Dominika Leja, associate director of fleet at AstraZeneca, has been named the 2026 Edward J. Bobit Fleet Manager of the 12 months.
The annual and prestigious award recognizes a fleet manager who has demonstrated exceptional leadership, innovation, and measurable leads to the management of a industrial fleet. Leja was chosen from 4 finalists for the 2026 award.
“I’m truly honored to receive this award,” said Leja. “Fleet has been such a very important a part of my profession and receiving this recognition from an industry that I respect so deeply, incredibly meaningful to me.”
Leja has greater than 20 years of fleet leadership experience spanning FMC’s, procurement, supplier management, and company fleets.
Since returning to AstraZeneca in 2023, Leja has led a significant transformation of the corporate’s U.S. fleet, including an initiative to transition nearly 6,000 vehicles to battery-electric models.
“Over the past five years at AZ, we have successfully transitioned to over 100% EV vehicles. And let me inform you, it was hard, there was resistance along the best way. It was difficult, it was complex, but we did it.”
AstraZeneca ordered 6,235 EVs and deployed greater than 5,300 as this system progressed toward full electrification. The transition prolonged beyond vehicle acquisition, requiring coordination across charging infrastructure, suppliers, drivers, and field operations.
Leja also worked to handle charging access for workers who live in multifamily housing and rental properties, helping remove one among the barriers drivers could face in the course of the transition.
The electrification program has resulted in $9.7 million in annual fuel cost avoidance and eliminated the usage of 3.8 million gallons of fuel. The corporate also avoided greater than 33 billion grams of CO2 emissions through the initiative.
“And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that fleet is rarely nearly vehicle. It’s about people. It’s about partnerships. It’s about solving complex problems, establishing principles, pivoting when crucial, and yes, occasionally doing even a little bit of driver hand holding along the best way.”
Leja was chosen from a gaggle of finalists that also included Jen VrMeer, senior manager, sales operations at Becton, Dickinson and Company; Linda Ellis, fleet lead Americas, global procurement at UCB; and Ron McGuigan, director of fleet at TurnPoint Services.
“That is what I really like about Fleet. There’s at all times one other challenge to unravel, one other opportunity to enhance, and one other solution to make the motive force experience higher.” Leja said. “Thanks for trusting me, thanks for difficult me, and thanks for partnering with me. Thanks for making this industry feel like a community and quite truthfully like family. I’m incredibly happy with what we have achieved together.”
This Article First Appeared At www.automotive-fleet.com
