NationaLease held its 2013 Spring Maintenance Managers Meeting with a record-breaking attendance of over 180 member attendees, representing over 120 member companies, as well as a host of suppliers. Each year, NationaLease, one of the largest full service truck leasing organizations in North America, brings together fleet maintenance managers and other transportation executives to share best practices in truck maintenance.
This year's event, held May 15-17 in Schaumburg, Ill., boasted a race-car theme, reflecting NationaLease's celebration of its Reciprocal Service Rally, a reference to the on-road assistance member companies afford one another.
On May 14, the day before the official start of the meeting, the NationaLease 3rd Annual Tech Challenge was held at the Aim NationaLease facility in Elmhurst, Ill. The nine regional winners of the written portion of the competition competed for the title of Top Tech and the chance to represent NationaLease in the TMC SuperTech Competition to be held later this year.
On May 15, the meeting officially began with a review of NationaLease, initiatives and future plans presented by Dean Vicha, president. It was followed by a presentation by Jane Clark, vice Ppesident of member services, who spoke about the Reciprocal Service Rally and its results.
Keynote speaker, two-time World Champion Drag Racing Driver, Frank Hawley, shared his insights on motivation and leadership. Later that day, Ken Anderson, this year's meeting chair and director of operation for DeCarolis Truck Rental, Inc., a NationaLease Member, hosted a panel discussion on engine issues with representatives of the major engine OEMs. Byron Lay, maintenance director for NationaLease updated attendees on the NationaLease Road Rescue program and Dan Guzman, PDL Enterprises, then led a session focusing on techniques to improve employee retention.
The second day of the event opened with the always popular Idea Session, where members presented best practices that they've utilized to offer savings in money, time, productivity, improved morale and/or increased customer satisfaction. Additional activities of note that day were a Product and Technology Fair, a panel discussion on technician recruitment and members-only sessions on a variety of topics. Later that evening, at the Awards Dinner, Exceptional Service awards were given to member companies for exceptional service provided to fellow NationaLease member organizations and the Tech Challenge winners were announced.
The final day of the Spring Maintenance Managers Meeting began with an announcement of the winners of the Idea Session and concluded with a review of the Reciprocal Service standards and procedures and a panel discussion on best practices for lowering running costs.
