Women Fleet Managers

The administration of a commercial fleet requires an individual to set policies and guidelines in the selection, purchase, maintenance, and ultimate replacement of company vehicles. In doing so, a fleet administrator must interact with a wide range of people, from executives to salespeople, from leasing company representatives to automobile manufacturers. With these responsibilities come daily challenges, and an experienced fleet manager accepts those challenges, receiving great satisfaction from giving professional service in a vital business area.

Today, more and more commercial fleets are placed under the direction of women administrators. Patsy Brownson, fleet administrator for Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises, Inc., manages 3,000 fleet vehicles for Cox's four divisions. Brownson estimates approximately 60 percent of her fleet is leased and 40 percent is company-owned. The fleet is comprised of approximately 500 passenger cars and 2,500 light trucks and vans.

 

While Brownson has been with Cox for less than a year, she has been involved in the fleet business since 1976, when she started with Houston, TX-based Remco Enterprises Inc., managing a fleet of 500 vehicles. "Cox is a larger fleet compared to Remco," Brownson says. "It's more of a challenge because there's a greater variety of vehicles. At Remco, I only handled light trucks and vans because they were a television rental company and they had mostly service vehicles." On the whole, though, Brownson doesn't see much of a difference between her previous job and her role at Cox. "The role hasn't changed; I still administer the leasing, purchasing and selling phases. The only major difference in responsibility is here at Cox, I don't handle the insurance. There's a separate department that does all of that."

 

For Kathleen Wester, manager, fleet administration services for Minneapolis, MN-based computer products and services company Control Data Corp., the leasing decision had been simple when McCullagh Leasing Inc., the company she started with in 1970, was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Control Data. Wester was with McCullagh for 13 years, and held various management positions. In 1980, she accepted a position at McCullagh's parent company's headquarters in Minneapolis as manager, vehicle leasing services, where she served as an in-house sales and operations representative.

In 1983, Wester assumed the title she holds today, and credits her experiences with McCullagh for giving her the qualifications to administer Control Data's 2,000-vehicle fleet. "In 18 years, you pick up a little bit from time to time," Wester says.

According to Wester, the most significant challenge she faced occurred about three years ago, when Control Data's fleet was downsized from 4,200 vehicles to 2,000. "This was a result of several divestitures requiring reassignment and sale of vehicles along with reassignment of leases," says Wester.

 

Beverly Reichle, manager, consolidated fleet for The Gillette Co., also coordinates vehicles for her company's many divisions. The Boston-based firm has eight divisions nationwide, and its 400-vehicle fleet includes Ford Taurus, Pontiac Grand Ams and Chevrolet Corsicas.

 

Reichle has been with Gillette for 20 years, the last eight as fleet manager. She says her role as fleet manager hasn't changed drastically, but technology has. "Computers have been the major change," she says. "They've allowed us to streamline our flow of paperwork, and reduce our fleet staff to just myself." Gillette leases its vehicles from GE Capital Fleet Services, whose services Reichle relies on heavily. "Our association with GE makes administration work go very smoothly, especially with maintenance and accident cases.

At The Gillette Co., says Reichle, there is an increasing awareness among other departments of the work a fleet manager does. "At all levels - legal, tax, insurance - my contacts have increased. It helps to be in touch with all departments within the company," she says.

Ten years ago, Deborah Durick joined PPG Industries, Inc. as a secretary in the risk management department. A year later she became fleet administrator for the Pittsburgh, PA-based supplier of glass, coatings and resins, chemicals, and bio-medical systems. Today, PPG has a fleet of 2,600 vehicles - 1,400 leased cars, pickups and vans, and 1,200 company-owned trucks.

Since beginning as fleet administrator nine years ago, Durick says her responsibilities have changed considerably. "I have more involvement in decision-making," she notes. "I'm doing more things now that my supervisor used to handle." She also has more exposure to the field people who use the vehicles. "The increased interaction, either in person or over the phone, has enabled the drivers to become more aware of what the fleet administration department can do for them," she says.

 

Julia Kline, fleet administrator for Citicorp Mortgage Inc., joined the St. Louis, MO-based firm 12 years ago as a secretary in the data processing department, then transferred to the purchasing department. After three years, she assumed the role she has today, yet admits that her responsibilities, as well as the size of the fleet, have changed immensely. "The fleet has grown from 50 to 500 vehicles," Kline says, "so the job has become a full-time responsibility instead of part-time."

