Steve Fooy: Secrets to Fleet Management Excellence
No one goes to college to become a fleet manager and no one is just born with those skills, laughs fleet expert Steve Fooy. But once you’re in it, you discover there are basic protocols, knowledge, measurements, and skills that must be applied to ensure the company’s fleet itself runs like a well-oiled machine.
Fooy has managed many millions of dollars’ worth of assets throughout his 38-year equipment career, which included various fleet leadership positions for two national rental companies, two Caterpillar dealerships, two national construction companies, and a U.S.-based energy company. During that time, he managed fleets for public and private companies in multiple locations and with various levels of fleet investment.
It’s safe to say he’s see it all. Once he retired, he began his next chapter as an instructor for the financial side of the Association of Equipment Management Professionals’ (AEMP) certification program – that was 12 years ago and he’s still leading the popular two-day course that equips fleet managers with all the financial fundamentals for success.
And what does an independent dealer with a rental fleet need to know that his or her contractor customer also needs? Everything, says Fooy – from types of cost, depreciation, and cost recovery to physical/time/dollar/financial utilizations and budgets. “Equipment management is more than purchasing and maintaining equipment,” he says. “In most cases these investments in equipment is one of the largest investments a company makes … and it required a trained equipment manager to manage those assets.”
Tune in and pick up some lasting lessons and tips – he even gives some clues about developing relationships with public/municipal-type customers.
