AF's Top 100 Commercial Fleets for 1978

Our annual Top Fleets ranking represent more than 272,000 vehicles.

by Staff

March 1, 1980

7 min to read

AF Fleet Rank	Company & Headquarters	Fleet Contact	Co. Owned	Lessor (s)	# Cars	# Lt. Trucks & Vans	Total
1	Xerox Rochester, NY	Ron Pink	-	Gelco, Hertz , Leaseway	8,250	1,750	10,000
2	Frito-Lay Dallas, TX	Joe Wilson Pete Philip	´	-	300	8,300	8,600
3	Tupperware Orlando, FL	Bernie Janis	-	"In-House" Leasing	7,300	-	7,800
4	3-M St. Paul, MN	Floyd Piper	´	-	5,469	1,614	7,083
5	Honeywell Minneapolis, MN	Doug McLeod	-	Gelco PH&H	5,000	2,000	7,000
6	Orkin Atlanta, GA	Porter Thompson	´	Chrysler B&M (Beaudry)	3,200	3,100	6,300
7	Goodyear Akron, OH	Jay Furbay	´	Only 250 Cars Leased	1,840	4,440	6,280
8	Westinghouse Pittsburgh, PA	Lou Dobak	-	"In-House" Leasing	4,000	2,000	6,000
9	Union Carbide New York, NY	Walt Dzitko	-	Wheels, Gelco Hertz	3,500	2,000	5,500
10	Tenneco Houston, TX	John Gudelman	´	Fleet Services	3,457	1,972	5,429
11	Digit Equipment Maynard, MA	Steve Bury	´	PH&H	5,000	200	5,200
12	Exxon Houston, TX	Jack Lamb	´	-	2,580	2,400	4,980
13	Dow Chemical Midland, MI	Dwight Olsen Pamela Pfuehler	-	CCEC/ McCullagh	2,900	2,100	5,000
14	Allstate Northbrook, IL	Bob Peluso "Bud" Fenger	´	-	4,300	50	4,350
15	Shaklee Emeryville, CA	Pete Wood	´	-	4,200	25	4,225
16	Motorola Schaumburg, IL	Rudy Diblik	´	-	3,800	400	4,200
17	Montgomery Ward Chicago, IL	Roseann Neveitt	-	Gelco	400	3,500	3,900
18	Nabisco E. Hanover, NJ	John Mihalker	´	-	3,500	360	3,860
19	Shell Houston, TX	L.J Boudreax	´	-	2,300	1,400	3,700
20	U.S Steel Pittsburgh, PA	"Mac" Wilson	´	-	1,600	2,000	3,600
21	Georgia Pacific Portland, OR	Robert Sumner	´	-	2,000	1,600	3,600
22	Canteen Corp. Chicago, IL	Tom Gredlics	´	-	1,000	2,500	3,500
23	Eastman Kodak Rochester, NY	Scott Thomas	´	-	3,500	30	3,530
24	Brown & Root Houston, TX	Roger Ivey	´	-	1,450	2,050	3,500
25	Continental Insurance New York, NY	R. Gray Woolsey	´	-	3,487	6	3,493
26	Weyerhaueser Tacoma, WA	John Peterson	-	"In-House" Leasing	1,119	2,296	3,415
27	Phillips Bartlesville, OK	E.R. Ewing	´	Major Enterprise	1,303	2,110	3,413
28	W.R Grace New York, NY	Edward Boehme	´	PH&H Hertz	2,039	1,302	3,341
29	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Salt Lake City, UT	Don Benson	´	-	3,100	-	3,100
30	Purolator New Hyde Park, NY	Bob Fritts	´	-	200	2,800	3,000
31	Borg-Warner Palatine, Il	Tom Poland	-	"In House" Leasing	2,600	400	3,000
32	Dresser Ind. Houston, TX	Jo Barr	-	Dresser	2,000	1,000	3,000
33	Burlington Northern St. Paul, MN	Lauren Elverhoy	-	Gelco	700	2,200	2,900
34	Liberty Mutual Boston, MA	Jim Force	´	-	2,800	23	2,823
35	Revlon New York, NY	Ray Brealt	-	Gelco Hertz	2,800	-	2,800
36	State Farm Insurance Bloomington, IL	Tom Costigan	´	-	5,700	-	5,700
37	Crawford Atlanta, GA	B.L. Garrett Wanda Ellison	-	Colesco "In-House"	2,750	-	2,750
38	Avon Products New York, NY	Doreen Woodrum	-	Gelco Gamble	2,600	-	2,600
39	Transamerica Los Angeles, CA	Bill Slathour	-	"In-House" Leasing	2,500	100	2,600
40	Hartford Insurance Hartford, CT	Ralph Radant	´	-	2,600	-	2,600
41	FMC Corp. Chicago, IL	Kate Schneider	´	-	1,670	830	2,500
42	Kraft Chicago, IL	Ed Jackstis	´	-	2,400	45	2,445
43	Procter & Gamble Cincinnati, OH	Clarence O'Dell	N.A	N.A	2,400	-	2,400
44	IC Industries Chicago, IL	Jeff Grade	-	Gelco	2,000	400	2,400
45	Upjohn Kalamazoo, MI	Judy Rafferty	-	Wheels Leaseway	2,150	250	2,400
46	Getty Refining Tulsa, OK	Bob Scott	´	-	300	2,000	2,300
47	Philip Morris New York, NY	Greg Tarring	-	PH&H	2,200	2	2,202
48	American Cyanamid Wayne, NJ	Chuck Woehrle	-	ARI, PH&H Allstate	2,125	75	2,200
49	INA Philadelphia, PA	Charles Krewson	´	-	2,108	6	2,114
