EV program in a downturn market at the height of the pandemic.

In 2022, Lukacs continued to expand Sherwin Williams’ footprint in the EV space by incorporating vehicles from multiple manufacturers and refining the already proven homegrown charger installation process developed the prior year. Lukacs has also introduced hybrids into the fleet to reduce CO2 emissions. 

With a continuous improvement mindset and a black belt in Six Sigma, Lukacs also played an active role in a multifaceted project concerning the rentals process, engaging Sherwin Williams, Ford, and LeasePlan to do a deep dive and root cause analysis to reduce rental days for drivers and reducing costs. The success of the project has led to a dramatic reduction in rental days for passenger vehicles with mechanical issues, increasing uptime while generating significant cost savings. LeasePlan will take the results and leverage the refined process across their client base.  

Alongside the tangible challenges of transitioning to electric vehicles, Lukacs has also delivered a culture and change management program, including executive briefings and store training, to help drivers prepare for the changes they face.

Lukacs has an exceptional understanding of the fleet industry and is always looking for new processes and cost savings to enhance the bottom line. Lukacs sits on multiple boards (GM EV, LeasePlan Future Directions, GFAB - Global Fleet Advisory Board) and spends a fair amount of time with his peers offering advice and feedback to ensure others can achieve the same success.

 

Amy McAdams

Fleet Manager, Farmer Brothers Coffee

• Vehicles managed: 650+  -  Staff managed: 1
• Years with current fleet: 3  -  Total years in fleet: 15

Traditionally a fleet purchases its vehicles; McAdams was instrumental in moving toward a leasing model, impacting how Farmer Brothers will replace its units for years to come. McAdams has also utilized several new services to help streamline her processes. She is a forward thinker and two steps ahead of the game and the fleet is always running smoothly. McAdams has proven that critical thinking and embracing change makes her a consummate fleet leader and professional.

 

 

 

 

Marvin McClain

Corporate director of fleet management and operations, Kindred at Home/Gentiva

• Vehicles managed: 4,500+  -  Staff managed: 4
• Years with current fleet: 3  -  Total years in fleet: 30

In November of 2019, Marvin McClain took control of the rapidly growing Kindred at Home/Gentiva fleet. The  growth was so extreme that the vehicles he managed grew from 400 units in 2019 when he started to over 4,500 today.

McClain’s primary focus was safety and acquisition management. First, he  transferred to a more “fleet-minded” OEM and purchased fully safety-loaded vehicles with factory-installed telematics devices to enforce compliance. He also implemented a short cycle and to date has cycled out 50% of the old fleet units with the expectation that he will transition the rest of the fleet over to the new OEM in the next six to twelve months. He saved over $2 million on factory ordering and to date has purchased 100% factory orders with zero out-of-stock units.

McClain has improved safety, reduced his accident rate, and increased employee satisfaction. His fleet-focused OEM has helped keep costs in line, and the employees were thrilled with the upgraded vehicles. Compliance on telematics went from less than 50% to 100% as drivers transitioned into the new vehicles.

McClain has saved his organization approximately $5.5 million to date with the expectation that the savings will increase further this year. He is also realizing large gains in remarketing profits, helping to offset his fleet costs for many months and to date this has saved the organization $250,000 in avoided retitling, taxes, & renewals.

 

Jeff McCormick

Fleet manager, North America/Canada/Latin America, Johnson Controls, Inc.

• Vehicles managed: 20,000+  -  Staff managed: 0
• Years with current fleet: 5  -  Total years in fleet: 13

Jeff McCormick manages a complex fleet of over 20,000 vehicles across the U.S., Canada, and Latin America for Johnson Controls. McCormick has led significant cost savings projects in partnership with his fleet management company to realize an incremental annual cost savings of more than 5% in each of the last three years for Johnson Controls. He has been to execute projects across all aspects of the vehicle lifecycle through accelerated vehicle replacements, strategic remarketing activities, vehicle lease amortization activities, and improvement projects from telematics data analysis and optimization. McCormick is an inclusive and strategic leader within Johnson Controls who helps gather support from numerous stakeholders and from his supplier partnerships to deliver the best possible outcome for his drivers.

