Thirty-One Fleet Professionals Comprise NAFA's 2011-12 CAFM Graduating Class

June 25, 2012 - PRLog -- Fleet management is an ever-changing field that requires professionals to stay on top of federal legislation changes, new technologies, alternative fuels, and safety concerns.  For over twenty years, NAFA Fleet Management Association has been setting the standard for fleet management credentialing through its Certified Automotive Fleet Manager (CAFM) program.  Recognized as the premier certification program within fleet management, the CAFM program makes the professional demonstrate expertise in every aspect of the job.  In the past year, 31 fleet professionals successfully completed the CAFM program.  The members of the 2011-12 class will be featured in the July/August issue of NAFA's FLEETSolutions magazine.

"NAFA's CAFM program is the industry standard for professional fleet certification.  It is the only certification program that proves an individual's expertise in fleet," said NAFA's Executive Director Phillip E. Russo, CAE.  "Other certification programs may attest that a person has minimum basic knowledge of fleet in certain specific areas, but the CAFM program makes you earn the designation by showing you understand every aspect of fleet management."

To become certified, an applicant must pass a series of comprehensive examinations in the eight disciplines of automotive fleet management: Fleet Information Management, Maintenance Management, Professional Development, Vehicle Fuel Management, Asset Management, Business Management, Financial Management, and Risk Management.   More than 500 fleet professionals currently are signed up to earn certification, and close to 300 have completed the program to date.

"Together we're helping to make this designation the gold standard throughout the industry," said NAFA Vice President Bryan Flansburg, CAFM, the Reporting Officer for NAFA's Certification Board.

The 2011-2012 CAFM Graduation Class Includes:

Brett Barganz, CAFM
Village of Glenview Dept. of Public Works

Timothy Calhoun, CAFM
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Dept.

James Coates, CAFM
LeasePlan USA

Krista Davis, CAFM
NuStar Energy

Sandeepinder Dhaliwal, CAFM
Province of British Columbia Ambulance Service

Michael Donahue, CAFM
Omaha Public Power District

John Ferguson, CAFM
City of Durham, NC

Iseña Garcia, CAFM
City of Virginia Beach Fleet Management Division, VA

Yvette Gentry, CAFM
TETRA Technologies, Inc.

Mark Gnatowoski, CAFM
State of Ohio Department of Transportation

Paul Hash, CAFM
Columbia Association

Frank Holland, CAFM
Independent Consultant

Gary Kelly, CAFM
Tucson Electric Power Company / Unisource Energy Services

Melanie Kiker, CAFM
Warren Equipment

Nanci Lien, CAFM
City of Seattle Fleet & Facilities Department

Delma Loomis, CAFM
Spectra Energy Fleet Services Department

Thomas Meyer, CAFM
Progress Energy Service Company

Nancy Palmer, CAFM
Consol Energy, Inc.

Robin Rehborg, CAFM
State of North Dakota Dept. of Transportation

Steve Rindshoj, CAFM
Cox Enterprises

Walt Rundell, CAFM
Ranken Technical College

Anthony Saxon, CAFM
Georgia Power Company

Paul Schmidt, CAFM
City of Fort Worth, TX

Dennis Simcoe, CAFM
City of Edmonton (AB) Fleet Services

Bill Sterner, CAFM
City of Fort Worth (TX) Equipment Services

Peter Varney, CAFM
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Georgiane Walls, CAFM
Wheels, Inc.

Jennifer Walls, CAFM
City of Austin, TX

Michael Wegas, CAFM
Cleveland Metroparks

Chris Wiley, CAFM
City of Seattle Fleet & Facilities Department

Michael Zeak, CAFM
Independent Consultant

NAFA's CAFM program is endorsed by the National Conference of State Fleet Administrators (NCSFA), Rocky Mountain Fleet Management Association (RMFMA), and Florida Association of Governmental Fleet Administrators (FLAGFA).  In addition, the CAFM program is offered for college credit at Ferris State University (Big Rapids, Michigan), Georgian College (Barrie, Ontario, Canada), and Ranken Technical College (St. Louis, Missouri).  

For more information on the CAFM program and the Certified Automotive Fleet Specialist (CAFS) program (for those starting out in the fleet profession), please visit www.fleetcertification.org.

About NAFA Fleet Management Association
NAFA is the world's premier non-profit association for professionals who manage fleets of sedans, public safety vehicles, trucks, and buses of all types and sizes, and a wide range of military and off-road equipment for organizations across the globe. NAFA is the association for the diverse vehicle fleet management profession regardless of organizational type, geographic location or fleet composition. NAFA's Full and Associate Members are responsible for the specification, acquisition, maintenance and repair, fueling, risk management, and remarketing of more than 3.5 million vehicles including in excess of 1.1 million trucks of which 350 thousand are medium- and heavy-duty trucks. For more information visit http://www.nafa.org