By Steve Bender, President and Owner, Fleet Street Remarketing
July 31, 2024
Staring down at the old filing cabinet, I could barely believe my eyes…
Just as I was about to heave it into a dumpster we had rented to clean out an old warehouse, something suddenly slipped out of a hidden drawer I never even knew existed. Crinkled and water stained, I could barely see through the mountain of dust that was blocking the images. As I strained to make sense of what was lying in front of me, my heart began to race and my body went numb.
It was a treasure map, faded and fragile! As I unfolded it carefully, my mind was bombarded with questions.
What was the map for? Who had put it in my filing cabinet? And what did it have to do with my business, Fleet Street Remarketing, a company I had been President and owner of for almost a decade?
And then it hit me! While fleet has always been my primary focus, it’s not my only love. Not by a longshot! So, while I may be the mild-mannered leader of a top fleet services provider, my undeniable passion in life is…
Treasure Hunting!
This is a gig that has taken me to such far-off places as shipwrecks in the Aegean Sea, ancient islands in the Azores, and even to search for lost Nazi U-boats in the Caribbean – a journey that became a History Channel mini-series I was fortunate to star in earlier this year. And despite the fact I had never been able to meld my two loves into one crazy mash-up – fleet and treasure hunting – the universe was finally giving me that opportunity and I couldn’t wait to get started!
After consulting with some of the wise, old fleet elders I had met early in my career, I learned that the map depicted a collection of six mythical destinations. Each of them tied to a terrible curse that had been put on fleets long ago. Even more mysterious, the elders told me that if I could use my treasure hunting skills to somehow reach each one of these destinations, I could lift the curse and free fleets the scourge of issues like dwindling ROI, mountains of unnecessary hassles, and being forced to do more with less.
Darrell Miklos
Knowing I didn’t have a minute to spare, I reached out to my friend – and world-famous treasure hunter – Darrell Miklos, whom I had appeared with on the History Channel show. Within days, the two of us had mapped-out an adventure I believe will be the premiere event of this year’s AFLA season: A 7-part YouTube mini-series that chronicles our efforts to locate these 6 mystical destinations and lift the curse that’s been put on fleets that remarket vehicles.
Full of mystery, intrigue and suspense, the series follows Darrell and me as we search the world over for long forgotten and never explored locations like Carvantia, an amazing place where retail buyers bid on expertly maintained corporate vehicles, as well as Metalandia – the perfect location to sell white metal assets. And – the ultimate destination – the mystical land of Tranquilia, a place where fleet professionals achieve the ultimate peace of mind.
On-set with Fleet Street
If this all sounds a bit ambitious, I’ll thank you for the compliment and ask you to kindly join us for all seven exciting episodes on YouTube. Each episode features Darrell and me traveling to a different destination on the old map, plus intriguing characters, including the mysterious “Mister Big,” as well as a cryptic “Mission Bag” that pops into each episode. And there’s plenty of other crazy high jinks along the way. This will all be capped off by our “Big Reveal” event at this year’s AFLA Conference in San Antonio, where we’ll premiere the final nail-biting episode, and answer the slew of questions that came up during the first 6 episodes.
Even better?
One lucky AFLA attendee will win a priceless artifact found on our journey! We’ll even be joined by my treasure hunting compadre – Darrell – for a night of fun, frolic, and plenty of “adult beverages” compliments of your good friends at Fleet Street. More details of the AFLA event to follow!
So, just how do you catch our slightly wacky – but definitely groundbreaking – series?
Beginning Tuesday, August 6, all you have to do is go to our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/@
The whole series will be stored on our YouTube channel, so if you miss one of the episodes – or start watching the series late – it will be easy to catch up on all the action!
So – what are you waiting for?
Make sure to join Darrell, me, and all your friends from Fleet Street Remarketing for the journey of a lifetime and the premiere event of this AFLA season!
About the author
Steve Bender is President and Owner of Fleet Street, one of fleet’s premiere vehicle remarketing providers for over 35 years. He was also President of the Automotive Fleet Leasing Association (AFLA) from 2022 to 2023.
