What Fleet Managers Said in 2025 – Operations

This past yr tested fleet managers, from tariff speculation and budget uncertainty to technician shortages and technology integration. 

Pulled from Automotive Fleet’s news, profiles, articles, blogs, and videos, fleet managers shared insights on what worked, what didn’t, and what keeps their fleets moving.  

On the 2025 Merchants Fleet Summit, supplier and fleet manager clients gathered to check strategies for managing cost pressure, supply-chain volatility, and rising safety and liability exposure in a post-pandemic operating environment.

During a panel discussion on risk management and private use policies, Cory Beard, director of fleet at Crane Payment Innovations, emphasized that liability follows the vehicle in any respect times, not only during working hours.

“Anytime something happens, we’re still accountable for it, whether you’re working or not.”

In the identical session, Tim Lovett, fleet manager at Cameron Enterprises, discussed how disciplined preventive maintenance practices help control long-term repair costs and reduce vehicle downtime.

“We steer clear of a few of those big repairs by staying on top of it.”

As fleets monitored escalating rhetoric and shifting policy signals around Trump-era tariffs, many braced for immediate cost impacts that, by late summer, had yet to totally materialize. While suppliers and automakers absorbed much of the early burden, fleet managers were more wait-and-see. 

One business fleet manager described attempting to separate real exposure from speculation.

“Head within the sand… I simply don’t know what to consider until it happens. Within the meantime, business as usual.”

To kick off Automotive Fleet’s recent Fleet in Focus profile series, we interviewed Mikhaila Baldwin, fleet manager at CoolSys, who oversees 2,500 vehicles within the HVAC sector. She discussed navigating organizational transitions, managing driver adoption of latest technologies, and pursuing sustainability goals.

Baldwin shared how she worked to integrate multiple systems following CoolSys’s growth through acquisitions. It is a challenge Baldwin understands personally as someone who got here from an acquired company.

“We’re currently working to consolidate multiple operating systems right into a single unified platform, which isn’t any small undertaking and requires cross-departmental collaboration.”

Her philosophy for managing volatile fuel costs emphasizes empowering drivers with data slightly than top-down mandates:

“Although we repeatedly analyze data to discover cost-saving opportunities, it ultimately falls on the drivers to take motion and capitalize on these insights.”

She draws her skilled inspiration from watching her mother balance single parenthood, full-time work, and graduate education while advancing in a male-dominated industry.

“Her journey continues to encourage me day by day and serves as a continuing reminder of the ability of perseverance, learning, and leadership.”

An article for industry newbies and old-timers alike explored how conferences and industry events function accelerators of learning, relationship-building, and long-term profession growth. The piece emphasized that the actual value of events often comes from conversations, preparation, and follow-through.

SuYvonne Bell, business fleet & field operations leader at Gilead Sciences, encouraged attendees to interact beyond their immediate areas of experience to broaden perspectives and spark recent ideas.

“Introduce yourself and share your challenges. I attend one or two sessions outside my core industry. You learn the way others approach fleet safety, maintenance, and compliance, and make great recent connections.”

Amy McAdams, CAFM, fleet manager at Diebold Nixdorf, highlighted the importance of capturing and lengthening insights beyond the event itself through documentation and ongoing networking.

“Take tons of photos of slides and vendor products. And make those LinkedIn connections. You never know where the following great idea will come from.”

In a 2025 pulse survey conducted by Automotive Fleet, fleet managers shared anonymous feedback on how fleet management corporations (FMCs) are supporting their operations amid rising costs, prolonged timelines, and increasing complexity. 

Some respondents noted that while FMCs perform reliably, fleets increasingly want more proactive engagement.

“They’re reactive, not proactive. Nothing is refrained from our asking.”

Even so, many fleet managers emphasized that FMCs proceed to deliver critical value that keep fleets operating easily.

“Funding is completely critical and consistently handled well.”

While many fleets hesitate to adopt electric pickups because of range limitations, patchy charging infrastructure, high upfront costs, and unsure TCO from depreciation, McKinstry has moved beyond pilots. 

The Seattle-based construction and energy company deploys fully upfitted Chevrolet Silverado EVs as on a regular basis tools for jobsite crews. They’re spec’d for duty-cycle fit and operational needs, not only compliance or sustainability goals.

Said Ryan Winchester, fleet manager for McKinstry:

“We’ve got fully upfitted, jobsite-ready EVs on the market without delay. They’ve got toolboxes, ladder racks, deck slides, all the things our crews need.” 

 Joseph Hagar, president and CFO, recalled the initial driver resistance: 

“Once we began, some drivers weren’t thrilled about EVs,” he said. “We heard some alternative words, but we focused on education and highlighting the advantages.”

Throughout the method, the corporate focused on educating drivers about charging practices, range planning, and the operational differences from maintaining an internal combustion engine vehicle, said Winchester. 

