2011 Fleet Awards Announced
The Australasian Fleet Management Association’s (AfMA) 2011 Fleet Awards were presented at Sydney’s Curzon Hall on Thursday 15 September. The aim of the Awards program is to recognise and celebrate those who strive to achieve best practice in their fleet operations and to encourage others to do the same. Three Awards are presented each year, each focusing on a different area. The Fleet Environment and Fleet Safety Awards are given to organisations that have shown significant improvements in these areas. Recipients of the Fleet Manager of the Year Award must demonstrate improvements in safety and environmental outcomes as well as overall cost savings for the organisation.

2011 Fleet Manager of the Year (supported by Custom Fleet – part of GE Capital and QFleet) The 2011 Award was granted to Lauren O’Rourke, Fleet Manager at PPG Industries. PPG Industries’ fleet has grown significantly over the last few years due to a number of business acquisitions, leaving Lauren O’Rourke with the classic fleet manager’s nightmare – an acquired collection of different organisations and fleets, all having different sets of policies and procedures and methods of working. After a substantial overhaul and the implementation of some 63 initiatives, she has effected costs savings totalling in excess of $2.2 million, significantly improved administrative processes and implemented a new risk management strategy.

2011 Fleet Environment Award (supported by Toyota Fleet and Toyota Fleet Management) The recipient of the 2011 Fleet Environment Award was Lake Macquarie City Council. The Award was accepted by Glenn Hattander. Lake Macquarie City Council owns and operates a large local government fleet of cars, trucks, mobile plant and equipment, and small plant. Due to increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint, Council adopted a policy to reduce its Green House Gas (GHG) emissions without significantly diminishing their strategic and operational requirements. Despite an increase in the total number of vehicles in the fleet, since 2007/08 the organisation has reduced fuel consumption by 12%, reduced greenhouse gas emissions by almost 20% and realised fuel savings exceeding $120,000.

2011 Fleet Safety Award (supported by Driver Safety Services and O’Brien and endorsed by ANCAP) The 2011 Fleet Safety Award was granted to Redland City Council and accepted by Jon Horsey, Fleet Manager. Following a near fatal incident, Redland City Council introduced a series of exercises and projects designed to address inadequate fleet safety policy and notable gaps in its fleet safety systems. Council took a progressive multi‐disciplinary approach to the adoption of best practice improvements as part of its overall work related road safety program within Redland City Council. Measurable data demonstrating the benefits of the implementation of these initiatives show a 20% reduction in at‐fault crashes, a reduction in reversing incidents by 30% and the reduction in the average cost of crashes by 51%.

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