CHICAGO– Donlen Corporation actively participated in two panel discussions at the 2008 Green Fleet Conference and Expo. Donlen kicked off the conference with the panel discussion, "Mistakes to Avoid When Implementing a Green Fleet Initiative." Dan Hannan, senior vice president of Strategic Consulting and Environmental Solutions, moderated the panel consisting of several fleet managers of companies such as Coca-Cola Bottling, Shire, Inc., Genuine Parts Company, and Scientific Games, as well as a representative from the Chicago chapter of the Sierra Club.

The panelists discussed the environmental and financial influencers on transitioning corporate fleets to "go green" and pitfalls in the process. James Mastaler Gutermuth, of the Sierra Club, explained how his organization assists companies in making informed decisions to manage carbon output. Using tools such as the Sierra Club's coolfleets.com, a partnership between the Sierra Club Cool Cities program and Donlen Corporation, companies and municipalities have the capability to model vehicle alternatives to gain a better understanding of both their carbon output and lifecycle costs.

During the second day of the conference, Gus Xamplas, Donlen's vice president of remarketing, participated in another panel discussion, "Strategies to Remarketing Hybrids and Fuel Efficient Units." Several important issues were discussed, including special disclosure needs and lead-time issues on replacing hybrid vehicles, among others. However, the main point of concern centered on battery replacement.

Xamplas explained that so far nearly all batteries were still under warranty and there hasn't been a need to replace batteries yet. The panelists agreed battery replacement was a considerable remarketing challenge that could only be fully addressed as the progress of hybrid and fuel alternative vehicles in the marketplace continues to develop.

Donlen's participation in the conference further emphasized the company's commitment to assisting vehicle fleets transition to environmentally friendly programs. In addition to moderating two high profile discussion panels, Donlen was a premier sponsor for the Green Fleet Conference.