DUNWOODY, GA – An industry participant and leader since 1957, George Weimer Jr. passed away June 11. He was 72. Weimer first entered the car leasing business as a salesman for Hertz Car Leasing in Chicago in 1957. Weimer left the company as vice president of sales in 1973 to become vice president of U.S. Fleet Leasing in New York, where he stayed for one year. In 1974, Weimer joined Contel in Bakersfield, Calif., and was responsible for Contel’s national fleet of cars and light trucks. At Contel, Weimer initiated the concept, fully implemented in 1982, of replacing vans with mini-pickup trucks with caps, resulting in fuel savings of 6 million gallons annually. The installation of standardized cab/chassis for aerial trucks resulted in an additional annual fuel savings of 1.5 million gallons. Weimer retired from Contel in December 1990, and became vice president of marketing for Sovran Leasing Corp.’s branch office in Atlanta, and later worked for Adrian Steel. Weimer was a National Association of Fleet Administrators (NAFA) member since 1961. He served as chairman of the Atlanta chapter and was a seminar leader at various NAFA functions. In addition, he was past president of the Automotive Fleet and Leasing Association (AFLA). He was Automotive Fleet’s 1988 Professional Fleet Manager of the Year. Weimer was born Aug. 26, 1932, in Evanston, Ill. He graduated from Lake Forest College and served in the U.S. Army. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Julie, four children, Kari, Bill, Bob, and Cindy, and 10 grandchildren.