 

 

Todd Miska

Corporate Fleet Manager, Summit Companies

• Vehicles managed: 2,300+  -  Staff managed:
• Years with current fleet:   -  Total years in fleet:

Miska’s leadership, collaboration, and data-driven approach has allowed him to integrate new vehicles through several acquisitions.

Summit Companies, through its subsidiaries (Summit Fire Protection and Summit Fire & Security) grows through acquisitions and as a result has more than doubled its fleet size. At the start of 2022, Summit Companies Subsidiaries had a combined fleet of more than 1,000 units. Over the past year, Summit has more than doubled its fleet size to 2,300 units through growth and acquisitions. The acquisitions resulted in a very mixed fleet with varied data that lacked high-level data visibility. Some vehicles did not have any tracking data; some had a variety of telematics devices; others were leveraging built-in connected data from a variety of OEMs. Under Miska’s leadership as a change agent, he ensured all vehicles had tracking, leveraged connected vehicle data wherever possible (eliminating hardware and administrative burdens), and collected all vehicle data into one system. Miska implemented TotalConnect, integrating all fleet data into one unified platform, allowing for the full view of his new integrated fleet. This also helped him establish a baseline for things such as replacement strategy and driver behavior, helping Summit Companies see both administrative and cost savings.      

Beyond improving the way Summit Companies uses fleet data, Miska’s collaborative approach leveraged many resources from OEMs, FMCs, and internal partners. He brought the best minds to the table to help inform his decisions. This type of leadership goes a long way when attempting to seamlessly integrate fleets in a short period of time. Miska is constantly seeking innovative solutions and actively working to learn how to use the information gleaned from TotalConnect to start incorporating electric vehicles into his fleet.

 

Andy Overstreet

Lead of Driver Managers, P&S Transportation

• Vehicles managed: 250  -  Staff managed: 12
• Years with current fleet: 10  -  Total years in fleet: 10

Overstreet goes beyond what is expected of him. He not only excels at his own responsibilities but has also taken on the role of mentor to others. He is great at his work and makes others great around him. In his role as lead of driver managers, Overstreet has been crucial in keeping operations performing at a high level and putting the drivers in positions to excel for many years. He is a crucial member of making P&S Transportation the best and biggest flatbed carrier in the nation and the 2019 Alabama Truck Association Fleet Manager of the Year.

 

 

Mark Peabody

Global Fleet Manager, 3M

• Vehicles managed: 14,000+  -  Staff managed: 2
• Years with current fleet: 5  -  Total years in fleet: 5

Over the past year, Mark Peabody has proven that a strong targeted communications initiative can provide concrete financial and efficiency rewards. Peabody saw an opportunity to implement a transformative initiative for improved North American fleet efficiency by concentrating on driver behavior and more consistent compliance with fleet policies.   

Peabody implemented a “new driver” package distributed to all drivers and clearly conveyed that mileage would be checked monthly, and that MVRs (Motor Vehicle Records) would be checked for both drivers and partners. Safety metrics were reported weekly. Drivers were notified when they exceeded spending thresholds for fuel use, car washes, food, and other spending. To ensure accountability, supervisors saw the same messages that their employees saw.    

The clear and consistent communication plan produced dramatic results, catapulting the 3M fleet to a previously unrealized level. “Open” recalls (not yet serviced) dropped 34% in just six months. Driver use of the mobile app skyrocketed by 264% and provided a productivity savings of $660,000 and 6,000 hours. Compliance with mileage logging and certification topped 95%. By increasing usage of the FMC in-network vendors by 54%, 3M realized savings of $45,360 up front and also preserved the vehicles as 99% were maintained on schedule. Compliance to policy requirements for Motor Vehicle Record checks and policy sign-on dropped from hundreds of non-compliant employees to zero non-compliant employees over the remainder of the year, substantially dropping incidents per million miles to less than eight and preventable incidents to less than three.    

Peabody’s vision and stress on compliance, thoughtful engagement, planning, and forceful communication with the front line were the keys to his fleet’s success.

