Professional fleet management helps the federal government achieve its environmental objective by operating millions of well-maintained, fuel-efficient vehicles. The late-model company-provided vehicles on the road today help the government reduce tailpipe emission levels and conserve gasoline. Consider the alternative. Without professional fleet management and company-provided vehicles, the alternative would be driver reimbursement with employees, on average, driving older, less well-maintained vehicles or large SUVs with lower fuel economy. Employee-reimbursed vehicles would emit greater emissions and consume more fuel than the alternative company-provided vehicles. There are other ways that company-provided fleets contribute to emission reductions and conserved fuel. Fleets routinely restrict the grade of fuel drivers can purchase. For instance, the majority of fleets have policies or employ fuel cards that restrict the purchase of premium-grade fuel. Many consumers are misinformed believing their vehicles require premium-grade gasoline to operate effectively. On the contrary, the overwhelming majority of domestically manufactured vehicles are designed to operate at their optimum using unleaded gasoline. From an environmental perspective, many people may not realize that the use of premium-grade fuel actually contributes 30 percent more greenhouse emissions than regular unleaded gasoline. The more environmental groups learn about well-maintained company-provided vehicles and how fleets control fuel purchasing habits, the more they realize how very important company-provided vehicles are in helping our nation meets its environ-mental objectives. In the final analysis, the absence of professional fleet management and company-provided vehicles would be detrimental to our country’s environment. Let me know what you think. mike.antich@bobit.com