Mercury Associates, Inc. announced the City of Glendale, Arizona, as the recipient of the Certified Fleet Management Organization certification during the Honors Celebration at the 2026 Government Fleet Expo & Conference in Long Beach, California.

The announcement marked a new chapter for the CFMO program, a third-party certification system designed to evaluate public and private sector fleet operations. The program had previously been part of GFX but had been dormant for several years following the COVID-19 pandemic and the retirement of its founder, James Wright.

A New Chapter with Mercury and GFX

Originally developed in the early 2000s by Wright, then-president and CEO of Fleet Counsellor Services, the CFMO program was created to give fleet organizations a structured, data-driven way to measure performance, identify opportunities for improvement, and demonstrate adherence to fleet management best practices.

Mercury Associates acquired the rights and framework for the program in early 2025 and relaunched the updated version in partnership with Government Fleet magazine and the GFX conference team.

The CFMO program uses a self-audit process that allows fleet managers and staff to assess their operation’s efficiency, effectiveness, and competitiveness. As part of the updated program, organizations are required to upload data to support their responses, which are then validated during the review process.

Mercury has been reviewing and updating more than 100 certification criteria across 14 fleet management areas to reflect current best practices.

Foundational categories include fleet policies and procedures, staffing and productivity, parts inventory management, replacement planning, utilization management, preventive maintenance, information technology, and customer service.

Organizations that meet all CFMO standards are recognized as having met or exceeded the Mission Critical Factors of Fleet Management.

Leading Up to the CFMO Revival

Before the program paused in 2019, CFMO had been used by fleets of varying sizes across the country. Lee County, Florida, was the first organization to earn certification, while Miami-Dade County was the last before the program went dormant. Other participants included Caltrans, the City of Chicago, and the City and County of Denver.

Wright said the program grew out of internal consulting tools that attracted interest from fleet leaders because of their structured, data-focused approach to fleet analysis. He later formalized the methodology into a replicable certification program.

Following his retirement, Wright said he wanted the program to continue under an organization that could support its next phase. Mercury’s relaunch of CFMO, he said, gives the program an opportunity to continue advancing fleet performance and accountability.