May 2008, Government Fleet - Cover Story
28 Vie For 2008 Public Sector Fleet Manager Of The Year
By Staff
Wayne Corum
City of Fort Worth, Texas
As Director of Equipment Services, Wayne Corum has built partnerships to enhance services. These partnerships include external efforts to assist a consortium of NAPA IBS users to increase service delivery. He also assisted in building a fuel purchasing consortium of 27 government entities to drive down fuel costs by $100,000. He coordinated a promotional event between the City of Fort Worth, NAPA, and CCG Systems that raised funds for United Way.
Internal department partnerships were established to transition to the FASTER fleet management system and establish vehicle acquisition teams for complex equipment purchases. Finally, two additional service centers have achieved ASE Blue Seal status.
Dan Giangardella
City of Columbus, Ohio
Now deputy safety director, Dan Giangardella has been involved in fleet operations for six years. As fleet administrator, he reduced overtime expenditures by an average of $200,000 per year, introduced performance measures that tracked an increase in mechanic productivity by nearly 17 percent, and reduced vehicle totals by nearly 400 since 2003, the latter avoiding nearly $8 million in acquisition costs and saving several hundred thousand dollars in fuel and maintenance. He also played a key role in justifying, designing, and pushing forward the construction of a new 150,000-square-foot fleet maintenance facility.
Giangardella substantially increased the number of ASE and EVT certifications, helped institute the mayor’s award-winning anti-idling policy, and wrote the city’s policy on fleet management. He promoted green initiatives such as E-85 and biodiesel, the installation of hydraulic oil and engine pre-heaters on refuse trucks, and flex-fuel vehicle purchases. Fleet management was also awarded a $79,000 grant from the Ohio EPA to purchase vehicle pre-heaters and diesel oxidation catalysts.
David Head
County of Sonoma, Calif.
The County of Sonoma has made significant changes during Dave Head’s 20-year tenure at the fleet operations division. They include standard replacement schedules and funding for light vehicles, ASE certification for technicians, a chargeback system that recovers all costs, and certified "Green Business" shops. He earned a "Best Practice Award" in 2007 for facility upgrades.
Recently, Head established patrol car setup and diesel particulate retrofits as "Core Business Practices" and developed a plan to replace all sedans with hybrid vehicles. Currently, the County’s fleet includes more than 150 hybrid vehicles. Head has targeted two new projects: green fleet policy and plug-in hybrids.
John Hoelzle
City of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
John Hoelzle is currently the director of the City of Fort Lauderdale’s Parking and Fleet Services Department, managing a fleet of nearly 1,600 vehicles. A 38-year fleet management veteran, Hoelzle is a past chairman of the American Gas Association/Edison Electric Institute (AGA/EEI) national transportation committee and the Society of Automotive Engineers (S.A.E.) national utilities committee. In this last position, Hoelzle originated the utility industry’s first handbook, titled Utility Vehicle Design Handbook, originally published by S.A.E. in 1981 and again in 1991.
Hoelzle has also written and presented numerous technical papers on transportation-related subjects and chaired discussion groups at national conferences. The City of Fort Lauderdale’s Fleet Services Department, named one of the nation’s top 100 government fleets by the 100 Best Fleets program, received special recognition for its vehicle maintenance and replacement plan.
Jeffery Jeter
Spotsylvania County Schools, Va.
Jeffery Jeter has worked in the automotive industry for more than 35 years and serves as the director of fleet services for Spotsylvania County Public Schools in Virginia. As fleet director, he is responsible for acquisition, disposal, maintenance, and repair of the County’s equipment assets. Currently, Jeter oversees the consolidation and new construction of the county and school fleet maintenance facility.
While serving Chesterfield County, Va., as assistant fleet manager, his department earned the National Association of Counties Achievement Award, based on the major three automobile manufacturers’ in-house warranty centers and the Blue Seal certification from ASE.
As deputy director of fleet services for the Commonwealth of Virginia, Jeter helped implement a national fuel card and automobile rental program, installed an E-85 fuel site, implemented a maintenance software program (CCG-FASTER), and established a maintenance call center.
Jeter has served in many chapter-level positions during his 13 years as a NAFA member and is currently serving on the NAFA Board of Governors Education Development Committee and as an instructor.