Clay Gaudet, fleet manager for AutoZone, will retire from the company on Sept. 30, where he managed a fleet of 15,958 vehicles. He worked at AutoZone for 12 years, which combined with his prior industry experience, represented a cumulative 43 years in fleet. 

In 2019, Gaudet was a nominee for the 2019 AF Fleet Manager of the Year Award. During his career with AutoZone, Gaudet is credited with identifying numerous opportunities to trim significant cost from his fleet through telematics, risk mitigation, reducing moving and parking violations, and lower fuel costs through vendor negotiations. He also recovered millions of dollars in positive equity through strict management of the remarketing/salvage process.

In August 2021,  Alexander Sikes was named AutoZone fleet manager to succeed Gaudet. Sikes  previously was the senior fleet coordinator for AutoZone and has worked with Gaudet since 2016. 

Sikes started his career at AutoZone in 2015 when he was hired as a commercial implementation specialist with his primary responsibility to provide program and process expertise to support the growth of the company’s commercial sales initiatives. Prior to joining AutoZone, Sikes worked in sales and operations management for Penske Truck Leasing in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area with both local and national accounts.