Automotive Fleet magazine honored fleet professionals with the first annual fleet Environmental Leadership Awards at the 2009 Green Fleet Conference, Oct. 19 in Chicago. While a successful green fleet program requires participation from all staff involved, the awards recognized the individual responsible for taking charge and leading the team's efforts.

Winners of this year's award are (in alphabetical order by company): 

Abbott, Catherine Tillman, director of global fleet & travel, & Diane Lopez, manager of corporate fleet.

In 2007, Abbott announced a public goal of reducing operational greenhouse gas emissions to 10 percent below 2004 levels by 2010. To date, Abbott is the first and only Fortune 500 company to become carbon neutral with its U.S. auto fleet, which represents 11 percent of the company's total emissions.

Abbott increased personal use premiums on less fuel-efficient vehicles, resulting in additional shifts away from SUVs and minivans to sedans and hybrids. In two years alone, employee SUV and minivan selections were reduced by nearly 13 percent. The fleet's 500 hybrids represent 8 percent of total fleet vehicles and 24 percent of total sedans.

Click here to read the November/December 2009 Fleet Financials story on Abbott.

 

♦ AstraZeneca, Kimberly Jamme, U.S. fleet manager.

Jamme has been an AstraZeneca employee for eight years, accountable "for the successful strategy development and execution" of AstraZeneca's U.S. Fleet Program. As fleet manager, she is also responsible for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the company's overall program. 

"In January 2006, my team developed a goal to increase MPG and lower CO2 emissions 10 percent by 2010," said Jamme. "To achieve this goal, minivans, mid-size SUVs, and 6 cylinder engine vehicle options were removed from the selector. As a result, we achieved our goal a year earlier than expected."

Jamme also collaborates with a global team. "As part of our continuous improvement plan, we are looking outward 3-5 years to better our CO2 targets," she said.

♦ AT&T, Jerome Webber, VP, fleet operations.

Webber is a 23-year employee of AT&T. In his current role, he is responsible for providing strategic and operational leadership for AT&T's Fleet Operation, which spans all 50 states and 36 countries. This includes but is not limited to repair and maintenance, acquisition and disposition, environmental compliance, licensing, repair and maintenance dispatching, fuel management, emergency fueling operations, bill payment and vendor management, and fleet sustainability.

This past spring, AT&T committed to spend about $565 million to deploy more than 15,000 alternative-fuel vehicles over the next ten years. In addition to this investment, the company's day-to-day efforts include utilizing wireless fleet management technology to operate more efficiently. AT&T also encourages its drivers to simply drive smarter with practices such as its anti-idling policy, driving the posted speed limit, avoiding hard breaking and keeping the tires inflated properly.

Webber spearheaded AT&T's alternative-fuel vehicle program with the successful deployment of 105 AFVs in 2008, which preceded AT&T's recent commitment to deploy over 15,000 AFVs over the next ten years. He oversees the strategy and operations of the program and promotes advancement of AFV technology and infrastructure by fostering key partnerships and sharing lessons learned.

♦ Bristol-Myers Squibb, Wendy Dymkowski, manager, fleet administration.

Dymkowski has been with BMS for 13 years, 5 of which have been spent in fleet. In her current role, she is responsible for managing the company's U.S., Puerto Rican, and Canadian fleet. Dymkowski works with the internal BMS Executive Green team and company fleet providers.

"Our sustainability efforts have been spent on flex fuel, smaller engine, PZEV, and hybrid vehicles. Additionally, we have provided our drivers ecodriving training," she said.

Carrier, Denise Cross, purchasing manager.

Comcast Corp., Bud Reuter, director, procurement & fleet.

Reuter has been with Comcast for 9 years. He is responsible for the acquisition of 3,000-6,000 vehicles annually and general operation of a 40,000-unit fleet. Other responsibilities include capital spending for vehicles, centralizing the acquisition process, increasing diversity spending, negotiating fuel and maintenance program discounts, and internal acceptance of electronic invoicing, increasing capable AFVs and workforce management, and tracking implementation.

Comcast's initiative is "to move toward being greener and more environmentally conscious wherever it makes sense." Its fleet of more than 40,000 vehicles includes Ford Escape Hybrids and flex-fuel vehicles, primarily Ford F-150s.

Comcast's fleet is #4 on the 2009 Top Commercial Fleets listing and #18 on the Top 50 Green Fleets.  

