NEWPORT BEACH, CA – Hundreds of fleet professionals from across the globe, including some from as far away as New Zealand and the UK, recently gathered for AssetWorks' 23rd Annual Users Conference, appropriately themed "Catch the Wave." The event, held in Newport Beach, Calif., was attended by fleet managers and IT professionals spanning a variety of organizations including private, commercial, government, and transit fleets, and featured discussions and hands-on training sessions on some of the fleet industry's latest technology.
Highlights of the event included several keynote speakers bringing expertise and insights to those in attendance, including:
John Hines, president of AssetWorks, kicked off the event and discussed the exciting enhancements and advancements within the FleetFocus and FuelFocus product lines. Hines, an active player in the enterprise asset management arena for more than 25 years, took the opportunity to thank everyone for attending and offered a special welcome to new customers: Ace Asphalt, CH2MHill, City of Cedar Rapids and Cedar Rapids Transit, Clark County Public Transportation Benefit Area Authority (C-TRAN), Continental Airlines, Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA), City of Saskatoon & Transit Services, State of Virginia DOT, Ventura County Fire Protection District, and local hosts, the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA).
Eric Bearly, associate publisher of Bobit Business Media Fleet Group, highlighted Government Fleet magazine's Top 100 Fleet Award for 2009 and noted the contributions towards excellence in fleet management of many AssetWorks' customers including: #14 Culver City, #19 City of Arlington, TX, #20 City of Pittsburgh; as well as Arizona DOT, City of Atlanta, City of Chicago, City of Colorado Springs, City of Fresno, City of Long Beach, Minnesota Dept of Natural Resources, Monterey County, Nevada State Fleet, New York City, New York City Police Dept., Prince George's County, City of Riverside, City of San Diego, San Diego County, City of San Jose, and Sandia National Laboratory.
Bearly happily reported the top 4 spots went to the following AssetWorks customers: Hillsborough County, Fla.; City of Austin, Texas; City of Oxnard, Calif.; and to the City of Portland, Ore., whose fleet manager, John Hunt, was voted APWA Public Fleet Professional Manager of the Year.
Sharon Sudaban, fleet manager for Hillsborough County - named #1 Public Sector Fleet in 2008 by Government Fleet magazine - openly shared her fleet's philosophies, business processes, and successful policies that address many of the challenges her county faces on a daily basis and which merited this national recognition.
Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) , Director of Fleet Services Dave Meisel discussed how their fleet management information system strategy fits into their overall fleet business plan to manage over 13,000 vehicles throughout 63 shops, and why PG&E selected AssetWorks to move forward into the future.
Rick Oborny, fleet manager for Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA), gave the crowd a warm welcome to Orange County and talked about the County's ongoing deployment of AssetWorks' FleetFocus. Later in the conference, OCFA hosted conference attendees to their maintenance facility in Irvine.
Participants had an opportunity to engage in industry roundtables addressing issues such as using telematics to reduce fleet costs, managing hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles, and using RFID for inspections and inventory.
AssetWorks partners in attendance included Networkfleet, Invers Mobility Solutions, Cascor Warranty Services, NAPA, Lincoln Industrial, Zonar and representatives from AssetWorks parent company, Trapeze Group Inc. Each year, AssetWorks hosts a multi-day conference with training sessions and networking opportunities for fleet professionals.