 

Abe Stephenson

Senior business operations manager, DISH

• Total vehicles: 3,800  -  Staff supervised: 4
• Years with current fleet: 15  -  Years in industry: 15

Stephenson and his team manage the various fleets across DISH's lines of business including DISH and OnTech branded vans, Boost Mobile sedans, 4x4 trucks for Tower Climbers and Drone Pilots, and most recently the 4x4 trucks and AWD SUVs used by the 5G Deployment teams. Over the past year, Stephenson and his team have built the 5G Deployment fleet by requiring the negotiation of new factory orders across OEMs, dealer stock purchases, new rental truck partners, and transfers from other areas of the business, to support the company's buildout plans and timelines. Stephenson was also able to work with one of his fleet management companies to transfer vehicles from another client which enabled DISH to retire older vehicles on schedule and participate at scale in today's elevated resale environment. Stephenson also continues to maintain loyal relationships with vehicle OEMs, allowing the required flow of new vans and trucks to maintain normal business operations and minimize overspend in other areas. Finally, the DISH team recently negotiated favorable terms with a new GPS provider which will enable use of vehicle OEM options that don't require aftermarket devices plus solutions for new asset types like trailer mounted generators. 

 

Charlie Stevenson

Vice president, fleet operations, Aqua America

• Total Vehicles: 2,600+  -  Staff Supervised: 19
• Years with current fleet: 35  -  Years in industry: 39

Stevenson is the vice president of fleet for Essential Utilities Inc. Essential is one of the largest publicly traded water, wastewater, and natural gas providers in the U.S., serving approximately 5 million people in 10 states. Stevenson joined Aqua in 1987 as a fleet  service technician. In his nearly 35 years with the company, he has held various positions of increased responsibility, ranging from fleet technician to vice president of fleet. He has automated many manual processes and excels at providing efficiencies to the organization. His team has been named to NAFA’s 100 Best Fleets in both 2020 and 2021.

In this role, Stevenson oversees fleet operations across the Essential 10-state footprint and has responsibilities for more than 2,600 vehicles and 1,100 pieces of mechanical equipment.

He leads a team focused on serving and advocating for internal customers' needs, leads business enhancement efforts, drives strategic planning, and supports merger and acquisition work. He is also responsible for leading safety throughout fleet, serving as Chairman of the Aqua Safety Committee, overseeing a 16% decrease in total accidents from 2020-2021.

Stevenson is a known leader in alternative fuels, as his fleet was recognized by 100 Best Fleets in America as a green garage. Through his work to incorporate CNG vehicles into the fleet, he has been recognized with the Alternatives Fuel Leadership award and has been named a  Sustainability All-Star Winner for reducing emissions and fuel consumption. He has secured grants of more than $600,000 for both electric and CNG vehicles. 

Since 2020, Stevenson has overseen a merger with Peoples Natural Gas, which brought 1,600 new employees and 1,300 new vehicles to Essential. In two years since the merger, Stevenson has spearheaded the standardization of Essential’s fleet, generating over $3 million in savings through consolidation of key suppliers, rightsizing the fleet, and selecting a new FMC.

 

Barbara Zuroick

US fleet & safety manager, AstraZeneca

• Staff Supervised: 0  -  Years with current fleet: 6+
• Years in industry: 6+  -  Vehicles managed: ~5,000

In 2017, Zuroick launched an aggressive initiative to convert the entire 4,800-unit fleet to hybrids, aiming to reduce annual carbon output and increase overall fleet mpg to 30. With 85% of the fleet now hybrid vehicles, carbon emissions have been reduced by 173 tons and fuel economy has reached 33 mpg. To help meet AstraZeneca’s zero-carbon emissions goal by 2025, Zuroick plans to transform the entire U.S. fleet to electric vehicles. Reviewing numerous TCO scenarios, she selected models suited to company drivers from sustainability, productivity, and cost standpoints. Zuroick is analyzing fleet usage to identify vehicles most fitting to begin the EV transition, factoring in current infrastructure and available charging stations under AstraZeneca’s Ambition Zero Carbon plan. She has secured 85 EVs for this goal with 50 home installations complete and the remaining 35 in process. She’s also identified numerous business partners to assist AstraZeneca in this effort in the fields of procurement, finance, internal communications, and even human resources. Zuroick expects to meet her total transition goal by 2025 for the fleet of nearly 5,000 vehicles. Her efforts landed AstraZeneca’s U.S. fleet within the top 10 in Automotive Fleet’s Top 50 Green Fleet listing.