“We’ve been strategic about replacing ICE vehicles with EVs. We’re not only electrifying for the sake of it; we’re ensuring these vehicles meet the needs of our superintendents and repair technicians.”

In AF’s next Fleet in Focus profile, we interviewed Nancy Murray, senior manager of North America general services, travel, and fleet at Agfa. Murray has spent 45 years with the corporate and 13 of them in fleet management, overseeing a fleet that’s now 80% hybrid vehicles. Starting her profession in 1980 as a facilities planner and draftsman, Murray never imagined entering fleet. 

“Fleet wasn’t even on my radar at that time.”

Her background in asset and lease management for buildings proved a super foundation when fleet operations unexpectedly got here calling in 2011.

“My boss on the time, the director, thought I could be an amazing fit for fleet. Like everybody else, I didn’t find fleet, fleet found me.”

Murray embraced the role quickly, crediting industry connections, associations, and events for her success. She managed multiple shifts in Agfa’s fleet model, navigated a serious transition to hybrids, and introduced driver accountability measures. 

“I discovered that I like fleet. The people in fleet and all the things concerning the industry. It gets your interest, and also you don’t let go. It’s that much fun.”

Jim Petrillo, fleet manager at Fujifilm, sat down with Chris Brown on the NAFA I&E conference in April in Long Beach, Calif. Petrillo discussed the operational complexity of coordinating vehicle orders across 15 divisions while balancing cost consciousness with driver satisfaction and future-readiness.

On the challenge of multi-divisional coordination:

“It seems to all the time come right down to after I can get everybody in the identical room at the identical time to order vehicles. We’ve got many, many alternative divisions throughout the country, so I’m attempting to make one buy and provides them multiple options. And it’s becoming increasingly more difficult because the years go on.”

Petrillo had this to say regarding balancing future-proofing with financial discipline:

“Future proofing… a whole lot of this also adds cost. I’m within the finance department, so I’m very cost-conscious. Attempting to take all the things into consideration, corresponding to electrification and total cost of ownership, you are attempting to get the most effective numbers, but at the identical time, you ought to have a very protected vehicle for the drivers.”

Patti Earley, fleet manager at Florida Power & Light (FPL), sat down at NAFA I&E too. She discussed how her fleet addresses the technician shortage through strategic partnerships: 

“We’ve got developed partnerships with some tech schools, attempting to get the scholars as they arrive out of college and get them working with us instantly. We’re also working with the military to attempt to catch folks coming out of the military which can be attempting to transition into the civilian world.”

Early is obsessed with volunteering within the fleet industry and the non-public and skilled returns it delivers.

“Every minute that you just put into volunteering is well value it. It’s personal, you get a whole lot of satisfaction out of it, but you furthermore mght learn a lot since you refer to so many alternative people from so many alternative fleets. Everyone has unique situations, and also you learn a lot from them.”

Earley also recently received the inaugural Tom Johnson Award for promoting fleet management. 

“Tom was very dedicated to promoting fleets and promoting fleet managers. He believed that fleet managers didn’t get enough recognition for the entire things that they did. So he made it his mission to exit and begin the 100 Best Fleets program and really promote the fleet industry.”

The annual AFLA corporate fleet conference is all the time an amazing time to take the heartbeat of fleet managers. 

On the 2025 conference in Marco Island, Fla., fleet manager panelists within the seminar “Secure Harbor: Navigating Fleet and Driver Safety” discussed how fleet safety becomes a part of company culture through every day communication, coaching, and accountability.

Jessica Whittenberg of American Air Filter (AAF) spoke on securing executive buy-in for safety initiatives, which was critical when she joined AAF as the corporate’s first dedicated fleet manager in its 100-year history.

“Having leadership buy-in is all the things. When the message comes from the highest, drivers take it seriously.”

In addressing the “Big Brother” perception that usually accompanies telematics and in-cab event recorders, Whittenberg and Meghan Murray of Teva emphasized that the technology serves to guard drivers slightly than surveil them. 

Said Whittenberg: 

“We tell our drivers, ‘We’re not watching where you go, we’re watching out for you. It’s about safety, not surveillance.”

Said Murray: 

“We do not care should you’re at Applebee’s at two o’clock on a Tuesday. We wish the necessary data — harsh braking, hard acceleration, not wearing your seatbelt.”

Whittenberg discussed the broader philosophy that positive reinforcement builds stronger safety cultures than punitive measures.

“Nobody desires to be told they’re doing a horrible job, but everyone desires to be told they’re doing an amazing one.”

On practical advice for fleet managers recent to safety management, Murray stressed the importance of understanding policies before attempting to implement or improve them:

“You may’t coach what you do not know. Understand your policy, then engage your drivers to discover gaps.”