50	Federal Express Memphis, TN	Ron Pruitt	-	HLR Corp.	-	2,069	2,069
51	General Foots White Plains, NY	Christ Pollard	´	-	1,950	80	2,030
52	Household Finance Chicago, IL	Mary Kowalski	-	Lend Lease	2,000	7	2,007
53	Greyhound Phoenix, AZ	Ed Bloomfield	´	-	1,900	100	2,000
54	Pfizer New York, NY	Sara Shannon	-	Wheels PH&H	1,950	50	2,000
55	Pepsi Cola Chicago, IL	Walt Miller	-	Gelco	200	1,800	2,000
56	Cities Service Tulsa, OK	Mr. Williams	´	-	750	1,200	1,950
57	N.L McCullough/ NL Ind. Houston, TX	Earl Reeves	-	PH&H	1,252	681	1,933
58	Allstate Insurance Northbrook, IL	"Bud" Fenger	-	Allstate	1,900	-	1,900
59	Economics Labs St. Paul, MN	Mr. Itel Pete Schnidg	´	-	1,780	70	1,850
60	Merck Rahway, NJ	Alma Cristauro	-	PH&H	1,735	85	1,820
61	Fireman's Fund San Francisco, CA	Dan Townsend	Both	U.S Fleet	1,800	10	1,810
62	General Mills Minneapolis, MN	Jim Rowe Henry Paetzel	´	-	1,600	200	1,800
63	Amoco Oil Chicago, IL	Tom Buckley	´	-	1,800	-	1,800
64	Ashland Oil Ashland, KY	Mary Lou Dougherty	´	Cancelling Lessors	1,600	150	1,750
65	Marathon Oil Findlay, OH	Lois Smith	´	Gelco	725	1,000	1,725
66	Wausau Insurance Co. Wausau, WI	Dorothy Elliot	´	Consolidated Gelco	1,700	12	1,712
67	Ingersoll-Rand Los Angeles, CA	Terry Felicia	-	Wheels Gambles	1,225	475	1,700
68	Johnson & Johnson New Brunswick, NJ	H. Smorgans	-	"In-House" Leasing	1,600	100	1,700
69	Farmers Insurance Group Pasadena, CA	Willis Wheeler	-	"In-House" Leasing	1,700	-	1,700
70	U.S. Fidelity & Guaranty Baltimore, MD	Jack Sibley	´	-	1,650	-	1,650
71	Moore Business Forms Glenview, IL	Greg Furch	-	ARI Gambles	1,600	8	1,608
72	Jewell Companies Chicago, IL	Bill Thomas	´	-	400	1,200	1,600
73	Back of America San Francisco, CA	Don Dennler	´	-	1,500	100	1,600
74	McDonald's Oak Brook, IL	Don Kolb	-	PH&H	1,500	50	1,550
75	Searle Skokie, IL	Ilene Mann	-	ARI	1,500	50	1,550
76	Brown & Williamson Louisville, KY	Bob Whitfield	´	-	1,450	50	1,500
77	Gulf Oil Houston, TX	R. Sowickie J.E. Cumming	-	Gelco ARI	1,300	170	1,470
78	Sherwin Cleveland, OH	G.N. Hickey	-	N.A	650	750	1,400
79	Eli Lilly Indianapolis, IN	Vic Hassler Sue Webster	-	Wheels Lend Lease	1,400	-	1,400
80	Smith Kline Corp. Philadelphia, PA	John Mahony Bill Haney	-	ARI, Wheels	1,310	49	1,359
81	Thomas J. Lipton Englewood Cliffs, NJ	Walter Langseder	´	-	750	600	1,350
82	American Tobacco New York, NY	Harold Powers	´	-	1,190	125	1,315
83	Owens Illinois Toledo, OH	Mary Johnson	-	PH&H McCullagh	1,170	130	1,300
84	Lorillard New York, NY	George Klock	´	PH&H Gambles	1,300	-	1,300
85	Pepsico, Inc. Purchase, NY	S. Levy Barbara Gunport	´	Mission Leasing, Gelco	400	900	1,300
86	Abbott Labs No. Chicago, IL	Mack Taylor	-	PH&H, Wheels	1,300	-	1,300
87	Hallmark Cards Kansas City, MO	Helen Bland	´	-	1,250	-	1,250
88	American Greetings Cleveland, OH	Pat Percival	-	PH&H McCullagh	1,250	-	1,250
89	Owens/Corning Toledo, OH	Earl Mitchell Bev Decello	-	PH&H	1,100	100	1,200
90	Hoffman Laroche Nutley, NJ	Roy Ingalls	´	PH&H	1,050	150	1,200
91	American Can Greenwich, CT	Eileen Samia	-	PH&H	1,100	100	1,200
92	Johns Manville Denver, CO	A.R. Holden	´	Kerr	1,000	200	1,200
93	American Home Products New York, NY	Elizabeth Witkowski	-	Wheels	1,200	-	1,200
94	Colgate Palmolive New York, NY	Francis Kelly	-	PH&H	1,150	2	1,152
95	GAF Corp. Wayne, NJ	Sal Giacchi	-	Genway, Hertz, Sentinal	1,125	-	1,125
96	Gerber Products Fremont, MI	Pat Sheehan	´	Wheels, ARI	950	150	1,100
97	Baxter-Travenol Deerfield, IL	Pat Sheehan	´	Wheels, ARI	950	150	1,100
98	L'eggs Winston-Salem, NC	Bob Morris	-	Hollister, Wheels	100	1,000	1,100
99	Continental Oil Houston, TX	Leon Nierman	´	-	851	187	1,038
100	Coca Cola Atlanta, GA	Carol Hunerwadel	´	-	1,000	30	1,030
	TOTAL				199,007	73,918	272,925

