The Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association's (AFLA) 2024 corporate fleet conference was held Sept. 15-18 at the La Cantera Resort & Spa in San Antonio.
AFLA Conference 2024: Driving Spirit [Photos]
Garcia thanked his his company, those who voted for him, and his family. “They’re going to have to hear about how I’m a visionary for some time,” he said. “Hopefully, now I can win an argument.”
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Matthew Betz did triple duty at this year's conference. He completed his term as president and served as conference chair, and capped his career with induction into the Fleet Hall of Fame.
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Women in Fleet Management (WIFM) presented a seminar at AFLA and were, as always, well-represented at the conference. Debbie Struna of Fleet Street Remarketing (left) is the mentorship lead, and Erin Gilchrist of Intellishift (middle) and Pam Hackett of BBL Fleet are mentors in the program.
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In the session “Working Together: Human Resources, Procurement, Finance and Fleet,” Michael Bieger stressed that procurement will focus on reducing per-vehicle costs. However, fleet managers should quantify how certain decisions, like improving vehicle maintenance time, can contribute to larger business objectives.
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Golfing is always a popular activity at AFLA. This year, golfers braved a sultry 98-degree San Antonio afternoon.
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The best practice roundtables are in intimate and immediate way to share knowledge and problem solve with other fleet managers.
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The pool social is always a hit at AFLA, but this is the first time with a monster truck!
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Attendees took part in the cowboy theme.
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Every AFLA conference is known for networking in a relaxed setting.
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Line dancing happened. This is Texas, after all!
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Longtime colleagues reunited in San Antonio.
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All seminars at AFLA are held in the main ballroom. There are no concurrent or breakout sessions.
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Sharon Etherington of Roche, winner of the 2024 Fleet Manager of the Year Award, is flanked by Shlomo Crandus, CEO of Wheels (left) and Matthew Betz, AFLA president.
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Ernest Garcia of Gothic Landscape (right) is congratulated by Merchants Fleet interim co-CEO Brad Burgess.
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Rob Minton of Geotab made a speech on behalf of Bill Gibson of General Motors upon induction of Gibson into the Fleet Hall of Fame.
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In fleet for 30 years, Theresa Belding accepts her induction into the Fleet Hall of Fame. “My friend Lisa Kneggs says, ‘Fleet is a life sentence,’ she said. “I believe it and there is no other group of people I’d rather serve it with.”
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Futurist and author Jack Uldrich delivered the closing keynote. He discussed his work of “unlearning,” which frees oneself from obsolete knowledge and assumptions.
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Josh Green of Inspiration Mobility gave an update on fleets and electric vehicles. Inspiration’s data shows that EV batteries are on track to last more than 250,000 miles and that 80% to 90% of EVs’ TCO benefit comes from fuel cost savings.
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Brandon Kready of AGI won closest to the pin.
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The Tuesday dinner took place on the resort lawn at sunset.
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Attendees had fun with the cowboy theme.
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Automotive Fleet's Chris Brown emcee'd the awards ceremony.
Photo: Laurie Rush Photography