Sixteen candidates have been nominated for the Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year award, which honors fleet managers based on their accomplishments from the prior year. A panel of judges, all working fleet professionals managing diverse fleets around the nation, selects the winner of this annual award. Contestants are judged based on the following 10 criteria: fleet business plan, technology implementation, productivity, policies, preventive maintenance program, utilization management, replacement program, customer service, fuel management, and safety. The Fleet Manager of the Year will be announced at the Government Fleet Expo & Conference (GFX) in San Antonio on June 12. The award is sponsored by Fleet Counselor Services.


Morris Anderson, CPFP

Fleet Maintenance Superintendent             

City of Wheaton, Ill.

  • On-Road Vehicles: 155
  • Off-Road Vehicles: 92
  • Maintenance Facilities: 1

2012 Accomplishment(s): I’m extremely proud of the ongoing cooperation between fleet and all City departments including Police, Fire, and Public Works. Our hard-working team provided excellent fleet service and support within today’s fiscal constraints. I also served on two committees of the Northwest Municipal Conference, a procurement co-op serving northern Illinois. I chaired the chassis committee that developed specifications for an ambulance and pumper. Additionally, I served another year as an officer for the Municipal Fleet Managers Association. I’m privileged to have worked side-by-side with so many professionals during my nearly 40 years in public fleet.


Richard Battersby, CAFM, CPFP      

Director, Fleet Services

University of California, Davis

  • On-Road Vehicles: 1,300
  • Off-Road Vehicles: 100
  • Maintenance Facilities: 1                         

2012 Accomplishment(s): I am proud of achieving the three-year goal of our business plan to stabilize the department’s operations, introduce efficiency improvements, and correct an operating deficit of $800,000 annually, which we did without major layoffs or a reduction in service delivery. We did this in the face of escalating staff costs and operating costs and an across-the-board departmental assessment. We also were able to avert potentially being outsourced by creating the first-ever annual Fleet Analysis, which details our budget and operating expenses while comparing services we provide to outside commercial vendor options. Mostly, I am proud of my team who enabled these successes.


Martin Bowman

Fleet Operations Manager

City of Riverside, Calif. 

  • On-Road Vehicles: 1,030
  • Off-Road Vehicles: 264
  • Maintenance Facilities: 3         

2012 Accomplishment(s): We were named the No. 1 Government Green Fleet in 2012. This has benefited our organization by raising the bar for performance and providing a heightened awareness about the importance of clean fuel and transportation. This acknowledgement has raised fleet morale and facilitated increased use of the fuel island by both business and residential customers. It has been an opportunity to show citizens and businesses what the City has been working toward and brought local business attention to natural gas fueling capabilities. The reduction in operating cost due to lower clean fuel pricing has been fantastic.

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David Childress

Director of Fleet

Salt Lake City, Utah        

  • On-Road Vehicles: 1,619
  • Off-Road Vehicles: 2,465
  • Maintenance Facilities: 2

2012 Accomplishment(s): In 2012, we significantly increased customer satisfaction by focusing more on customer service. Fleet’s policy is striving to “wow” our customers. We conduct surveys electronically with Survey Monkey, and we solicit comment cards after each service to monitor customer satisfaction. Prior to 2012, customer satisfaction was at 30%; satisfaction level is now at 92-95%.    


Paul Condran

Equipment Maintenance/ Fleet Manager            

City of Culver City, Calif.               

  • On-Road Vehicles: 575
  • Off-Road Vehicles: 32            
  • Maintenance Facilities: 1         

2012 Accomplishment(s): We assisted many fleets on the principles of fleet management and alternative fuels and shared our fleet strategies, best practices, and policies. We also began our second major phase on benchmarking. We have achieved 80% of the initial goals overall and remodeled our program with even higher goals for achievement. Our benchmarking efforts have increased our operational productivity by 30% and save an estimated $600 per employee in efficiencies. Several municipal fleets have requested we share our benchmarking model.


Tim Conway

Fleet Manager                 

City Of North Olmsted, Ohio

  • On-Road Vehicles: 120
  • Off-Road Vehicles: 453
  • Maintenance Facilities: 9         

2012 Accomplishment(s): I worked with the service safety director, fire chief, and firemen to purchase a fire truck that was less expensive, yet more efficient. Also, our utilization management program makes the best use of older assets through refurbishing. When the opportunity comes to replace vehicles or equipment, we take the better units and refurbish them. We pass the refurbished vehicles to departments that don’t use the vehicles as much, and we auction off the rest.

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William Griffiths

Fleet Management Division Chief, Montgomery County, Md.

  • On-Road Vehicles: 2,978
  • Off-Road Vehicles: 460
  • Maintenance Facilities: 10

2012 Accomplishment(s): We developed Fleet Management Services’ (FMS) FY-13 strategic business plan. I brought together a team comprised of members from the entire FMS division. The team did more than develop the plan — the collaboration strengthened the bond between leadership and employees by encouraging the entire team to work toward common goals. During the past year, we have accomplished several of the key goals set forth in our strategic plan, including improving preventive maintenance compliance, creating a more efficient organization through realignment, and increasing customer satisfaction.


Dennis Hogan, CPFP, CAFM

Fleet Services Manager

City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa

  • On-Road Vehicles: 850
  • Off-Road Vehicles: 350
  • Maintenance Facilities: 2         

2012 Accomplishment(s): In 2012, our daily readiness rate for snow equipment was 98% due to a program we implemented in 2010 and continue to develop. In winter 2009, we saw significant increases in breakdowns during snow events that drove the daily equipment availability down to 75%. Our garage leadership developed a Winter Maintenance Program. Each year, early in the fall, garage staff completes a very in-depth maintenance program to ensure that all our snow equipment is ready for the winter season. Our daily readiness rate during snow events has risen every year.


