Pictured: Scott Devore, Steve Saltzgiver, Jeff Jenkins
RTA CEO Josh Turley started off his keynote at the company’s 31st annual users’ conference with a comforting salutation: “Welcome back.”
After the long pandemic, RTA held its annual RTA Connect conference to bring its clients together – both in-person in Las Vegas, and virtually on Zoom. While the conference has been held each year spanning three decades, this year’s event was different.
Not only was it in a new, three-day format, but it tackled a problem that is not widely discussed in the fleet industry – Fleet Success. More specifically, what does it mean for fleets to succeed?
Josh Turley
Turley posed this question to the attendees. Some responses included “up time,” “controlling costs,” and others.
These were aligned with some of the responses Turley and his colleagues received when they asked other fleet professionals throughout the industry earlier this year. What they found was there isn’t a concrete definition for Fleet Success.
So, Turley, his colleagues and other fleet experts developed a definition:
“Achieving a balanced mastery of Stakeholder Satisfaction, Intentional Culture, Resource Efficiency and Risk Management in your fleet operation.”
Turley explained that by achieving the four pillars of fleet success outlined in the definition, fleets can propel themselves from being considered a cost center (like IT was for years), and instead a valuable and successful part of a company.
RTA Connect offered classes on each of the pillars to help attendees learn the importance of each, how it relates to their fleet’s overall success, and most importantly, get tips to take home and implement at their operations.
Stakeholder Satisfaction
Living up to the expectations of those who depend on the job you do.
In this class, taught by Fleet Hall of Famer Steve Saltzgiver, attendees learned how to identify their primary and secondary stakeholders, and why it is important to achieve stakeholder satisfaction. Saltzgiver gave examples from his lengthy fleet career to demonstrate the importance of knowing who you are working for, and who all depends on your staff and your operation to do its job.
Intentional Culture
Purposely deciding the type of environment you want at your fleet and taking ownership to shape that identity.
Turley and former trucking executive Jeff Jenkins explained to attendees the importance of establishing an intentional culture at their fleet operation, and why culture is pivotal to their success. Culture is not something that gets discussed a lot in fleet, but through Turley’s insight and Jenkins’ examples of how different cultures impacted the success at fleet operations he’s worked at, attendees were able to see why it’s crucial to establish an intentional culture before you end up with an accidental one.
Resource Efficiency
Making the best use of your two most finite resources – time and money.
In the Resource Efficiency class, Turley and Jenkins shared examples with attendees of why it’s important to make the most out of the time and money you have at your fleet. From ensuring your staff is being as productive as possible, to being smart about how you’re spending money, and cutting costs where you can.
Risk Management
The proactive process of identifying, assessing, and controlling the threats to your organization and stakeholders.
The final Fleet Success class, Risk Management, was taught by Jenkins and Turley. In this session, Jenkins shared examples from fleets he ran on why it’s so important to identify and reduce as many risks as you can. While it’s impossible to eliminate the risks at fleet operations, being proactive will help you get ahead of a lot of problems and increase your safety and reduce costs.
In addition to classes on Fleet Success, RTA Connect provided training to attendees on RTA’s fleet management software program. Instructors also gave a demo of RTA’s eDVIR solution, RTA Inspect, and offered sessions on the latest industry trends and issues fleet managers are facing. Turley, Saltzgiver, and Jenkins also held a live recording of their podcast, “The Fleet Success Show.”
RTA will hold its next event, “The Fleet Success Summit,” in Spring 2022. This event – which will focus on giving fleet professionals pivotal leadership and business training to propel their fleet to the next level — will be open to all fleet professionals.
