Addressing the largest group ever at an Automotive Fleet and Leasing Association meeting, President Ron Trapani(ABC Buying Corporation) welcomed more than 170 members to AFLA's Fifth Annual Meeting at the Sheraton-Cadillac Hotel in Detroit.

Introducing the agenda for the March 23-25 conference was Convention Chairman Mac Wilson. "With costs skyrocketing, emission control and the odometer law looming over the automotive field, many things are greatly influencing the industry," Wilson said. "And it is exactly this that needs to be discussed. We shall also discuss the subject of drop shipment," he continued, "which has become an in­creasingly sensitive area."

The meeting's keynote address was presented by John Blessing, President of McCullagh Leasing. Blessing spoke on "Statistical Assessment of Odometers Impact on Resale." (His presentation is featured on pages 23 and 24.)

After a brief question and answer period, George Weimer, Vice President and General Sales Manager for the Hertz Leasing Division addressed the AFLA assembly on" A Lease Salesman's View of Fleet Dealers."

"The car leasing salesman is a professional, in every sense of the word," Weimer began. "And the car leasing company is a broker." Briefly discussing how Hertz does business, Weimer continued that the Hertz Corporation has a somewhat unique way of doing business. They have five locations where they buy cars.

Hertz operates this way, even though it is obviously an additional amount of expense to do so, because "we think we can give our customers better service this way." Said Weimer, "We have instituted this buying program about 14 years ago, and we have proved to ourselves that, this better than centralization."

Weimer believes that the main problem car leasing men have is in communications. "In talking directly to fleet dealers," Weimer continued, "there are several problems in getting the car to the customer. Don't underestimate the delivery time of the car to the customer. And do not underestimate problems that may occur in the back-end of the shop. The dealership has an obligation to treat the driver as well as the dealer's other customers," he said.

The following question and answer period brought up an interesting aspect of George Weimer's presentation, which stressed increasing communications between dealerships, the leasing companies, and the drivers (or customers). The question emphasized the fact that several forms used to order cars are unreadable, and many do not even give enough room for descriptive information. AFLA members felt there was a need to somehow standardize the forms, utilizing only enough copies that would legibly reproduce the complete order.

Ron Trapani, in narrating this discussion, clarified the problem as being one that had responsibilities on both sides, and indicated that AFLA possibly could be "the vehicle for a common denominator, with the ultimate goal to be all dealers, lessors, etc., using one common form.

Drop Shipment-Pro and Con

One highlight of the AFLA Meeting was the presentation" Drop Shipment-Pro and Con" which will be featured in a future issue of Automotive Fleet.

Featured Speakers

Special featured guests during the meeting's last day were Tom Willie of Scot Lad Foods, Al Bollinger of Crawford & Co., Ron Judson of Leaseway and Bob Edmonds of Indiana Auto Auction.

Thomas J. Willie, Vice President-Transportation, Scot Lad Foods, Inc. spoke on the subject, "Outlining the Condition Report Problem." He indicated that when companies bring in their cars, many tend to look at them through rose-colored glasses.

Willie noted the discussion about a standard purchase order, and felt that "perhaps we should think about having a standard condition report. Problems in reports cost time, fort and money. And, many times, because of the wide variance in reports and what is reported, it would be hard to tell from three reports on one car, that the car is the same vehicle noted on the same three reports."

Al Bollinger, of Crawford & Co., discussed "A Field Study of Condition Reports," indicating that there really is no one answer or solution to this problem.

What must be decided in the beginning is a policy decision: Whether the administrator goes after the employee and damage that appears on the car," Bollinger stated. "And what we, as administrators, can do to find the damage -and the employee who does damage to the car. To help this situation we have a quarterly damage report. Therefore, if any damage is found, a settlement is made right then and there. The driver has a certain number of days to take and fill out the car condition report concerning the state of his car upon receipt. Then we instill in the individual branch office to check the car.

"Problems, or course, exist in the car condition report," Bollinger continued. "Many are inaccurate and incomplete. Another problem is a [PAGEBREAK]company leaving themselves open to bias. That is, the situation between driver versus administrator, etc. An independent company, however, can usually go over a car condition report with a driver in 24-48 hours, and most of their appraisers have body shop experience or experience in a technical institute. The third party then usually becomes the arbitrator between the two. Of course, you must be selective in choosing the independent company for car condition report work. Also, you may want to use certain facilities on special clients with problems.

Ron Judson, of Leaseway, spoke on "Auditing Auction Action." (Judson is manager of Leaseway's used vehicle department.) He began by saying, "to audit an auction, first, officially examine and check their accounts. This should happen when they first sell a car. Examine gross amount and net amount. Also, what percent of the national net did you receive for the car, how long has it taken them to get rid of the car, and is it your fault or the auction's fault for unfavorable results.

"Let the auto auction show you the complete transaction: the logging of the car in the car condition report, the car going into the shop, etc. Let them explain the steps taken," Judson continued. "Also, was the car well represented by the auction employee. The best idea is to run an audit on your auctions and come to your own conclusions.

Bob Edmonds, of Indiana Auto Auction, re-emphasized Judson's remarks, saying that those interested in an auction should completely familiarize themselves with the steps taken by the auction in the selling of the car.

"Fleet Management Circle Of Service"

Sunday's luncheon speaker was Robert Heid, Vice President, Fleet Management Services, PH&H. Heid's presentation was on "Fleet Management: The Magic Circle of Service."

"The circle, of course, has no beginning or end." Heid began, "and each of us has a position on its circumference. And within the circumference is the American Corporation." On this circle of service there are four concepts which I offer to bring about ultimate service commitments.

1. Fleet decisions in corporations are made by people.

2. To begin a long-standing business relationship with any corporation, or anyone else for that matter, we must bridge the confidence gap.

3. Once we have gained an initial confidence level, attention to detail can put this relationship in cement.

4. In today's marketplace, and most assuredly for the next two decades, personal service is and will be the hallmark of whatever growth we realize.

Bob Heid's remarks ended with a plea to the audience to be more than interested, independent observers in the several areas of traffic injuries and deaths, state motor vehicle licensing laws, new insurance and odometer legislation, and clean air and safety laws. "Think deeply about what we can do for our customers collectively, that none of us can do it alone," he said.

Ending AFLA's Fifth Annual Meeting, the assembly gave Ron Trapani a standing ovation for his work with AFLA these past years, and a brief address was made by AFLA's new President, Bob McGarvey.

McGarvey said, "We are all charged with the responsibility of making this organization grow. Let us see new names, new faces, and most of all, continuing sound business practices now and in the future."