 

Kline helped implement a personal use program for Citicorp's drivers that is a little bit different than many other fleets. Rather than reporting personal use miles to the payroll department quarterly or annually, drivers submit a mileage log each month. "The system calculates a dollar amount and sends it to payroll every month. It is put right into the driver's paycheck," says Kline. Kline developed the system with the help of a management consultant firm, and reports that results and feedback have been favorable.

"With our vehicles located across the country," she says, "it's important to have interaction with the drivers as often as possible. Involvement ranges from the field people all the way up to the CEO. You have to learn to keep everybody happy.''

 

For Diane Purdy, the job of national fleet administrator for Kaman Bearing and Supply Corp. developed in stages since she joined the Syracuse, NY-based company in 1977. She originally was the company's regional president's secretary, then started working with the fleet in 1979 as an assistant to the fleet manager. Kaman had six regions, and each fleet was run independently. In 1983, Purdy took over the Eastern half of the fleet. A year later she was given the responsibilities of the national fleet.

 

With an assistant providing her with clerical support, Purdy manages a fleet in excess of 450 vehicles. All the units arc leased through Wheels, Inc. "One advantage of leasing is the lessor's computer ability to keep track of the vehicles and furnish management reports for monitoring maintenance, insurance and expenses," Purdy says. "This report and service ability by the lessor allows us the time to monitor the overall policies and institute necessary changes.''

One aspect of fleet management that. Purdy is involved with on a regular basis is safety. "We're now involved with a comprehensive review and upgrade with our safety program," she says. "We're always trying to improve our safety standards, for example, drivers maintaining a sale driving record with no preventable accidents are rewarded but on the other hand are penalized for accidents that could have been prevented."

 

Wanda Ellison joined the fleet department of Atlanta, GA-based Crawford & Co. almost 17 years ago. "I was probably in the lowest position available," she says. By 1978, Ellison had moved up to supervisor of operations. Almost two years ago, in 1986, she became fleet manager with responsibility for a fleet of 2,850 vehicles.

 

Crawford & Co. is a risk management business with 750 branch locations throughout the country. Each branch manager is responsible for selling the vehicles located in that branch's territory, says Ellison. "About 25 to 30 percent are actually sold to employees."

 

Ellison claims that her fleet's policies are undergoing a big transition, most notably the phase-out of Calesco, an in-house leasing company. For 1988, B&M Equipment, Inc. has leased 1,200 Ford Tempos to Crawford. Another new development became effective last January - a fleet service plan with Ford to coordinate the maintenance of vehicles at all 750 Crawford branches. Another Ford program is in place for safe driving. "It's in the process of being computerized," says Ellison, "along with our other programs and records."

After two years as fleet manager, Ellison reports that there haven't been any major problems. "It's been an easy transition," she says. "I've received a lot of support from top management. They listen to my ideas and give excellent feedback.

 

For the past 10 years, Pat Mance has been manager of corporate fleet services for New York-based Bristol-Myers. The company has 11 divisions, and Mance oversees all fleet contracts and negotiations for each division. In administering the company's 4,400 corporate vehicles, decisions on fleet policies come out of her office. "We have an annual fleet meeting to discuss those policies," Mance says, "and the major programs are developed out of my office. We have a written policy for everything - personal use, safety, and maintenance. By giving written guidelines, everything is much easier."

 

Mance's fleet consists of GM, Ford, Chrysler, and as of last year, Toyota nameplates. "A fleet manager today must be aware of all the changes in the auto industry," Mance. says. "The quality of vehicles manufactured in the U.S. has risen. And now there is a necessity to look at the imports, as well as American-made cars."

Oak Brook, IL -based Waste Management, Inc. is a unique company, according to Georgette Monti. "It's the world's largest solid waste, chemical waste disposal and service company," she says. As fleet administrator for Waste Management, Monti is responsible for an automobile fleet consisting of 1,200 vehicles and the purchase of approximately 500 light duty trucks.

Monti has been with Waste Management for nine-and-a-half years, five as fleet administrator. She started as a secretary in purchasing, then became an assistant buyer.

Running the fleet department has given Monti a greater insight into the whole company, too. "I have a better understanding of what Waste Management does and what it takes to run the company," she says. "I've received a great deal of support from upper management."

Each of these women entered fleet management in a different way. They have been recognized by their companies for outstanding fleet administration, as most worked up through the ranks of their company to assume the controls of nationwide fleets. As Purdy says, "I've found my niche in life."