Personally I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.-Winston Churchill

He not only overflowed with learning, but stood in the slop.-Sydney Smith

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stars young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.-Henry Ford

We're not the CIA or a mole in the inner sanctum of NAFA. We are not offering to introduce you to a fortune teller, deal you a spread of Tarot cards or give you a spiel over a crystal ball. Still, we know you.

As publishers of AF for over 40 years, we have recorded the change of features you fleet managers have gone through. Those personalities on our cover this month are current and may be different from those when we started, but, yet, much the same.

Last August we concluded an extensive research program that included responses of 1,326 fleet manager readers. All the respondents were controlling a commercial fleet of 25 or more vehicles. And we drilled down hard.

We already knew that just over one-third of this group were female so while we didn't ask what you liked for breakfast, we know just about everything else that matters professionally. Listen up.

What source(s) do you rely on for information and insight about how to do you job better?Chart 1 has the results.

Fleet and automotive industry magazines led the way with a commanding 95% index. Distantly "second" were Internet/Web sites (58%), professional organization (57%) and conventions/trade shows (53%). General business magazines, direct mail and newspapers were not big on this radar screen.

Our Research Department further dissected the answers according to fleet size providing additional insight. We also got into some "heavy" stuff like "How does advertising a product or service in business-to-business media affect the overall impression of and favorability towards the product or service? (Whew!!) And what kind of action do fleet manager take in response to advertising. Deep data.

Now, just one more chart; and a good one.

What source(s) do you rely on for influencing or supporting purchase decisions?

Analyzing the results is a joy. Fleet and automotive industry magazines again led the way by a large margin. The other sources again led the way by a large margin. The other sources were, by ratio, quite similar in standing by comparison.

So, we may not know the color of your shorts but we have outstanding evidence that you like and read our publication. Thank you, thank you, thank you. What one can learn globally can often apply locally. I urge you to think outside the box, internationally, if you will, as you study the future.