Fleet professionals from around the world attended CEI’s Global Fleet Driver Management Workshop in Philadelphia to share their experiences and offer insights into how to create and manage a global fleet safety program.

Attendees agreed that global fleet safety performance can be significantly improved by uniform adoption of driver assessment methods, training and procedures for intervention with high-risk drivers, in spite of driving cultures that vary from country to country, according to CEI Group.

“The case studies presented by the speakers confirmed that while there may be obstacles to establishing a unified approach to fleet safety, they can be overcome when corporate fleet executives take the right steps,” said workshop host Wayne Smolda, president and CEO of the CEI Group, Inc.

The key, he said, is demonstrating that a program has had success in saving lives and reducing accidents in a major country, and adapting that paradigm to each country in which a multinational fleet operates.

The three-day event was held at the Hotel Sofitel and drew guests and speakers from across North America, Europe and Latin America. Among the fleets that were represented included AkzoNobel, BristolMyers Squibb, Ecolab, Merck, Mondelez International, and others.

More than 40 guests and speakers gathered to hear presentations and case studies. Featured speakers included Patrick Hekkert, of the Dutch fleet safety and risk management firm, VVCR; Rosina Cammarota, of the Brazilian fleet safety company, CEPA; Erik Roelofs of Cito (Dutch Assessment Institute); Joe LaRosa, global vice president for NAFA; Eliot Feldstein of Lytx; Mike Antich, associate editor and publisher of Automotive Fleet magazine; Jaap Van Den Akker of AkzoNobel; Joe Simone of Merck; Eli Polak of BAZZ, an Israeli driving safety technology maker; and Ken Latzko and Brian Kinniry of CEI.