In May 1980, AF updated the original listing with the information below.

The last seven of the fleets listed in this update are new to the list, thus changing the ranking of many of the fleets published in March. The numbers shown to the left of each listing are the new fleets' ranks in the updated charts.

AF Fleet Rank	Company & Headquarters	Fleet Contact	Co. Owned	Lessor (s)	# Cars	# Lt. Trucks & Vans	Total
3	Tupperware Orlando, FL	Bernie Janis	-	"In-House"	7,800	-	7,800
9	State Farm Insurance Bloomington, IL	Tom Sours	-	Colesco "In-House"	5,700	-	5,700
13	Dow Chemical Midland, MI	Dwight Olsen Pamela Pfuehler	-	CCEC/ McCullagh	2,900	2,100	5,000
23	Johnson Controls Milwaukee, WI	R.M. Borchert	-	Gelco Wheels Southgate	1,300	2,260	3,560
38	GAB Business Services New York, NY	G.J. Keenan	´	PHH	2,800	-	2,800
39	Travelers Insurance Hartford, CT	Art Derdarian	-	PHH	2,800	-	2,800
49	Diebold, Inc. Canton, OH	Dave Allton	-	PHH Leaseway Gambles Guardsman	900	1,500	2,400
50	Chessie System Baltimore, MD	P.C. McNulty	´	PHH ARI	800	1,600	2,400
82	St. Regis Paper Co. New York, NY	R.G. McCarthy	-	ARI Gambles Associates Consultants, Inc.	800	700	1,500
93	Bell & Howell Chicago, IL	Kathleen M. Rodig	-	ARI Wheels Leaseway	1,100	200	1,300

Topics:Top Fleets Xerox Ron Pink GELCO Hertz PHH ARI McCullagh Leasing Wheels Donlen Operations

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