Autofleet, the fleet management optimization platform, announced the winners of the Optimizers Awards for 2026, an industry-wide program recognizing fleet and mobility operations.

The Optimizers Awards were created to recognize people working in fleet and mobility operations. Together, the winners represent a range of operational initiatives across the industry, including route optimization, fleet automation, AI, utilization improvement, and operations.

"What made these winners stand out wasn't just the results they achieved, but the creativity and operational discipline behind them," said Sima Megrel Shubzak, VP of Marketing at Autofleet. "Every fleet or mobility operator faces the same challenge: how to create reliability in an environment filled with constant change. The winners demonstrate what is possible when operational excellence becomes a strategic advantage," added Shubzak.

According to Autofleet, the winners demonstrate operational approaches across cost, scalability, sustainability, and customer experience.

The Optimizers Awards 2026 Winners

Best Route Optimization: USPS

USPS received the Best Route Optimization award for rebuilding its logistics network using optimization and real-time operational data. The organization said it reduced transportation spend by $1.7 billion and cut unplanned trips by 40%, while supporting freight volumes and maintaining service performance.

Rising Star in Mobility Operations: DPD UK

DPD UK received the Rising Star in Mobility Operations award for establishing a dedicated Utilization Team for its vans and LCVs. The initiative increased peak fleet utilization from 76% to 84%, enabled the decommissioning of 908 vehicles, and contributed to the company's first fleet procurement freeze in decades.

Best Fleet Operations: Zipcar

Zipcar received the Best Fleet Operations award for improving vehicle availability and operational efficiency across its North American car-sharing network through automation and process optimization. By streamlining vehicle cleaning workflows and reducing manual intervention, Zipcar said it improved fleet readiness, increased vehicle availability for members, and enabled field teams to spend more time supporting members.

Fleet Optimization Pioneers: Dollaride

Dollaride received the Fleet Optimization Pioneers award for developing an EV-as-a-Service model for community transit operators. By combining vehicles, charging infrastructure, financing, and parking into a single offering, the model is designed to support EV adoption while reducing operating costs and emissions.

AI-Powered Operations: Karmo Carsharing

Karmo received the AI-Powered Operations award for using AI in procurement, fleet planning, and customer operations. The company said it uses AI to track market trends, support vehicle lifecycle decisions, and anticipate customer needs, allowing it to more than double its fleet size while increasing utilization from 89% to 91%.

The Impact Award: Kari Ride Hailing

Kari received The Impact Award for its operating model. The organization manages more than 250,000 rides annually with no dispatchers and a part-time operations team of two people, using automation and workflows to provide service at scale.

After reviewing submissions from a range of fleet and mobility operations across geographies, business models, and use cases, Autofleet said one theme emerged consistently: operators are using optimization across AI, automation, network and route optimization, predictive decision-making, and operational scalability. According to the company, the submissions demonstrated how optimization is being used to support business performance.