By Steve Bender, President and Owner, Fleet Street Remarketing
December 3, 2025
Greetings and welcome to the holidays!
It’s hard to believe we’ve strolled through another year, but here we are. Seems just like yesterday I was penning my 2024 holiday message and thanking the fleet community for helping pull my family through the darkest period in our lives after my son Sean was struck and nearly killed by a boat in the Florida Keys last Summer.
Since then, I’m happy to report that Sean has made a miraculous recovery and just finished his first semester of college, which means our family has already received the greatest gift of all this holiday season. The gift of Sean’s life.
In the time since I wrote my last end of year message, this past year has taught me what matters most. My Family. My Friends. My colleagues. And equally as much, the professional relationships I’ve spent decades forging in this great industry we all love. When I look at the common denominator, one thing stands out about this industry above all else – People.
People are what really matters most in fleet. People and relationships.
For sure I saw this in the past year with what our family experienced with Sean. People – even our competitor’s – came out of the woodwork, and trust me, we could feel your love and support. In fact, we’ve recently run social media posts and sent emails hoping to learn who’s supported our fleet professional friends the most in their careers and helped them on their journey in this wonderful industry we all love so much.
As we look back at the challenges of the year behind, our team is heartened, excited and focused on three very important themes I know will make our business even stronger – and our clients more successful – in 2026:
People First
Perhaps more than in any other industry, fleet is a business of relationships. Big enough to feel like the important sector of American business that it truly is. Small enough to where seemingly everyone is on a first name basis. That’s not the case in many industries but strengthening our already strong relationships is something we plan on doubling down in 2026.
How?
By focusing on being client first in everything we do. And by avoiding the impersonal and eschewing numbers-driven, grow at all cost decision making. Not that we aren’t proud of the relationships we’ve fostered over the years – we are. But from now on, everyone at Fleet Street will be even more focused on doing the right thing for people, not profits, in the months and year ahead.
The Power of Human Connection
To anyone who knows me well, this is a theme I have been focused on since starting in fleet almost 30 years ago. It’s something I’ve not only seen – but experienced firsthand. In my opinion, the Power of Human Connection is the single defining principle that guides our industry. It’s one of the three things I want our team to stay supremely focused on in 2026. It will require taking the time to learn even more about what makes our clients truly tick. What they really want to achieve. What success looks like to them. We’ll work hard with our clients and colleagues to strengthen that human connection even more deeply. In doing so I know we can help our customers achieve their biggest goals in 2026, and at the same time, we can take our own business here at Fleet Street to the next level as well.
Keeping Promises
It sounds simple, right?
Just do what you say and say what you do.
But we’ve talked to the people who matter most – our clients – and not all fleet service providers are doing that right now. Not even when they need to get critical answers about what’s going on in their fleets from the people who have committed to provide them.
From the conversations we’re having, many promises are simply not being kept and that shouldn’t be happening, regardless of whether the reasons seem valid, or the situations seem unavoidable. It’s leading to confusion and anger, and it’s causing some fleet managers to lose faith in our industry while creating negative perceptions where they never existed.
Well, that’s not going to happen at Fleet Street, not by a long shot!
Our team has found this phenomenon so disconcerting that we’re re-dedicating ourselves to operational excellence in 2026. We are doing everything in our power to keep every promise we make, even if keeping those promises means that we come out on the short end of the stick. Keeping one’s word is critical, and it’s something we will do no matter what.
2026: Let’s Grab the Reins and Go!
I don’t think any of us would disagree that the past few years have been challenging for our industry. But the truth is, Fleet people are not only tough, but resilient (something my family and our team know with certainty). In my opinion our future is bright if we just focus on what matters most – each other.
I’m proud to be a part of this industry. Humbled by the love it has shown me and my family during our darkest hour. At Fleet Street, we are committed, dedicated, and resolved to achieving our collective mission to staying focused on what matters most:
People – Connections – And Keeping Promises.
Happy holidays everybody and here’s looking forward to making 2026 our best year ever!
A 25-year veteran of the fleet space, Steve Bender is President and Owner of Fleet Street Remarketing and Past President of the Automotive Fleet Leasing Association (AFLA). He can be reached at [email protected].
