Automotive Fleet and the Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association (AFLA) are proud to announce the 2012 inductees into the Fleet Hall of Fame.

Instituted to recognize fleet industry leaders and pioneers who have contributed significantly to the commercial fleet management profession, Hall of Fame inductees must have careers spanning 10 years or more. They are selected by their peers via an online ballot.

Established in 2008 with 20 founding members, the number of annual inductees will decrease by one each year, until three are installed in 2015. Thereafter, three honorees will be inducted in the Fleet Hall of Fame at AFLA’s annual conference.

Including this year’s honorees, there now are 60 inductees in the Fleet Hall of Fame to date. This year's inductees are as follows:

Sal Crimi
SALEX
(Deceased)

Crimi was one of the principal contributors in the establishment of the Lee Myles National Fleet Transmission replacement program. Later, he and partner Alex Gianoupolos created SALEX, designed to provide corporate America the first nationwide collision and major mechanical programs exclusive for fleets.

At a later date, the company added standard and preventive maintenance services. The addition of these services established SALEX as the first full-service supplier of collision and full maintenance programs to the fleet industry. Crimi was an honorary NAFA Fleet Management Association lifetime member.

Jerry Frick
Ford North America Fleet Leasing & Rental
(Retired)

Frick started working at Ford in 1970 and retired in 2006 after working in both domestic and international assignments at Ford, including commercial fleet sales manager and director of truck sales and marketing for Ford of Europe in England.

He also served as director of Allied on the Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association (AFLA) Board, was an active member of the NAFA Fleet Management Association Affiliates Committee, and a key member of the NAFA Foundation Board of Directors.

Don Miller
Mike Albert Fleet Solutions
(Retired)

Miller started his 45-year career with Mike Albert Leasing in 1957, helping lead it from a local leasing concern to a major national fleet management company. He was instrumental in creating and establishing its vehicle remarketing operations and vehicle purchasing department, as well as developing a national sales force.

As an industry leader in closed-end operating leases, Miller established the Mike Albert Residual Committee. By pooling information from various aspects of the business, he established the Mike Albert vehicle model-year’s closed-end residuals.

He retired in 2004, and is still an active Residual Committee member.

Sue Miller
McDonald's Corporation

Miller was AF’s 1998 Professional Fleet Manager of the Year and began her industry career in 1979 at ServiceMaster Industries. She implemented a new fleet program from the ground up with A.B. Dick Company.

Miller served as fleet manager for Keebler Corp. before joining McDonald’s Corp., where she has been the fleet manager for 26 years. She was the recipient of the McDonald’s President’s Award, which recognizes the outstanding achievements of the top 1 percent of global staff employees.

She has participated on client boards for GELCO, LeasePlan, and Ford Motor Company. Miller has been an Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association (AFLA) member for 24 years and served as vice president and president from 1996 to 1998.

Miller currently chairs the AFLA Commercial Fleet Manager Sounding Board. She has also been a NAFA Fleet Management Association member for 33 years, served as chairperson and secretary of the Chicago NAFA Chapter in the 1980s, and is a founding member of the Women in Fleet Management (WIFM) Association.

Debbie Mize
Hallmark

Mize, AF’s1995 Professional Fleet Manager of the Year, began her fleet career in 1977 at Hallmark Cards working with Helen Bland. She has been heavily involved in NAFA Fleet Management Association, holding all NAFA chapter offices.

In addition to receiving the NAFA Outstanding Chapter Service Award in recognition from her local NAFA chapter, she also served on the national NAFA board as the national NAFA Educational chairperson.

During her term as chairperson, the educational seminars were completely restructured to better serve the educational needs of members. Mize has also served on the Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association (AFLA) board and is currently AFLA treasurer.

In addition, she has served on the ADT Advisory Board and Ford Fleet Advisory Board, and currently serves on the Chrysler Fleet Advisory Board.

Howard Wodack
ARI – Automotive Resources International
(Retired)

Wodack started at ARI in 1967 when the company was poised to change over to computerized operations. His continued advancement in the company led to his role as senior vice president of operations before retiring in 2003 as the company’s first IT executive – senior vice president, management information systems.

Throughout his time at ARI, Wodack contributed to the development of the company’s customer systems, often the most advanced in the industry, including User Power, Inside ARI, ACCESS, FleetNet, PriceNet, and more, with system flexibility for customers always being the primary consideration.

Wodack also put in place the industry’s first team of IT professionals dedicated to providing support for the company’s customer information systems (CIS).

AFLA: Exclusive Sponsor of the AF Fleet Hall of Fame

The Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association (AFLA) is the exclusive sponsor of AF’s Fleet Hall of Fame awards. Since the award’s founding, honorees have been recognized during AFLA’s annual conference, which will be held in September at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country in San Antonio.

“AFLA is proud to be the ongoing, exclusive sponsor of this prestigious industry award, which recognizes the pioneers and innovators of the commercial fleet industry,” said Theresa Belding, president of AFLA. “All members of the fleet industry can participate in AFLA as equal members, which makes the AFLA conference the perfect forum to recognize the Hall of Fame accomplishments of all members of the fleet industry.”

Founded in 1969, AFLA’s mission for its more than 300 member companies, representing all industry segments, is to promote growth, expansion, and professionalism within the fleet industry by providing a strategic focus to fleet management through education, research, technical standards, representation, and advancement of member interests.