Cox Enterprises, Mike Mannheimer, VP & chief of procurement.

Cox Enterprises has set a goal to reduce its carbon footprint by an additional 20 percent by 2017. (Cox had already reduced its carbon footprint by 10 percent between 2000 and 2006.) The program was officially launched in 2007, allowing the company 10 years to work toward the goal.

The company has set up "Cox Conserves," a corporate program that includes the company's six major subsidiaries, with more than 83,000 employees and 15,000-plus vehicles.

Cox Conserves addresses both work vehicles, such as those used in Cox Communications' broadband communications business, and company cars provided as perks to executives. The terms under which executives are provided cars have been structured to favor those who choose fuel-efficient makes and models.

The program also makes available branded hybrid cars for employees who take alternative forms of transportation to and from work. Employees can check out cars during the day if attending an off-site meeting or running an errand. The company also designated preferred parking at its corporate headquarters for fuel-efficient vehicles.

Of the more than 15,000 fleet vehicles, almost all - 98 percent, the company said - are low-emission vehicles. They include 257 hybrids, 413 E-85 flex-fuel units, six CNG vehicles, and 1,400 vehicles capable of running on biodiesel.

Cox ranked #16 on the 2009 Top 300 Commercial Fleets listing and #26 on the Top 50 Green Fleets.

 

Dow, Denise Keberlein, global purchasing.

FedEx Express, John Formisano, VP global vehicles.

One of the largest commercial fleets in the country, FedEx ranks #5 on Automotive Fleet's 2009 Top 300 Commercial Fleets and Top 100 Truck Fleets listings, in addition to its position as #23 on the Top 50 Hybrid Fleets list.

FedEx Express recently ordered 51 additional gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles from Azure Dynamics, bringing its total fleet of hybrid electric and electric vehicles to 325. With the new additions, FedEx expects a fuel efficiency improvement of 30 percent while also reducing its carbon footprint.

Twenty FedEx Azure Balance Hybrid Electric gasoline step-vans are already in service across the FedEx Express delivery network in California. Overall, FedEx currently operates 274 hybrid electric and electric vehicles around the globe, and 1,780 alternative fuel vehicles and equipment. The addition of these 51 vehicles takes FedEx to a total of 325 hybrid electric and electric vehicles, and more than 1,800 alternative fuel vehicles and equipment. The FedEx hybrid fleet has logged more than four million miles of revenue service since being introduced in 2004, reducing fuel use by 150,000 gallons and carbon dioxide emissions by 1,521 metric tons.

Over the summer, FedEx converted 92 existing trucks to hybrid-electrics in its delivery fleet - the first of its standard FedEx delivery trucks retrofitted to hybrid-electric systems.

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Florida Power & Light, George Survant, director of fleet services.

With one of the largest utility fleets in the country (2,900 road-licensed vehicles and 1,600 off-road vehicles, fork lifts, and mechanized equipment for powerplants), FPL has also been a leader in adopting hybrids for commercial use.

In 2001, the agency was the first purchaser of hybrid cars for commercial use, and in 2005, took delivery of its first medium-duty hybrids, after volunteering to lead a working group for WestStart-CALSTART to develop such trucks for the utility industry, says Survant.

FPL's fleet of Class 7 (primarily 27,000-lb. GVWR) conventional and electric plug-in hybrids has grown to more than 60 units. Though economic conditions have forced the utility to delay its normal replacement cycle by a year, hybrids will continue to play a key role in future purchases.

The FPL hybrid fleet includes a gasoline-electric, UPS-style, P-Series van produced by Azure Dynamics on a Ford chassis. The fleet also includes two plug-in hybrid diesel-electric (PHEV) trucks. The 42-foot, 27,000-lb. GVWR International trucks feature an Eaton hybrid driveline and a 55-foot bucket truck with a tandem rear axle, built on an International chassis and powerplant with a Dueco and Odyne hybrid package.

The FPL Group announced in September it is working with Duke Energy and FPL Group on a goal to make 100 percent of all new fleet vehicles plug-in electrics or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles by 2020.

In 2009, FPL has managed to save an estimated $440 million in fuel costs and avoid approximately 4.9 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions by increasing efficiency in its fleet operations. The fleet placed 12th on the 2009 Top 300 Commercial Fleets listing.

Johnson & Johnson Services, Suzanne Gallagher, commodity manager, & Louise Davis-Lopez, fleet manager.

