2021 Sustainable Fleet Technology Webinar Series

The 2021 Sustainable Fleet Technology Webinar Series came to an end last month after bringing together industry leaders and top performing fleet managers to share real-world deployment examples of sustainable fleet technologies through 15 webinar sessions. The full webinar recordings are now available online, including strategies for achieving fleet management from nationally recognized fleets.

The 2021 Sustainable Fleet Technology Webinar Series (SFTWS) was offered through a collaborative partnership between the NC Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC), The 100 Best Fleets and NAFA Fleet Management Association (NAFA). “The fleet operations and strategies shared in the SFT Webinar Series are the gold standard in the industry,” said Richard Sapienza, director of NCCETC’s Clean Transportation program.

Each SFTWS session included in-depth presentations from fleets honored in The 100 Best Fleets in the Americas, an award program that recognizes peak-performing fleet operations in the government fleet section. Originally founded by Tom C. Johnson, The 100 Best Fleets was acquired by NAFA earlier this year to expand their awards and recognition programs.

The first session of SFTWS, 4 Essential Traits for 2021 & Beyond, highlighted 3 fleet managers who successfully increased fleet efficiency, productivity and operational effectiveness, propelling their fleets into The 100 Best Fleets. The webinar panel included the only fleet manager to take 3 different fleets into the top 100, a manager of a first place winner of The 100 Best Fleets and one who was in The 100 Best Fleets for 20 years straight.

The top 100 best fleets in the Americas for 2021 winners were announced in a SFTWS webinar in April, celebrating the hard work and accomplishments of top fleets and their teams. In Best Practices of the Top Fleets of The 100 Best Fleets 2021, the top fleets shared how they distinguished themselves among 38,000 public fleets in North America.

“These sessions are intended for the entire team to listen in,” Sapienza said. “Fleets can use it as an opportunity to benchmark their operations with knowledge that can be applied immediately.”

The SFTWS also included several sessions focused on alternative fuels including electric vehicles. In the United States, public and private fleets are taking steps toward transitioning away from conventional fuel vehicles but still have uncertainties about the complex process of electrification. While electric vehicle (EV) adoption is forecasted to expand for private citizens, fleets with thousands of vehicles have many more steps to take before they will be able to phase out old vehicles.

Fleet managers can learn more about the comprehensive involvement needed to plan, coordinate, budget and execute fleet electrification from a panel of experts in the session Fleet Electrification Planning. “Electrification is inevitable, it’s coming,” said Electrification Coalition’s Jared Walker. “We want to be a resource to provide best practices, strategy, market forecasting and all manners of assistance to our partners as they’re going through this transition.”

Several EV deployment cases were presented in Real World EV Durability, Long Term Maintenance & Operating Cases and Electric Vehicle Use Case Deployment Examples to share lessons and methods for successful EV deployment from the fleets already doing it.

ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY FLEET MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS FROM THE 2021 GREEN GARAGE WINNERS

The Green Garage Contest Winners Announcement 2021 concluded the SFTWS by highlighting the innovative and simple ways to “green the maintenance garage”. Winning contestants showed comprehensive top to bottom commitment to green vehicle maintenance and environmentally friendly facilities features and systems.

The Green Garage Contest, organized by NAFA, first launched in 2020 with support from NCCETC, No Spill Systems, RinseKit and the United Soybean Board. The contest was created to bring together the most progressive and environmentally-committed fleets to share the best practices for eco-friendly vehicle fleet maintenance garages.

Tom C. Johnson, author of the Green Fleet Awards and the Green Garage Contest, is the Director of the Green Garage Contest. The winners of the contest are the “best of the best stewards of the environment” Johnson said.

AND THE WINNER IS…

The Central Fleet Management (CFM) department in the City of Chesapeake, Virginia tied with the University of California Irvine Fleet Services for the Green Garage’s number one fleet for 2021.

Previously, CFM ranked as the number one fleet for The 100 Best Fleets in 2017 for its guiding goals of operating an environmentally sound fleet, preventing the wasteful use of our resources and practicing environmental stewardship.

CFM prides itself on setting the example for sustainable operations, and it became the first department in the city to start a recycling program in 2005. According to the Fleet Manager George Hrichak, the recycling program has generated over $190,000 in revenue so far.

The University of California Irvine is also no stranger to sustainability, earning second place in the 2020 Green Garage Contest for its research on electric buses powered by hydrogen fuel cells. “They are leaders in hydrogen,” noted Johnson.