The Fleet Masters award recognizes excellence in the fleet- management industry. Created by AEMP and Construction Equipment and supported by AEMP's Partners for Growth, the FleetMasters awards program has become the highlight of the annual Management Conference and one of the most prestigious awards in the fleet-management industry.
As organizations throughout the AEMP membership begin putting together their nomination packages, Equipment Manager asked two recent winners to share the impact of the award on their organization and advice on putting a nomination package together.
EM: What has winning the FleetMasters meant to you and your organization?
Sam Houston, CEM, City of Jacksonville and 2006 winner: We display our trophy proudly. We have gained a lot of recognition throughout the city as being one of the best fleets in the country. Winning the award doesn't mean we stop looking for additional improvements. We are constantly fine-tuning our operations to become even more efficient. The spotlight is on us, which gives us the incentive to always pro-vide the best services.
Dale Warner, CEM, CJ Miller, LLC and 2007 winner: The owners are proud to have been represented on a national level. It has given them a lot of credibility with the customers they serve and the vendors that deal with them. It also recognizes that the company truly is a professional organization.
Also, my reward is that I am a four-, not a five- or six-day a week employee. When things are in place (procedures & processes) and everybody understands their job and what is expected of them, all I have to do is look over their shoulder every now and then. If it's a problem, they refer to the SOP.
EM: What about putting the nomination presentation together?
Sam: The application must be dressed up. Color, graphs, charts, etc., to fully display your organization. You want to show trends and consistent improvements over the past few years. Include new innovations that you have implemented recently. Show how you have made your organization more efficient, and show your cost-cutting measures. This doesn't have to be in dollar amounts, sensitive to some, but it could be displayed in percentages. The bottom line is that you want to show how and why you should be the Fleet Masters winner.
Dale: When applying and putting the package together, allow yourself enough time. It took me several years to ensure the data was correct and audit-able.
The other reason I personally did it was to develop a SOP for the people coming behind me to follow. What and how I manage a fleet works — the documentation proves it. I would welcome an audit anytime.
This year's Fleet Master nominations are due January 11, 2008, and will be awarded at the upcoming 2008 AEMP Management Conference in Las Vegas.