Liberty Mutual, Linda Bent, fleet manager.

Employed at Liberty Mutual for two years, Bent oversees the company car program within Liberty Mutual's National Program Management department. Her responsibilities include managing vendor relationships, monitoring and enforcing compliance to policy, and working to ensure company vehicles are driven safely and responsibly.

Each of Liberty Mutual's current vehicle selectors has environmentally friendly features that allow the company to manage its fleet's emissions. Gradually replacing its fleet with greener vehicles has brought Liberty Mutual to 60 percent of its fleet being either flex-fuel or Partial Zero Emissions Vehicles (PZEV). Beyond selecting safe, environmentally friendly vehicles, Liberty Mutual reinforces responsible driving behavior to reduce energy consumption, promote its brand, and ensure the safety of its employees.

Environmental responsibility is a component of Liberty Mutual's company car policy, requiring drivers to drive responsibly, maintain their vehicles appropriately, and purchase environmentally friendly fuel. All drivers receive a tire pressure gauge as a reminder to keep their tires properly inflated. Liberty Mutual also monitors fuel economy on a monthly basis, and frequently reports progress to its drivers through their fleet driver Web site, said Bent.

Liberty Mutual is ranked #16 on Automotive Fleet's Top 50 Green Fleets listing for 2009.

Millipore Corporation, (accepted by) Thomas Hartner, manager, global sourcing.

As part of Millipore's sustainability initiative, Hartner has headed a program to transition toward using fuel-efficient vehicles.

Millipore's North American fleet is now 25-percent hybrid. The program is expected to save an estimated 95,000 gallons of gas and reduce CO2 emissions drop by 1,900,000 lbs.  

Novartis, Lillian Palmieri, manager, fleet operations.

Novo Nordisk, Donna Bibbo, manager, fleet & travel.

Bibbo has been a Novo Nordisk employee since August 2006. As fleet and travel manager, she manages all aspects of the company's fleet and travel programs. 

Novo Nordisk's green efforts include right-sizing vehicles to job needs, charging extra for "family friendly" vehicles to reduce their desirability, using most fuel-efficient vehicles in classes of vehicles used, and training drivers to be more fuel efficient. Bibbo leads these efforts with support from her upper management and supplier partners. 

Otis Elevator, Phil Schreiber, fleet manager.

PepsiCo, Pete Silva, director of fleet.

Since 2007, PepsiCo tripled the number of hybrids in its sales fleets, decreasing overall emissions by approximately 10-12 percent per vehicle. The company now operates more than 1,250 hybrid vehicles, the second-largest non-government hybrid fleet in the U.S.

As director of fleet, Silva is responsible for delivering purchasing productivity and sustainability improvements for the various PepsiCo fleets. "We gather input on needs from the various operating companies and use that input to align capital and expense agreements for the fleet organization," he said. In addition, Silva also manages other goods and services purchasing for the Frito-Lay Division and delivers productivity opportunities to reduce operating costs in Frito-Lay manufacturing plants and distribution centers.

PepsiCo is ranked #7 on Automotive Fleet's 2009 Top 300 Commercial Fleets listing.

Pfizer, Inc., Charles Schott, Americas fleet director.

Purolator Courier Ltd., Serge Viola, director of National Fleet/GSE & Ground Linehaul.

Schwan's Home Service, Jeff Modica, VP of supply chain.

Modica has worked at Schwan's Home Service for three and a half years. In this role, he is responsible for overall management of the Schwan's Home Service supply chain, fleet, and facilities, including 5,800 Home Service delivery trucks, in addition to the Schwan's Home Service depot network including more than 480 depot locations across the U.S.

Fleet's environmental efforts include packaging reduction on food products, improving fuel economy in the Home Service delivery trucks, and extending the life of consumable fleet items, such as oil, tires, brakes, etc.

Schwan's Home Service fleet currently contains nearly 5,800 delivery trucks fueled by propane. Fleet has begun replacing current trucks with the next-generation home service delivery trucks, which is 6,000 lbs. lighter to further improve fuel economy. The company has also implemented a program to help reduce the amount of oil needed to maintain the Home Service fleet.

State Farm, Dick Malcom, fleet manager.

About the author
Grace Lauron

Grace Lauron

Former Associate Editor

Grace Lauron is a former associate editor with Bobit Business Media. She later changed her name to Grace Suizo.

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