International pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca’s global fleet team was honored this summer as world leaders, receiving the 2023 Global Fleet Team award at this summer’s Global Fleet Conference in Miami, hosted by Bobit and Automotive Fleet.

The annual award, sponsored by electric vehicle company Polestar, recognizes an experienced global or regional fleet team, known by peers as “defining, moving toward and achieving global fleet management success."

Adam Boal, AztraZeneca’s head of procurement, Americas; and Kristin Borseti, procurement director, U.S. Commercial, accepted the global award on behalf of the company fleet team.

The AstraZeneca team was cited for its initiatives in “sustainability, fleet safety, cost containment, adoption of technology-based solutions, and the widespread and ongoing collaboration with its numerous partners on a global basis to achieve corporate goals.”

Sustainability

Committed to becoming a wholly EV global fleet by 2025 across AstraZeneca operations in Europe, the U.S. and Japan, the fleet team is a strong contributor to the corporation’s overall goal carbon neutral operations by 2025 and carbon negative by 2030.

The first pharmaceutical company to join the global EV100 initiative, AstraZeneca has integrated environmentally friendly practices to reduce the carbon footprint of its vehicles currently in operation such as the introduction of a hybrid-only vehicle replacement policies.

Safety

The company’s driver safety measures focus the health and safety of its field force drivers both those operating company vehicles and those in the gray fleet segment. The fleet team has established global targets to cut the number of collisions per million miles/kilometers, resulting in reduced accidents, injuries and associated costs, as well as lives saved.

Cost Management

By optimizing vehicle utilization, managing maintenance schedules, and negotiating favorable contracts with suppliers, AstraZeneca has successfully mitigated fleet expenses during a period of widespread inflationary pressures around the globe.

Technology and Innovation

In addition to the fleet electrification and installation of home charging units, AstraZeneca leverages other advanced technologies, such as telematics, to implement data-driven decision-making in improving fleet performance.

Compliance and Regulation

AstraZeneca maintains robust processes to ensure compliance with local, regional, and international regulations governing its globally dispersed fleet operations. Adhering to these legal requirements has enhance the corporation’s positive reputation and forestall the risk of penalties and legal issues.

Interdepartmental Collaboration vis Cross-Functional Initiatives

AstraZeneca’s experienced fleet team deploys operational fleet strategies, such as interdepartmental collaboration, to achieve overarching corporate goals within the multinational organization. A key measure is the team’s strong partnerships with different fleet management companies and other fleet service providers in various global regions to help implement these strategies and the team’s many initiatives.

Past Fleet Team of the Year award winners include 3M (2022) and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (2021).