Bobit Business Media’s (BBM) Automotive Fleet and Green Fleet magazines continue to raise the bar for the annual Green Fleet Conference & Expo, which enters its fifth year in 2012 with an upgraded ride & drive event and free access to the exhibit hall. The 2012 conference will be held Oct. 2-3 at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel, located in the Chicago Metropolitan Area.

With last year’s event described by organizers as the “largest and best attended one yet,” this year’s conference promises to go even further in delivering practical and useful advice for fleets looking to green their operations.  

Pumping Up the Green

A record-breaking 550-plus fleet professionals attended the 2011 Green Fleet Conference — a 15-percent increase over 2010. With attendance continuing to grow year after year, turnout for the 2012 Green Fleet Conference is expected to top last year’s.

Day one highlights will include a keynote address from MotorWeek Executive Producer/Host John Davis on the state of  the green vehicle market and the latest OEM offerings, an upgraded ride & drive, and concurrent sessions for commercial, government, and green truck fleets. Topics will include:

● How to bring fleet suppliers together to deliver sustainability.

● Best practices in capturing odometer readings on electric vehicles, extended-range electric vehicles, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

● Mistakes fleets make when attempting to go green and tips for avoiding the same pitfalls.

● How fleet drivers view the Chevrolet Volt one year later.

Speakers will include Gregg Hodgdon, CAFM, director of fleet operations for Deli Express; Bob Johnson, director of fleet relations for the NTEA – The Association for the Work Truck Industry; Deb Frodl, chief strategy officer for GE Capital Fleet Services; and Sam Ori, director of policy, from The Electrification Coalition. An evening reception will be held in the exhibit hall after the day’s sessions.

Day two kicks off with award presentations, including the All-Star Sustainability Awards, Propane Hero Award, Green Fleet of the Year, followed by a keynote address. Sessions cover a wide range of topics, including:

● Maximizing resale values when remarketing hybrids and other alt-fuel vehicles.
● Best practices in implementing propane autogas into fleet operations.
● Light- and medium-duty fleet idling reduction strategies.
● Forecast of hybrid, plug-in electric,  and natural gas markets.
● Future of car-sharing programs and their impact on the fleet industry.
● Strategies for dealing with compressed natural gas (CNG) obstacles.

Delivering the keynote speech on the second day of the conference will be Mitch Jackson, VP of sustainability for FedEx. Speakers for day two will also include Mike Antich, editor and associate publisher of Automotive Fleet and Green Fleet magazines; Linda Gaines and Terry Levinson from the Argonne National Laboratory; and Dave Hurst, senior analyst for Pike Research.

Closing out the conference will be a general session on grant and funding opportunities.

For the full schedule, visit www.greenfleetconference.com.

Revamped Ride & Drive

For 2012, organizers have stepped up the ride & drive to make it “more of an event within an event,” according to Irene Gruen, event marketing manager for BBM.

Attendees are invited to “Experience Tomorrow” at the ride & drive event, which is scheduled for Oct. 2 from 9-11 a.m. Featuring more green vehicles than ever before, the lineup includes cars, trucks, motorcycles, ride-ons, and two- and four-wheelers from companies including:

● Audi of America.
● Chrysler.
● Coda Automotive.
● Ford Motor Co.
● General Motors.
● Honda.
● IMPCO Automotive.
● Mercedes-Benz.
● Nissan.
● ROUSH CleanTech.
● NatGasCar.
● NGVAmerica.
● THINK North America.
● Toyota Motors Sales.

New Budget-Friendly Options

Register by Sept. 7 and receive a $100 discount off the price of a full conference pass. For a detailed list of registration fees, visit www.greenfleetconference.com. Discounted room rates at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel are also available at $190 per night until Sept. 14. More details are available at www.greenfleetconference.com.

This year, BBM is also making it even more affordable to attend the Green Fleet Conference with a new, free Exhibit Hall-Only Pass. The pass provides access to the opening keynote, exhibit hall, and ride & drive — all for free. The pass is limited to private and public fleets, public policymakers, and fleet industry associations.