Twenty-six fleet industry veterans were nominated for inclusion in this year’s annual Fleet Hall of Fame ceremonies. Eight will be inducted.
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Presented by Automotive Fleet magazine and exclusively sponsored by the Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association (AFLA), the Fleet Hall of Fame award recognizes fleet industry leaders and pioneers who have contributed significantly to the commercial fleet management profession. Eligible nominees must have at least 10 years fleet management experience and have contributed significantly to the fleet industry. Of the following 26 nominees, a slate of eight inductees will be announced at the AFLA annual conference, Sept. 8-10 in Las Vegas.
Mike Antich
Automotive Fleet
Editor & Associate Publisher
Dates in Fleet: 1985-Present
Antich has been heavily involved in the fleet industry for more than 25 years, writing and editing more than 5,000 articles on fleet management, in addition to his active membership in a number of industry associations, including the Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association (AFLA), NAFA Fleet Management Association (NAFA), and the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance (IARA). Antich is a past AFLA president, a 15-year member of the NAFA Foundation Board of Directors, long-time member of the NAFA Affiliates Committee, and was a member of the committee that helped create the Affiliates position on the NAFA Board of Trustees. He was chairman of the IARA industry task force that developed the first-ever Certified Automotive Remarketers (CAR) program and has served 10 years on the IARA Board of Directors, in addition to being an officer and secretary.
George Argueta
Fleet Manager, Celanese Corp.
Salex/CCM
Regional Marketing Manager
Dates in Fleet: 1965-present
As one of the first NAFA Affiliate trustees, Argueta has been actively involved with the association and achieved NAFA Lifetime Honorary Membership in 2001. He was appointed to regional marketing manager for Corporate Claims Management (CCM) in 2001. Previously, he spent 20 years as a fleet manager and also served as president of Salex Fleet Services.
Hal Barton
Chrysler & Lincoln-Mercury
General Mgr. of Fleet Operations (Retired)
Dates in Fleet: 1950-1992
Barton held sales, finance, and fleet executive positions with General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. In these roles, he was responsible for all fleet, leasing, and rental market sales and marketing activities.
[PAGEBREAK]Bob Berke
NAFA
Executive Director (Deceased)
Berke took over full-time management of NAFA as the association’s founding executive director in March 1965. He spent his entire career with the Association during its growth years until retiring from NAFA in 1985. Berke passed away in 2000.
Henk Bosman
U.S. Fleet Leasing
President (Deceased)
Dates in Fleet: 1964-1989
Bosman began his career in the fleet leasing industry working for several years in sales in the Pacific Northwest for GELCO Fleet Management Services. In 1964, he and several partners started Vehicle Lease and Management Services with zero vehicles and expanded to more than 80,000 before the company was purchased by parent company, U.S. Leasing, in 1972. He retired from U.S. Leasing in 1989. Bosman passed away Aug. 13, 2009, at the age of 80.
Harry Brey
LeasePlan International (LPI)
(Deceased)
Brey worked at LeasePlan International (LPI) when Gelco purchased LPI from PepsiCo.
Larry Domagal
Ford Motor Company
Fleet Director (Retired)
Dates in Fleet: 1959-1976
Domagal was Ford Division’s longest-serving fleet director. He retired from Ford Motor Co. in 1977.
[PAGEBREAK]Warren Feirer
Lipton/Nabisco
Fleet Manager (Retired)
Feirer served as NAFA president from 1979-1981 and is a past president of NAFA Foundation and recipient of NAFA’s Distinguished Service Award. During his career, he accepted an award on behalf of NAFA from President Jimmy Carter for NAFA’s efforts in planning fuel conservation during the height of the 1970s fuel crisis.
Bill Fleming
Dart & Kraft (D&K Financial)
President (Deceased)
A graduate of Stanford University, Fleming built an equipment leasing and a leverage leasing division for Dart & Kraft (D&K). He was named president when D&K acquired Gambles C&M Leasing. Fleming passed away in August 2005 at the age of 72.
