Dean Smith, a fleet manager with Rydon Group, was named winner of the Association of Fleet Professionals’ (AFP) Strategic Award at its annual conference.

Held May 17 at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon, England, AFP’s training manager Ronnie Gillman presented a special certificate to Dean, who had gained distinction in its Fleet Vehicle Management – Strategic course.

“This individual really stood out,” said Gillman. “The quality of their work and the way they brought to life what they had learned and what they then took back to their organization was terrific. They had developed themselves and taken something back to their business.”

The Fleet Vehicle Management – Strategic course is structured around five core competencies considered essential for the strategic operation of a fleet:

• Managing communication

• Establishing process for administration

• Understanding fleet vehicle funding and finance

• Discovering vehicle acquisition and remarketing

• Interpreting legislation

The AFP’s course is externally accredited by The Institute of the Motor Industry (The IMI) and is designed to set the standard for coordinating or managing a vehicle fleet.

At Rydon Group, a maintenance company serving the housing and health care sector, Smith has spent nine years in feet management, looking after 120 commercial vehicles mainly used by tradesmen.

Speaking after the presentation to Global Fleet Management, Smith said.

“During the course I built greater depth and understanding to my knowledge through the modules. It was also really useful networking with other fleet managers in our cohort, understanding the fleet management pressures they faced, what people were doing well and what was working.”

Smith said that, following the AFP course, he had changed aspects of his fleet’s management.

“Until I completed the course, we purchased our fleet outright, but following the model of different acquisition methods we’ve looked at new methods of funding, particularly finance lease where some contracts could benefit from that form of procurement.”

Next on the list for Smith is electrification of the fleet. “But we’re still waiting for the ICE vans we ordered over a year ago. Once those are in, we will then start taking steps to electrify our vehicles as they come off fleet.”

Last year James Rooney was the AFP learning winner at the conference, gaining a distinction in Advanced Vehicle Fleet Management.