Building on the success of the inaugural Global Fleet Management Conference held in October 2013, this year's Global Fleet Conference will be held at The Square, in Brussels, Belgium, June 16-18.

Again co-produced by Nexus Communication, publisher of Fleet Europe, and Bobit Business Media, publisher of Automotive Fleet, the event is designed to bring together fleet managers and stakeholders from around the world to benchmark their global fleet strategy, share ideas, and exchange best practices and experience.

Safety has become a top-of-mind concern for fleet managers and stakeholders across the globe. To better understand the bottom-line benefits of developing a strong safety culture, 2013 International Fleet Safety Award winner and Nestlé Global Fleet Manager Andy Sacha will present a case study about how safety begins and ends in the driver's seat at the multinational food company.

For many in the fleet community, total cost of ownership (TCO) is the starting point for OEM negotiations. Not at Nestlé. In setting out the criteria to select OEM products, Nestlé lists safety features ahead of the TCO. Purchasing the safest vehicles is just the starting point. Once the vehicle is on the road, driver and fleet safety becomes a risk management exercise, according to the company.

The Nestlé Occupational Safety and Health Standard includes a section on driving safety, which has helped to ensure that fleet operations have become part of the food giant's health and safety DNA. At a local level, standards developed for Nestlé transport and logistics contractors, and other vendors are audited after being risk assessed, with individual country stakeholders encouraged to focus attention on fleet safety and risk management using the toolkit.

Sacha will outline this and other "glocal" approaches the company uses to increase the safety of its drivers.

The agenda will not only include discussions about safety, but other topics of critical interest to global fleet managers, including how to set up a global car fleet strategy and a global fleet team, how to handle global reporting, overviews of emerging fleet markets, global fuel management, and sessions exploring the future of the global fleet market. Attendees will also be presented with the results of an online survey that was completed by global fleet managers and administered by conference producers Nexus Communication and Bobit Business Media.

Since the inaugural event in 2013, the Global Fleet Conference has built interest among regional fleet associations.

The Brazilian federation Thinking Responsible Alternatives, Managing Fleets with Result (PARAR) and Italian association Associazione Italiana Acquirenti e Gestori Auto aziendali (AIAGA) will both be in attendance at the 2014 Global Fleet Conference.

PARAR Leader Lorraine Santos and AIAGA's President Giovanni Tortorici will lead the Brazilian and Italian delegations to the event, respectively.

Attendees will have a number of opportunities to network with these delegations and individual fleet managers to exchange ideas and build professional relationships.

For more information about the 2014 Global Fleet Conference or to register, go to https://conference.globalfleet.com/