Dave Hansen
GM Fleet & Commercial Operations
General Manager (Retired)
Dates in Fleet: 1998-2008
Hansen was employed at General Motors for 39 years before retiring in March 2004. He joined GM in 1965 after graduating high school, working in a GM assembly plant during the summer while attending college. Following graduation from college with an engineering degree, he worked in several roles with the company including chief engineer for Chevrolet Division. Hansen often comments the highlight of his career was serving as general manager of GM Fleet & Commercial Operations in the late 1990s and into the next century. After leaving GM, Hansen became COO for Tecstar, a second-stage manufacturer for General Motors. He is now retired, but provides pro-bono support of the North Carolina Center for Automotive Research (NCCAR), a state-sponsored initiative to attract automotive industrial development and jobs to North Carolina.
Helene Kamon
Wendy’s/AmeriFleet Transportation
Dates in Fleet: 1960-Present
Kamon began her industry career in 1960 working for Dealers CadiLease, later purchased by Union Leasing. She went on to manage Wendy’s fleet for 11 years starting with 350 vehicles, which grew to 2,000 in the U.S. and Canada by the time she left. Before joining AmeriFleet in her current position as vice president of sales, Kamon ran her own driveaway company for seven years. An active figure in the fleet industry, Kamon was the first female president of AFLA (1988-1989) and is a NAFA Affiliate.
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Don Kreft
LeasePlan USA
President/CEO (Retired)
Currently Co-owner, Transport Solutions
Dates in Fleet: 1965-Present
Kreft, a sales and management executive in the fleet management industry since 1965, served as president/CEO of LeasePlan USA from 1986 through 2000. During his tenure, LeasePlan grew from 1,100 vehicles to more than 125,000. Kreft also negotiated the acquisition of Consolidated Service Corp. and oversaw implementation of the industry’s first paperless office, EDI and ePlan. He also served LeasePlan in a global capacity as an SVP of LeasePlan Corp. and as a director of LeasePlan International. Kreft was also a board member of the American Automotive Leasing Association (AALA) and the Automotive Fleet and Leasing Association (AFLA). Currently, he is an owner of Transport Solutions of America (TSOA), heading up the company’s sales and marketing efforts as principal and chief marketing officer.
Walter Langseder
Lipton Tea
Fleet Manager (Retired)
Langseder, a long-time fleet manager for Thomas J. Lipton, Inc., was a founding member of NAFA. He served as NAFA president from 1962-1963 and was inducted as a NAFA honorary member.
Bob Mayfield
GELCO/GE Capital Fleet Services
Regional Sales Manager (Retired)
Dates in Fleet: 30+ years
Mayfield was the only two-term AFLA president, serving from 1998-2000. Among his achievements, he handled the GELCO/GE Capital Fleet Services largest select accounts and received the GE Fleet Services salesman of the year award three times.
[PAGEBREAK]Jim McCallum
GM Fleet & Commercial Operations
Various Management Positions (Retired)
Dates in Fleet: 1979-2008
McCallum was employed at General Motors for 37 years before retiring in November 2008. He began working in the fleet department in 1979, serving in a number of roles before eventually taking on the title of director of GM Fleet Dealer Operations. McCallum also worked in the Chevrolet Division Fleet Department. He is a NAFA Affiliate and member of the Affiliates Committee, and serves on the NAFA Foundation board of directors.
John McKean
LMV Leasing
Chairman/President (Retired)
Dates in Fleet: 40+ years
McKean was named LMV president in 1966. He led LMV in its acquisition by Xerox Credit Corp. in 1983, then headed the firm with LMV President Andrew Strauss during the rapid growth period that followed. He served as AFLA president from 1976-1977.
Brian McVeigh
GM Fleet & Commercial Operations
General Manager (Retired)
Dates in Fleet: 1990-2009
McVeigh led the GM Fleet & Commercial team in Canada from 1990-1994 and subsequently in the U.S. for six years. Prior to the fleet position, he held numerous jobs in field operations, working with dealers as well as home office assignments in service, advertising, sales promotion, dealer organization, and distribution. McVeigh retired March 2009 after nearly 39 years with GM.
