2023 Fleet Forward Conference Closing Keynotes: For Fleets, By Fleets

The combined Fleet Forward and Fleet Safety Conferences, convening Nov. 8-10 in Silicon Valley, are designed to “move fleets forward” to become more efficient, safer, and sustainable. 

The conferences’ agendas are developed by fleet professionals. The fleet managers themselves are directly involved in creating the conferences’ educational content, and as panelists they share their perspectives and expertise on stage. 

Highlighting this directive for the 2023 conferences are the two closing keynote seminars: “Trucking Fleet Manager’s Safety Forum,” and “Fleet Manager's State of the Industry Roundtable.”

The penultimate seminar will dig into the issues surrounding trucking safety today. The panelists, representing large trucking fleets, will share their insights, wins, and ongoing challenges around driver distraction and impairment, training and education, regulations and compliance, safety technology implementation, and more. 

The panel, moderated by Jim Park of Heavy Duty Trucking Magazine, consists of Jonathan Gong of Youngs Inc., Michael Lasko of Boyle Transportation, and Amanda Schuier of Jetco Delivery. 

In this seminar, the fleet manager winner of the 2023 HDT Safety & Compliance Award, bestowed directly before the seminar, will take a spot on the panel to join the conversation.

For the closing keynote, a panel of fleet managers will take the stage for a discussion on the state of the fleet industry, its near future, and their changing roles. 

Moderated by Christy Grimes, associate editor of Government Fleet at Bobit, the panel consists of Eric Richardson from the New York City Fleet, Matt Betz of DTE Energy, Mike Hauge of Ecolab, and SuYvonne Bell of Gilead Sciences. Like the previous seminar, the just-awarded winner of the 2023 Automotive Fleet Safety Award will join the panel. 

Fleet Manager Expertise in Seminars

Richardson, Betz, Hauge, and Bell will perform double duty in other seminars. 

Richardson is working with Peter Goldwasser of Together for Safer Roads to present “Fostering Fleet Safety Through Public-Private Partnerships.”

Hauge will share his experience managing more than 11,00 light- and medium-duty vehicles as a panelist in the opening keynote “A Fleet Industry S.W.O.T. Analysis.” 

Betz, who as a fleet manager of a utility fleet has deep experience with fleeting EVs, joins the panel “Will I Have Enough Power? Defining Your Infrastructure Project’s Scope.”

In “How to Measure True Costs of a Fleet Crash,” Bell will share actual fleet data to identify a true accounting of fleet crash costs. 

Phil Moser, who recently took a position of associate director of driver safety at Syneos Health, joins Kristin Leary, director of fleet services at Syneos Health, to present “Protecting Your Fleet Drivers from Crime.”

Aleece Beauilieu, fleet manager at Genentech, joins the panel “Managing a Take-Home EV Fleet” to share lessons learned in Genentech’s transition of 350 units to EVs.

In “Defining Operational Costs for Commercial EVs,” Heather Hanson, bus operations program manager at Genentech, will discuss the electrification transition of the company’s 80 motorcoaches that serve 15,000 employees across seven counties. 

David Renschler, fleet manager for the City of Fairfield, Calif., will lend his EV infrastructure expertise to “Understanding Grid Capacity to Scale EVs – And What Fleets Need to Do Now.”

David Worthington, who runs the fleet for the County of Santa Clara, joins the safety session “How to Identify, Manage, and Correct High-Risk Drivers.”

“The Fleet Forward and Fleet Safety Conferences depend on input from fleet managers’ on-the-ground experiences to make the agenda relevant for fleets looking to the future,” said Chris Brown, conference chair. “Fleet managers, join us to lend your expertise and help grow this involvement!”

About Fleet Forward Conference

Now in its sixth year, Fleet Forward Conference (FFC) is designed to deliver fleets solutions on electrification, connected vehicles, autonomous technology, last-mile and shared mobility, next-generation telematics, and more. 

The conference is also combined with the Fleet Safety Conference, designed specifically for fleet, risk, and safety professionals with the goal to reduce driver distraction, limit fleet liability, and enhance safety culture overall. 

As part of a  combined agenda, attendees will pay one registration fee  to access both events. 

The 2023 FFC agenda also includes a ride and drive for attendees to experience new electric vehicles, mingle with product experts, and experience new technologies behind the wheel in a larger outdoor interactive space.

Registration for the combined Fleet Forward and Fleet Safety Conferences is open now. 

Originally posted on Automotive Fleet