Martha Kobliska

Fleet Manager/Branch Chief Transportation Security Administration            

  • On-Road Vehicles: 2,967
  • Off-Road Vehicles: 0  
  • Maintenance Facilities: 0         

2012 Accomplishment(s): My proudest accomplishment is having my user office nominate me for this honor — that epitomizes the relationship we have tried to foster between headquarters and our end user offices. My proudest fleet management accomplishment would be the first-quarter petroleum reduction of 38% between fiscal-year 2012 and 2013. Once again, that proves that all our efforts are working for the benefit of taxpayers.[PAGEBREAK]

Rick Longobart 

Facilities, Fleet Maintenance & Central Stores Mgr.

City of Santa Ana, Calif.

  • On-Road Vehicles: 531
  • Off-Road Vehicles: 120
  • Maintenance Facilities: 1

2012 Accomplishment(s): The fleet department of Santa Ana, through environmental transportation initiatives, has directly improved the quality of life in the community. By reducing our fleet numbers by more than 20%, local residents are exposed to lower levels of vehicle emissions. Conventional strategies, such as placing emission control devices on diesel trucks, retreading tires, and recycling oil lower the amount of waste reaching landfills. By employing energy- and fuel-saving measures, the fleet department has saved the City more than $1.2 million.


Gary Lykins

Fleet Maintenance Director

Town of Jonesborough, Tenn.

  • On-Road Vehicles: 110
  • Off-Road Vehicles: 73               
  • Maintenance Facilities: 1         

2012 Accomplishment(s): The most fundamental achievement for us has been taking the work we were already doing and putting it into numbers we could understand. The Town of Jonesborough’s fleet department has made significant technology investments, upgrading our fleet management software and diagnostic software. Those investments have increased productivity from 73% billable hours to 78.4%, and for the first time we are tracking more than 100% efficiency on flat-rate operations.


Allen Mitchell

Equipment Bureau Chief

Arlington County, Va.    

  • On-Road Vehicles: 1,416
  • Off-Road Vehicles: 154
  • Maintenance Facilities: 1                         

2012 Accomplishment(s): I am most proud that we met with every staff member and compiled their ideas and concerns into a functional strategic plan. These ideas were thoroughly discussed with team managers to identify themes and develop a prioritized list of items to be addressed over time to guide our development into a highly performing fleet operation. Then we provided the team members with the listing of themes and priorities so they have the blueprint for where we are going and how we will get there.


Dennis Scamardo            

Fleet Services Manager

Ventura County, Calif.  

  • On-Road Vehicles: 1,571
  • Off-Road Vehicles: 224
  • Maintenance Facilities: 3         

2012 Accomplishment(s): I am most proud of my staff — they continue to lead the charge and continue to provide excellent service to our clients despite increasing costs and perpetual cost-­cutting. I am also proud of our multifaceted efforts to have an environmentally friendly fleet and operation. A piece of that is our continued expansion of our automated motor pool system to outlying locations with alternate-technology vehicles. Rather than people coming to our cars, we are locating small groups of cars to County buildings. This system allows staff to report and depart from a remote site closer to their home, resulting in fewer emissions, decreased traffic, and increased productivity.[PAGEBREAK]

Dave Schiller, CAFM

Fleet, Safety & Materials Manager

Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources

  • On-Road Vehicles: 1,900
  • Off-Road Vehicles: 3,200
  • Maintenance Facilities: 4         

2012 Accomplishment(s): No. 1 on my list of accomplishments would be eliminating fleet debt and the $600,000 annual interest expense that went with it, while improving fleet quality and positioning the fleet for long-term success. Progress toward this goal required a comprehensive plan and agency commitment to work the plan. Success required credibility and management trust. That was developed by establishing a track record of good “balanced” decisions, including a fleet policy that was comprehensive, yet flexible when needed. It was a campaign that was supported and guided by the core values of cost containment, safety, and environmental responsibility.   


Barry (Tom) Smallwood

Deputy Director, Fleet Transportation

U.S. Marine Corps          

  • On-Road Vehicles: 14,000
  • Off-Road Vehicles: 1,000
  • Maintenance Facilities: 16       

2012 Accomplishment(s): In 2012, the Marine Corps participated in a General Services Agency (GSA) pilot to place 12 electric sedans in our fleet. The Marine Corps was able to install electric charging stations to provide the “fuel” for the new electric sedans. We already have more than 700 low-speed electric vehicles (LSEV) in the fleet. I was able to get a contract awarded that provided the re-build of the Marine Corps Aircraft Fire Fighting trucks. I was also able to improve the Marine Corps’ fleet management system by enhancing modules that will provide better reporting through enhanced data capture.


Roger Weaver, CAFM, CPFP, CPM           

Director, Fleet Management

San Bernardino County, Calif.

  • On-Road Vehicles: 3,550
  • Off-Road Vehicles: 440
  • Maintenance Facilities: 6

2012 Accomplishment(s): I have spent more than 40 years in the fleet profession, and what has kept me interested over all of these years is also what I consider to be my proudest accomplishment — mentoring younger fleet professionals. Over the past few months, I have had the great pleasure of watching two of these efforts develop and attain promotions. I don’t take credit for either of these success stories, but I am very proud to have been along for the ride. And, after more than 25 years of separate fleet operations at two facilities less than three miles apart, County Fire Vehicle Services has merged with Fleet Management. The combined operations have improved labor/equipment efficiency.

About the author
Thi Dao

Thi Dao

Former Executive Editor

Thi is the former executive editor of Government Fleet magazine.

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