Four highly qualified, and long-serving, fleet executives have been nominated for the prestigious award exclusively sponsored by the CEI Group and will be presented at AFLA's annual conference in Nashville in September.

Michael Bieger 

• Company: ADP LLC

• Title: Senior Director, Global Procurement

• Total Vehicles: 1,148 (U.S.); 1,105 (EU)

• Staff Supervised: 3

• Years in Fleet: 19

• Replacement Policy: 30-36 months in service or 75,000-90,000 miles. 

Bieger has been in the industry since 1996, first with the pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche, and, most recently, as senior director of Global Procurement for ADP. He has been a contributor to Automotive Fleet magazine and has presented at several NAFA national forums; from 2000 to 2014, and most recently at the 2015 Global Fleet conference in Miami.

He is responsible for ADP’s global logistics spend, leads procurement’s BPI initiative, having led four such engagements in the past year, and directs the North American fleet team of three associates (two in the global HQ and one offshore associate in Manila), managing more than 1,100 sales vehicles, as well as leading a global Procurement team in managing an EU fleet of 1,105 vehicles across 12 countries.    

This year, his team continued with ADP’s global fleet CO2 reduction plan; every one of the MY-2015 vehicles adopted by the fleet was either a hybrid or clean diesel rated at a minimum of 40 mpg. This initiative, which seeks a maximum CO2 output of 140g/km, has seen a 20.8-percent increase in average fleet fuel economy from 24.9 mpg to 30.1 mpg with savings of more than $400,000 in ADP’s current fiscal year.    

The ADP team also launched a safety initiative, which included the creation of a safety council with members from fleet, risk management, legal, sales, and HR; piloted a telematics program for at-risk drivers; and promoted new guidelines for hiring drivers. Globally, this year saw the introduction of FMCs in two European countries, and consolidated global agreements with four preferred manufacturer groups.

Bieger has served on supplier client boards for GE Capital Fleet Services and Wheels as well as NAFA’s Corporate Fleet Advisory Council, and is currently the VP of AFLA.

Robin Lewis

• Company: Ferrellgas

• Title: Vice President, Procurment, Fleet and Asset Management

• Total Vehicles: 3,345

• Staff Supervised: 4 Direct and 8 Indirect

• Years in Fleet: 8 

• Replacement Policy: Varies

Lewis develops and has oversight of a variety of comprehensive corporate purchasing and fleet strategies, each core to Ferrellgas’ missions of efficiency and optimized asset value.

The company is the nation’s second largest propane retailer and, operating under the trade name Blue Rhino, is the nation’s largest provider of propane by portable tank exchange.

Lewis has been tasked with a number of disparate responsibilities since joining the company in December 1997; however, she now has a finer focus, applying her experience and expertise on the processes and data-led logistics that drive performance and longevity for Ferrellgas’ more than 3,300 vehicles — keeping them on the road, delivering propane to its customers across the country and managing an annual budget of more than $150 million.

She, along with members of her team, also represent Ferrellgas interests and offers input on behalf of fleet professionals through active leadership roles in a number of associations, including NAFA, the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA), the Propane Education Research Council (PERC), Clean Cities, and American Purchasing Society.

An added testament to her leadership skills is the number of personal and professional honors and appointments, such as a seat on the National Propane Gas Association’s audit committee, selection as one of Women in Propane’s original advisory board members, and Kansas City Business Journal’s 2007 Women Who Mean Business honor.

Julie Pedelini

• Company: Johnson & Johnson 

• Title: Director, North America Fleet, Travel & Meetings

• Total Vehicles: 8,800 in North America (about 7,700 in the U.S.) 

• Staff Supervised: 2 

• Years in Fleet: 3.5

• Replacement Policy: Typically 36-48 months and 60,000 miles. 

Pedelini currently leads the North American fleet, travel & meetings category, which includes 8,800 fleet vehicles across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Approximately 88 percent of these vehicles are self-funded. Her responsibilities include category strategy and supplier management focus, with a strong connection to the business to ensure the company’s programs and policies meet their needs and continue to deliver value.

In the fleet, travel & meetings space, Pedelini is primarily concerned with the safety of the company’s drivers/travelers, while also balancing compliance, sustainability, employee satisfaction, and cost. She is focusing her management efforts on making the fleet as sustainable as possible. For example, in the U.S., two of the company’s sectors have worked with fleet to mandate hybrid or diesel sedans as the standard, thus reducing the fleet’s CO2 emissions. Pedelini led a pilot of a green driving program in 2014-2015. Overall, Johnson & Johnson’s has delivered a 20-percent reduction in fleet CO2 since 2010. Fleet has also introduced more vehicles with advanced safety technology with a goal that all of the fleet vehicles in North America will have advanced technology, such as forward-collision avoidance by 2020. 

Pedelini is continuing look to optimize the company’s supply base; globally, 90 percent of its vehicles are with 10 OEMs, and more than 70 percent are with seven OEMs. In the U.S., fleet has recently reduced its supplier base to five OEMs. Pedelini has worked with Johnson & Johnson’s fleet management company to develop a cargo policy. Under Pedelini’s leadership, the fleet has also revised its all-wheel drive eligibility. 

Pedelini is a member of several client advisory boards representing both OEMs and fleet management companies.

Paul Youngpeter, CAFM

• Company: Rollins, Inc. 

• Title: Managing Director of Fleet & Corporate Services

• Total Vehicles: 9,200

• Staff Supervised: 4 (fleet); 32 (total)

• Years in Fleet: 5.5 

• Replacement Policy: 4 years/95,000 miles (trucks); 3 years/80,000 miles (sedans and SUVs)

Youngpeter joined Rollins, Inc., parent company for Orkin pest control, in 1994 as a member of Orkin’s operations management. Over the years, he has served in several capacities for Orkin and Rollins. 

He became Rollins’ director of fleet in March 2010, and earned his Certified Administrative Fleet Manager (CAFM) designation in April 2011. In 2014, Youngpeter was promoted to managing director, fleet & corporate services and now oversees the Rollins fleet, real estate, facility management, and mail departments for the company’s 9,000 vehicles and 500-plus locations in the U.S. His fleet responsibilities include strategic direction, vendor negotiations, contractor management, and coordinating strategic partnerships within Rollins with risk management, HR, procurement, and operations to improve safety, maintain vehicle image, and drive costs off the bottom line. He is also the primary liaison with operations and corporate executive management.

Youngpeter successfully won executive agreement for open-end leasing on all vehicles which will save Rollins $8-$12 million over the next six years. Additionally, in 2014, Rollins’ fleet department eliminated $2.3 million in direct non-fuel related costs through contract negotiations, process improvements, and rightsizing initiatives.

After decades of using the Ford Ranger as the company’s primary pest control vehicle, Youngpeter and the fleet team worked with operations and vendors to transition to the Toyota Tacoma, and, at the same time, improve branding and convenience for field users. One major action taken was the implementation of an annual planning meeting with all key suppliers and the internal support team to address all phases of the order-to-delivery cycle. The result has been improved commitment from the suppliers to meet Rollins’ needs and a more responsive system overall.

After taking over fleet responsibilities, Youngpeter led the evaluation and decision process which resulted in an ongoing partnership with Wheels as Rollins’ FMC.  Moving to open-end leasing, partnering with a fleet management company, and transitioning 82 percent of the fleet to a new vehicle have been significant cultural changes for Rollins. Youngpeter, and the fleet team, have helped ease the transitions by implementing a comprehensive communication plan.