Nominations for the 2026 Fleet Visionary Award are officially live. The state of the fleet industry is constantly moving, and it takes innovative leaders to adapt and drive change. If you know someone helping shape the future of fleet management, then this award is a worthy cause.
The Fleet Visionary Award is in its 12th year; the award celebrates fleet leaders who consistently bring new initiatives and perspectives to the industry. Their insights are intentional and fresh, and can be demonstrated through operations, process improvements, data-driven decisions, and sustainability initiatives.
The award is sponsored by Merchant’s Fleet and is open to fleet professionals who run private fleets and have 10 years or fewer of industry experience.
The winner will be announced at the 2026 AFLA Corporate Fleet Conference, to be held Sept. 27-30 in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the theme "Strategy Over Chance: Driving Fleet Confidence."
Last Year’s Winner
Taylor Murphy, fleet manager at Hilti North America, had been in the business for four years when he was named the winner. Murphy spearheaded Hilti’s North American fleet electrification initiative, which ultimately led to the transition of 2,500 vehicles to electric or hybrid models. His background in finance before he transitioned to fleet helped refine his management approach.
He also implemented a new fleet safety program that focused on risk management and driver engagement, with a strong emphasis on telematics. Murphy implemented modern tech that allowed for real-time analytics. One of his biggest accomplishments was overcoming driver skepticism during the process.
“Don't get bogged down on the day-to-day operations and miss the bigger picture, because you (fleet managers) do more than you know. You send fuel cards out, you assign trainings, and you also make the world safer and more sustainable,” said Taylor Murphy as he closed out his speech as the 2025 Automotive Fleet Visionary Award winner at last year’s conference.
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