In 2008, Brice Adamson returned to St. Louis from a 13-year stint in Europe, where he had opened Enterprise’s operations in Manchester, England, and later served as senior vice chairman for the UK and Ireland.
On paper, his timing wasn’t great — the economy was just entering the Great Recession, and the auto industry was in a crisis. But for Adamson and Enterprise, the timing was oddly perfect. Amidst the financial upheaval, Enterprise was within the strategy of integrating the acquisition of Alamo and National and expanding its airport operations.
“That’s quite truthfully the explanation why I got here back,” Adamson said, noting the chance to assist steer the corporate through a brand new transformative phase.
Adamson helped the corporate grow its rental business before taking on Enterprise Fleet Management (EFM) in 2016. At the moment, the division leased around 340,000 vehicles, which grew to 500,000 vehicles by 2021. Since then, EFM has grown by greater than 50%, reaching 750,000 vehicles today.
This growth, Adamson emphasized, has been entirely organic. “We haven’t been a part of the consolidation within the industry,” he said. “We got there by turning non-users of fleet management into users of fleet management.”
Upon his recent retirement, Adamson reflected further on his profession and the evolution of the industry as he prepares at hand over the reins to Bryan Taylor, the incoming senior vice chairman.
The Blueprint Launches Fleet Management
Adamson began his journey with Enterprise in Southern California as a management trainee in 1988. Because the story goes, he initially desired to be a stockbroker — he thought Enterprise can be a great training ground in customer support and sales — but got hooked and never looked back.
In an interview with Automotive Fleet, Adamson recounted Jack Taylor’s founding of the Executive Leasing Company in 1957 “with seven cars and one worker.”
The corporate later expanded into the rental market. However it wasn’t until the early Nineteen Nineties that a bunch of stakeholders formed and launched the “Blueprint,” which shifted EFM from simply providing leased vehicles to offering comprehensive fleet management services.
The initiative entailed going after local businesses and municipalities with small- to medium-sized fleets. “Most of our customers didn’t even know what a fleet management company was,” Adamson said. “They simply knew they needed help to figure all of it out.”
Today, growth continues to return from client referrals, the rental automobile division, and other sectors of Enterprise’s mobility alliance.
EFM’s local teams and client strategy managers work closely with clients, a lot of whom lack dedicated fleet managers. “Plenty of our customers don’t even have fleet managers,” Adamson noted. “We’re their outsourced fleet managers.”
Internally, EFM’s unique structure draws talent from its rental operations. “Our employees who come over to fleet management are almost exclusively from rental,” Adamson explained. “Their skilled profession before they arrive into fleet is working in rental and managing their very own fleet in rental. It’s of their DNA.”
Navigating Industry Disruption
Adamson’s tenure also coincided with significant industry changes, including the rise of connected vehicles, electrification, and artificial intelligence.
“There’s been numerous disruption that’s occurred inside the industry over even the past 10 years,” he said. “You have a look at the introduction of electrification and technology, some pretty incredible enhancements that 20 years prior weren’t as dynamic.”
The corporate, which rebranded as Enterprise Mobility in 2023, now claims to administer the most important private connected vehicle fleet, with 700,000 connected vehicles across its rental and fleet management operations.
Bryan Taylor Takes the Reins
Enter Bryan Taylor, who has assumed the role of senior vice chairman of EFM. Taylor began as an intern out of highschool and followed Adamson’s path at Enterprise by entering into the trenches, managing people, and learning all facets of the business.
“Through the years, I’ve had the chance to work with all our mobility lines in a wide range of roles and regions, including Puerto Rico under Brice,” Taylor said.
One initiative in his first yr is to embark on an internal listening tour. “I’m taking time to attach with our local leadership, get firsthand insights from them, and look for brand new opportunities to raise the client experience,” he said.
While the fleet space continues to evolve rapidly, Taylor said the strategy isn’t to chase latest verticals or shift market focus. As a substitute, he sees a unbroken opportunity in what’s made EFM successful thus far: converting non-users into fleet management clients.
“There’s still huge upside in simply reaching the companies that don’t even know they need us,” he said. “We’re expanding into places like Fresno, Albuquerque, and Charleston, places where small- to mid-sized fleets exist but lack dedicated fleet managers. That’s where we will make an actual difference.”
In other words, maintaining and constructing on what Adamson fostered and grew.
“I’m beyond excited concerning the opportunity to work with the incredibly talented team here that Brice has assembled,” he said. “Fleet management may be the entry point, but there’s so way more that we will provide with our mobility services.”
This Article First Appeared At www.automotive-fleet.com
