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Arizona Chapter Takes Retrospective Look At Fleet Management, Learns How NAFA Can Help In The Future
 Danny Johnson, CAFM (far right), who recently retired as Director of Fleet Management for the City of Scottsdale, Arizona, was the Chapter Meeting's primary speaker. According to Arizona Chapter Chair Jose Gallardo, General Fleet Manager for AAA Arizona, he arranged the meeting to, "give fleet professionals a perspective on just how far this profession has come. But more importantly, I want them to see how far we can go, especially with a tremendous organization like NAFA leading the way with all the resources they have for us." To start the meeting, Danny Johnson, CAFM, who recently retired as Director of Fleet Management for the City of Scottsdale, Arizona, gave the group his retrospective look at fleet management. Johnson started his career in the military, serving several tours in Viet Nam where he was a young lieutenant helicopter pilot in charge of aviation mechanics and repairs. "Because I could fix planes, I was assigned additional duty for transport mechanics and later fleet maintenance, and that started my career." Johnson has worked in fleet ever since, working in the Metro-DC area for most of his career before heading west for Arizona about ten years ago.  Arizona Chapter
Chair Jose Gallardo, General Fleet Manager for AAA Arizona, presents
Danny Johnson with a plaque representing NAFA's appreciation.
"Some of the issues you [fleet managers] face today are similar to what I faced forty years ago," Johnson said as he read headlines and excerpts from magazines published in the 1970s. Those issues include proper staffing, fuel prices, technology advancements, and vehicle improvements, to name just a few. However, Johnson noted, "the speed with which these issues are changing today is much faster than forty years ago. And, the speed at which business takes place is much faster than forty years ago." Johnson noted that in his former jobs it was not uncommon for his fleet department to consist of an entire roomful of employees whose only job was to input data about vehicle parts and repairs. Then, he said, that data would be produced in to reports, sometimes thirty, sixty, or ninety days later, which would then be stored in a closet and never looked at. "Today, there’s probably not one person doing data entry, it’s all done electronically by scanning. And reports are available real-time from anywhere in the world...and they’re used every day for analysis."  Danny Johnson talks about his retirement plans. At the end of Johnson’s remarks, Gallardo presented him with a retirement gift on behalf of the Arizona Chapter. Inscribed on the gift were remarks thanking Johnson for his contributions and wryly questioning how he was able to win every chapter golf tournament in the past decade. Johnson graciously accepted the award, noting, "My new [retirement] schedule includes golf on Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays and the gym on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. It’s a good life, but the thing I’m happiest about is not having to take my cell phone with me everywhere I go."  Phil Russo, CAE, NAFA’s Executive Director, followed Johnson to explain how NAFA helps bridge the gap between the past and future and keeps fleet managers moving forward. "For the past 50-plus years, NAFA has been the one place where fleet professionals have turned for education, resources, networking, and solutions," NAFA’s Executive
Director Phil Russo, CAE said. "Just like fleet management itself, NAFA is continually changing to be what you (fleet managers) need it to be. Our slogan is ‘fleet solutions for fleet professionals’ and that’s what drives us every day: providing you with solutions." Clearly NAFA is doing something right by its members.
"The year 2011 was an amazing time of growth and prosperity for NAFA," Russo explained. "Despite the sluggish economy, and in a time when most associations saw double-digit declines in membership, NAFA membership grew by three percent. This tells me we are providing value to fleet managers."  Phil Russo offers information regarding the 2011 I&E's impressive attendance numbers. Russo also noted that attendance at NAFA’s 2011 Institute & Expo was up thirty percent from 2010 and that the Expo was sold out a full month before the show opened. These trends are continuing in 2012, as attendance is tracking up by ten over last year and the Expo is already sold out, more than two months prior to the show opening. Russo also pointed to tremendous growth in NAFA’s certification program enrollments as another indication of NAFA’s relevance and value. Following Russo’s enthusiastic and inspiring message, NAFA’s Deputy Executive Director Patrick McCarren gave the group some hands-on, practical tips on how to take advantage of NAFA’s many online services. "Our goal with our online services is to make your work life easier by giving you easier, greater access to more information and solutions," McCarren said. "Most of what NAFA offers online is behind password-protected doors so you have to be a member to gain access and get the true value."  NAFA’s Deputy Executive Director Patrick McCarren and Phil Russo on the tarmac. McCarren pointed out special features of NAFA’s main website, www.nafa.org, as well as NAFA’s FleetED (www.FleetEd.org) and those designed specifically for I&E (www.nafainstitute.org and www.nafaexpo.org). He also talked about NAFA’s free webinar series, all of which are archived on the NAFA site and NAFA’s social media efforts in LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
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