Published in the May 2020 issue of Fleet Affiliation
Fleet professionals may have one of the most challenging jobs in an organization. Given the current working climate, fleet must remain on the front lines. Having control over an operation is critical. This requires a vast amount of knowledge. Review your knowledge tool box for a moment. Identify tools that are missing and come up with a plan. However, you may not know what it is that you don’t know. One way to overcome this is to identify unsolved challenges that could indicate a missing tool in your knowledge tool box. Once identified it can be remedied. Successful fleet managers need information and education to stay efficient. There is often rapid growth in the vocational fleet space. New technologies, new regulations, and new operations are areas that need continual attention. An evolving tool chest of resources is useful to have, as current work environments are creating continued challenges.
Keeping you and your colleagues ahead of the curve
One of the largest fleet professional challenges is to stay educated, and more importantly to educate others. A successful fleet manager will have an ability to multi task. There’s a balance that must be laid out to obtain a successful fleet operation. Colleagues not directly involved with fleet operation may have very little knowledge about what it takes to maintain a cost-effective fleet program. This becomes problematic for both upper management who may see fleet as an overburdened expense, and internal customers who may have completely unrealistic expectations about how a fleet operation should run.
Effective fleet professionals need information, training and education to make fleet operations as efficient as possible. Currently, acquiring education has shifted. While traditional styles of in-person and classroom learning may not currently be possible, the importance of education is not diminished. Like many of our children in school, e-learning has become a necessity.
Focusing on fleet education
NTEA is introducing a special fleet-focused webinar series. Webinars will be presented monthly and open to the industry (in conjunction with monthly member-only webinars). This is part of the Association’s ongoing effort to support work truck industry employee education and training. Staying connected and involved with the fleet community is important to NTEA. While it will take time for the industry to return to a perceived normal, proactive steps are necessary to stay educated. Webinars present a wide array of fleet-centric topics for both novice and advanced fleet professionals. Whether it’s a refresher course or acquiring a new skill, it is important to keep informed and stay abreast of the latest information and tools. Specification development and your truck fleet is scheduled June 24, 2020, 11 a.m.-noon EST. Visit Fleet Webinar Series for a complete list of offerings.
If you would like to discuss this, or other fleet issues with NTEA, contact Chris Lyon, NTEA director of fleet relations.