Here Are the Finalists for 2019 Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year

Dan Berlenbach is most proud of the services his fleet provides directly and indirectly to the residents of his city.

The City of Long Beach is heavily impacted by pollution from the surrounding major highway truck traffic, and the fleet has invested in green initiatives such as electric vehicles, renewable fuels, solar-powered EV charging stations, plug-in hybrid pickup trucks, and more.

“We assist underprivileged youth through our internship with the local Job Corps, and membership on three high school auto shop advisory boards and two local colleges. We provide care packages to local shelters, and we stocked a food pantry for local TSA agents during the government shutdown. We are anything but grease monkeys!” he noted.

Suzanne Bycraft credits her team and its drive to continuously improve. Participating in the industry helps Bycraft and her team identify areas of improvement. After being named a Leading Fleet, for example, the Richmond fleet team conducted a gap analysis, which led to forward steps in alignment with the city’s Green Fleet Action Plan.

“This culture has led the city to be recognized as the first municipality to receive a Platinum rating from E3 fleet certification, the highest level of this award, which recognizes excellence in fleet management and environmental performance,” Bycraft said. “Our culture has connected staff to the value of their individual actions and how they contribute to not only the success of fleet, but also to the success of corporate operations, efficiencies, and daily business activities — all designed to meet service levels across the organization.”

Mario Guzman is proud of creating a positive work environment. The City of West Palm Beach conducts employee satisfaction surveys every year, and the Fleet Division is consistently a top 3 scoring department, with an average 72% satisfaction rating for the past two years.

Earlier in the year, the city experienced multiple engine failures in a two-month span. The fleet team was able to determine the fault, and the department received the mayor’s Star award for ensuring the quality of services was not jeopardized.

Later in the year, the West Palm Beach fleet sent two technicians to help municipalities in the Florida Panhandle affected by Hurricane Michael and set up a make-shift shop. In addition to fixing city vehicles, the technicians helped the public with flat tires and jump starts. For these efforts, the Fleet Division was named Team of the Year.