Joe Hoiberg likes to joke that he was a pencil salesman. Before stepping into his role as Asset Manager for Stanley Consultants, Hoiberg worked for the family business selling office supplies.

Working in fleet management wasn’t one of his long-term goals, but when he was looking to move to Iowa, the job opened up. In addition to overseeing office occupancy, Hoiberg manages the company’s fleet of 120 vehicles in several locations across the U.S. and globally.

Starting from Scratch and Modernizing the Fleet

Hoiberg was hired at Stanley Consultants in Dec. 2016 to help build the company’s data capabilities for the fleet. When he started, there was one master list of incoming and outgoing vehicles, as well as vehicles involved in accidents.

Because the person he replaced had left the company, Hoiberg had to essentially start from scratch, collecting and organizing the data to create a more efficient fleet.

The data was not collected and analyzed in a way that allowed the fleet manager to make decisions based on the numbers.

“We didn’t know anything about mileage. We didn’t know cost per mile. We didn’t know we could extrapolate certain things with our accounting program, because it wasn’t all in one spot,” Hoiberg explained. “Now we've got historic data going back to 2016 and we're able to leverage that data in ways we haven't been able to before. We were on paper trip logs when I started.”

Hoiberg joined forces with the IT department to create an in-house trip reporting app to simplify the process and store the data in a single place.

The most recent iteration of the app, which was rolled out in early 2024, improved upon the original one that Hoiberg helped launch in 2019. The app streamlines the reporting process and connects drivers’ trips to an existing project’s database.

Being able to put together data to show Stanley’s operations leaders is one of Hoiberg’s standout moments in fleet so far, he said, because it allowed him to back up his decision-making with data collected and provide a window into what fleet is doing.

To give himself a general idea of the state of the fleet and its needs, Hoiberg reached out to the local fleet coordinators spread across Stanley’s various locations.

“I called every single one of them and introduced myself and tried to ascertain what their pain points are. Our local fleet coordinators are my clients. Those are the people that I am trying to serve. I try to keep my ears open to them to see what can help benefit the way they're working so that when they're interacting with our external clients, our external clients are satisfied as well,” Hoiberg said.

Hoiberg learned quickly that there is no such thing as a ‘typical day’ in his role, with each day presenting new challenges and new fires to put out, so to speak.

Bringing Skills from the Family Business

Through his time working in sales, Hoiberg learned the importance of providing top notch customer service. It’s something he prides himself on with his work in fleet today.

“One of the most rewarding things for me is trying to make sure that my clients — the people that I work with — are satisfied with the vehicles that they have, and that I'm trying to help make their lives easier and better with what I do,” Hoiberg said. “That’s what I took from my time in the family business. We were retail, so customer service was something that was drilled into me, and that's how I've handled my role here, is to serve my clients, vehicle managers, and drivers the best that I can.”

Hoiberg admitted he realizes not everyone will be happy with the decisions made, whether it’s through a car they were assigned or a data reporting process.

However, he emphasized the importance of working alongside clients to ensure he provides the best solutions possible.

Goals for Stanley Consultants’ Fleet

Stanley Consultants is in the second phase of a pilot testing whether electric vehicles (EVs) can meet the needs of the fleet. Three Volkswagen ID.4 EVs are being used in different capacities across various locations. The vehicles have been tested in a delivery capacity, as well as by construction managers.

“We're trying to listen to our participants and hear their feedback: what their positives are, what their negatives are. I have not run into anybody who hates EVs. They like how it drives, but they're concerned about range. That's the next hurdle that's got to be leaped in terms of the technology. We're trying to evaluate how newer EV technologies would interact with our use case, as well as what the cost of those new vehicles would be,” Hoiberg said.

The team is also looking into the benefits of adding telematics devices to the company’s fleet to gain further insights and datapoints on the vehicles.

On a personal level, Hoiberg is looking into different fleet management certifications to further his education and expertise in the industry.

Joe’s Advice for New Fleet Managers

If Hoiberg could go back to 2016 to give himself advice as he stepped into his new role, he said he would tell himself to prepare for an environment that is very fluid.

“With office products like a folder, technology only advances so fast,” Hoiberg laughed. “But with fleet, everything has moved very quickly — with EVs on the horizon and the ever-increasing push for lowering carbon emissions and adding EVs to your fleet arsenal, the ability be to be conscious that keeping both of your feet firmly planted in the ground is not a good idea. Being mobile and being prepared for constant change would be the advice I'd give myself.”

Building on that, he stressed the importance of being adaptable. No one day is going to be the same, he said. If you’re coming in without any industry knowledge, you’ll need to learn to adapt quickly.

“Being able to get to know and to listen to others is also very important. You're not going to be able to fulfill the needs of your drivers or the people you're working with without listening. You should also commit to continuing to advance every day,” he said.