Herman Meckler
LeasePlan International (LPI)
Founder and CEO (Deceased)
Meckler was founder and CEO of LeasePlan International in the U.S. Later, he founded the Dutch leasing company in Netherlands, and
then returned to the U.S. Meckler passed away May 9, 2000.
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Bob Miesen
D&K Financial/GE Capital Fleet Services
Senior Vice President (Retired)
Dates in Fleet: 1969-2000
Prior to its acquisition by GE, Miesen was president of D&K Financial Corp. Earlier, he served as president of Gambles C&M Leasing Co. for 10 years. Miesen was also an AFLA and AALA member, and is a NAFA honorary lifetime member.
Bud Morrison
Don Allen Chevrolet/J.M. Leasing
Director of Fleet (Deceased)
Morrison was AFLA’s first president and one of the most successful fleet salesmen of all time, with a career spanning 40 years. He entered the industry in the early 1950s with Don Allen Chevrolet in New York. Twenty years later, he moved to Florida and worked as director of fleet for J.M. Pontiac in Hollywood, Fla., the largest Pontiac dealership in the world, selling between 10,000-12,000 fleet units a year. Morrison passed away May 3, 1992 at his Hollywood home while still working at J.M. Pontiac.
Jack Oliver
Beaudry Ford (Retired)
Dates in Fleet: 1959-2001
Oliver was a long-time dealer fleet manager and general manager, handling large Southeast fleet accounts. He was also actively involved in AFLA for more than 20 years.
Sam Penn
PHH
Executive Vice President (Retired)
Dates in Fleet: 1969-1990
Penn contributed significantly to the growth of fuel and vehicle management services and PHH’s domestic vehicle management services. He joined Peterson, Howell & Heather (PHH) in 1969 as a regional buying manager, moved up to vice president of sales and service, and became president in 1974. In 1978, he was appointed to senior vice president of PHH Group (now PHH) and president of the domestic vehicle management operations. Penn was named executive vice president of PHH Group in 1981. He handled executive responsibilities for PHH facilities management business from 1987 until his retirement in 1990.
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John Rollins
Rollins Inc.
Chairman/CEO (Deceased)
Dates in Fleet: 60+ Years
Rollins founded Rollins Leasing Corporation, one of the nation's largest truck leasing and rental service companies, in 1954. A transportation industry pioneer, he also played an active role in politics, serving as lieutenant governor of Delaware in 1952. Rollins passed away in April 2000 at the age of 83. He was inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame in 2008.
Wayne Smolda
CEI
Founder/CEO
Dates in Fleet: 1980-present
Smolda built the largest accident management company in the industry, which grew to $100 million by its 20th year and $200 million by its 25th year. He developed DriverCare.com in 2002.
Jack Taylor
Enterprise Holdings
Founder of Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Dates in Fleet: 50+ years
After serving as an F6F Hellcat fighter pilot aboard the USS Essex and USS Enterprise during World War II, Taylor founded Executive Leasing in 1957 with just seven cars in the lower level of a Cadillac distributorship. In 1969, Taylor named the company Enterprise Leasing in honor of his country’s military legacy and renamed it Enterprise Rent-A-Car in 1989. After the Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental brands were acquired in 2007, the Taylor family launched a new corporate identity — Enterprise Holdings — for its growing portfolio of transportation businesses, which includes a worldwide network of more than 7,600 airport and neighborhood locations as well as car leasing, vanpooling, car sharing, and hourly rental programs. Through its regional subsidiaries, Enterprise Holdings today operates more than 1 million cars and trucks.
George Wilson
Lever Brothers
Fleet Manager (Retired)
Dates in Fleet: 50+ years
Wilson was fleet manager, VP sales at CIT Service Leasing, VP sales at Runzheimer, one of the founding “fathers” of NAFA, and a WWII veteran.
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