After much consideration, the finalists for the 2022 Edward J. Bobit Fleet Manager of the Year award have been announced. Out of the 14 well-qualified nominees, these leaders emerged as the frontrunners for the noted fleet honor as some of the most progressive, respected, and efficient professionals working in fleet today. Automotive Fleet and sponsors AFLA and Wheels Donlen would like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to every person nominated this year for their peer-recognized achievements and performance.

The award is sponsored by AFLA and Wheels Donlen and will be presented at the 2022 AFLA conference in Tucson, Arizona, Oct. 10 – 13, 2022, at the JW Marriott Starr Pass. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at the award dinner held at the Marriott.

You can register to attend the conference here.

The finalists appear below in alphabetical order.

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

Kamanns has helped Boehringer-Ingelheim realize over $2 million in estimated annual savings by leveraging outsourced remarketing and a 26% reduction in average cost per mile.

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.

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. 

Congratulations to all the nominees and finalists!