|
Fleet Professional Highlight
Name: Benjamin Robles
Company: Federal Government, Department of Energy
Fleet Certification Level: CFFM
Tell us a little bit about yourself:
How did you get into FLEET Management?
By accident really. I was a mechanic in the U.S. Army so I had some level of fleet management experience but really it was thrust on me as a collateral duty quite
a few years ago when I began working for NASA. I largely ignored it as I didn’t understand how much was really involved with Federal Fleet Management. As time grew I believed I was getting better at fleet management and it shows
as I am now an Agency Fleet Manager.
How do you feel NPMA Fleet Certification has helped you professionally?
See answer above for context. I realized that I needed some help to wrap my head around Fleet Management as a whole. I was tired of not
knowing exactly what was required of me or why. I looked online for some training and found the NPMA Fleet Certification and since it was tied into the Fed Fleet Conference/National Education Seminars I would be attending I thought
I could kill two birds with one stone. It turns out that the classes were the highlight of the trips for me. I learned so much and realized I needed to learn quite a bit more. I have attended many of the pre-conference Fleet trainings
offered by NPMA.
Do you have any FLEET best practices you’d like to share with the community?
Seek out help. There are so many options out there for help that failing fleet management because you are too stubborn to ask is
your own fault. There are so many classes, certifications, webinars, etc. out there to help you. Take advantage of conference attendance to learn new things about fleet. Call your fleet management counterparts as we have all been
in a situation that we feel stuck yet a simple phone call can get you going again.
Keep it Simple. Sometimes we try to make things so difficult. Fleet Management is one of them. Quite a few times I thought it would be helpful to try and create a fancy spreadsheet or compile a helpful but tedious report.
Instead of thinking it through first I would dive right in and potentially inundate my fleet management team. What an idiot I was. Most of the time the report was useless, it was too hard to keep up to date, or it was already done
for me by my fleet management team or fleet management information system. If I would have taken the time to think it through and do some research I could have saved everyone a big headache including mine!
Admit your mistakes. We as fleet managers are human and we all make mistakes. You may have misread the fleet fuel regulation or missed a deadline to get the vehicle order in. You decided it was easiest to pass the blame or
find an alternative excuse. That creates a rift that only get worse with time. So if you make a mistake just admit it. Your fleet teams will appreciate your honesty not only as a fleet manager but as a human being. Now you may
need to take them out for lunch but that comes with the territory.
What do you think is one of the most complex parts of FLEET management and how do you keep it manageable?
The Vehicle Level Data (VLD) has to be one of the most important and complex parts of Fleet Management.
This data drives so many different aspects of Fleet Management. Poor VLD can really set you back. There is so much data to manage and at times it can seem impossible. One way to stay on top of it is sticking to schedules. If you
have a scheduled day to go over a certain aspect of the data then you need to stick to it. If you start skipping/missing those data review days you can get overwhelmed real quick. Also, having a good fleet management team and/or
a good Fleet Management Information System is a big help. These two can really help you manage your VLD and identify errors before the Federal Automotive Statistical Tool (FAST) reporting period comes along and kicks you in your
butt!
What would you do to raise awareness of the important of FLEET management within the community?
This is from the Federal perspective…
I would like more senior managers to spend some time working with their
fleet managers. More senior managers need to be made aware that proper fleet management is not a collateral duty. I have heard way too many stories (including my own) of fleet management being a third, fourth or fifth duty for
people. How can you properly manage a federal fleet if you only spend 20% of you work day to manage a task that can require 100% of your time? Many senior managers just think it’s managing some “cars and gas” and what could be
so hard about that? Yet, when you finally get your chance with them in a 15 minute meeting it is very difficult to make them understand how mistaken they are!
|
 |
2020 Chapter Officer Verification and Chapter Financial Report Forms due January 15th
The 2020 Chapter Officer Verification and Chapter Financial Report forms are now available in the Chapter Tool Kit. Chapters must submit both forms no later than January 15, 2020. The Chapter Officer Verification Form must be submitted even if there are not changes in officers for 2020.
Failure to submit these forms by the deadline could result in Chapter Dues payments being withheld until the forms are received.
Please note, chapters will now be submitting these forms via online submission forms.
Chapter Officer Verification Form
Chapter Financial Report Submission Form
If you have any questions, please contact the NPMA Headquarters Office at membership@npma.org.
|
.png)
Certification
Education
Online Classes
Job Listings
