Registration sponsored by

Convention Center Hall H Foyer

Coming to a show for the first time can be daunting. This session will give you one-on-one time with other first time attendees, the GFX show organizers, and magazine writers. Get an inside look at the schedule and show highlights. Think of us as your personal tour guides for the show.

Host: Za Farley

Room 273

Taking place at Mardi Gras World, this event within an event will be a mix of ride and drives, hands-on training, experiential learning, and a technology showcase. Plus, a fun street fair atmosphere with food, drinks, games and prizes.

Please pick up your badge and meal ticket from Registration beginning at 8:00 am. You must have a badge to enter the Block Party and a meal ticket to use at one of the two food stations.

Transportation to the Block Party:

Shuttle Buses: Shuttles will be running 9:45am - 1:30pm between Hall H (near registration) and Mardi Gras World to take people to and from the Block Party.

Walking: The walk to the Block party is approximately 5-10 minutes. See the walking map.

The Municipal Equipment Maintenance Association (MEMA), an association with chapters in California and Ohio, returns with educational sessions focusing on disaster planning and shop basics.

Prepping your Fleet for a Natural Disaster
From fires, to floods, to hurricanes, these last few years have wreaked destruction across the U.S., and municipal fleets have been right in the middle of it.  This session features fleet managers who have had to “adapt and overcome” to continue providing support for their agencies, and will provide solid takeaways to help you prepare your fleet for a natural disaster.   

Back to Basics—Maximizing your Shop’s Productivity
Resources are thin, but fleet departments must continue to provide high-quality services to their customers.  Learn how to maximize what your technicians produce through improvements in shop workflow, monitoring, parts support, and floor-level management.  It’s not only how much direct time you can bill, it’s also how fast vehicles get back in your customers’ hands!

Room 394

Have you heard of major fleet initiatives and thought that you don’t have the resources — financial or staffing — to do the same thing? Mahanth Joishy spent 16 years working at the largest municipal fleet in the nation — New York City — before stepping into the fleet manager role at the City of Madison. Joishy talks about how he applied what he learned at New York to a comparably smaller city, how to turn big-city ideas to more manageable projects for your operation, and how to prepare your fleet for the future with the resources you do have.

Keynote Speaker: Mahanth Joishy, Superintendent, City of Madison Fleet Service

Room 394

Join us for small bites, drinks, and conversation with your peers.

Sponsored by

Mosaic Room
(Located at the front of the Great Hall in the Convention Center near Halls A & B)

This evening is set aside for you to explore New Orleans, and for exhibitors and sponsors who choose to invite existing and potential customers for dinner meetings.

Registration sponsored by

Convention Center Hall H Foyer

Resilient Leadership: Prepare Today to Prevail Tomorrow 
From global and domestic terrorist threats to natural disasters, we encounter new risks to our individual, community and economic security each day. And while we can’t predict what’s around the corner, we can prepare—because when faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges, it is strong leadership guided by clarity of purpose and practical tactics for overcoming adversities that drive us to prevail—better prepared and more resilient. In his book Don't Get Stuck on Stupid! General Russel Honoré expertly connects his 3+ decades of military leadership—including his crucial role in managing New Orleans’ relief efforts post Hurricane Katrina—to the natural disasters and man-made tragedies dominating global headlines to reveal critical strategies for transforming individuals into leaders and helping organizations and communities effectively prepare, react, rebound and unify.

Keynote Speaker: Lt. General Russel L. Honoré, Commander of Joint Task Force Katrina, Global Preparedness Authority

*The keynote address will begin at 8:30am following a hearty buffet breakfast, including coffee and drinks.

Sponsored by 

Room 394

Are you a new fleet manager, looking to step into the role, or need a refresher? Learn how to effectively communicate about your operation, how to shoehorn your fleet operation into the broader organizational strategic planning, why data-driven decisions are important and how to make them, how to connect the data from your fleet software into other networks, and more.

Presenter: Craig Croner, Administrative Services Manager, City of Boise, ID

Sponsored by 

Room 265

Resources are always stretched. Rather than buying a purpose-built machine for occasional work, what if you could make the machines you have do double duty? Learn creative ways fleet managers across the country have completed tasks using what they have. Come prepared to learn new ways of doing things and to discuss your own problem-solving.

Presenter: Bob Shoop, Caterpillar

Sponsored by 

Room 267

Join the conversation about telematics implementation, successes, and challenges with subject matter experts and other fleet managers facing the same issues. Whether it’s union buy-in, painful lessons from implementation, or how to get a return on investment, attendees steer the discussion in this interactive roundtable on vehicle tracking.

Facilitator: Eric Bearly, Bobit Business Media
Subject matter experts: Neil Garrett, Geotab; Michelle Hardy, AT&T Fleet Complete; Tyler Mortensen, GPS Insight; Brian Madden, Verizon Connect; Mike Ross, Samsara

Sponsored by 

Room 273

Convention Center Exhibit Hall H

Enjoy a buffet lunch in the Exhibit Hall from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm.

Convention Center Exhibit Hall H

Many aspects of fleet management are becoming more automated, freeing fleet staff up for other tasks. At the same time, there are new jobs being created due to technological changes, including ones to oversee the massive amount of data that fleets now produce. Understand how automation is changing the fleet management industry, how you can benefit from it, and what to expect in the near future.

Presenters: Marc Canton and Bradley Kelley, Mercury Associates Inc.

Sponsored by 

Room 265

In 2018, after 22 years of outsourced maintenance, the City of Fort Wayne, Ind., brought fleet maintenance back in house. Fleet Manager Larry Campbell provides a frank look at why the city made this move and what the major transition entailed.

Presenter: Larry Campbell, City of Fort Wayne, IN in conversation with Sara Burnam, Director, Fleet Management, Palm Beach County, FL

Sponsored by 

Room 267

What’s the best way to choose a software system? How do you excel an audit? What’s a big mistake many fleet managers are making? Get your questions answered by a leading fleet consultant. 

Facilitator: Al Curtis, Cobb County, GA; Consultant: Steven Saltzgiver, Mercury Associates Inc.

Sponsored by 

Room 273

Writing exceptional specifications for vehicles and equipment will result in the purchase of the best possible units for the job at hand. Learn about the different types of specifications, when to use them, how to build comparisons for different makes and models, and effective methods to purchase equipment.

Presenter: Jeff Tews, City of Milwaukee, WI

Sponsored by 

Room 265

When is leasing a good idea - and when is it a bad one? And how can you overcome the government mentality of leasing? Whether it’s budgeting issues, maintenance problems, or transitioning to electric vehicles, panelists will discuss when leasing is a good option, and when it’s not.                                                                                                

Moderator: Keith Leech, County of Sacramento
Panelists: Bob Crowe, Mike Albert Fleet Solutions; Dain Giesie, Enterprise; Julie Johnson, Ryder; Maria Neve, Merchants Fleet

Sponsored by ​

Room 267

Many fleets have motor pools for internal agency use, but today’s technology solutions allow for more than simple vehicle checkouts. Discuss the advanced mobility solutions available today, how to increase utilization and decrease fleet size, as well as other options to improve employee mobility with fellow fleet professionals and subject matter experts.

Facilitator: Mario Guzman

Subject Matter Experts: Jeff Azer, Merchants Fleet; Rudy Six, INVERS Mobility Solutions; Ed Smith, Agile

Sponsored by ​

Room 273

Following a 25-minute reception, Government Fleet magazine will recognize the 50 Leading Fleets, announcing rankings for the top 20, and the top fleets in three size categories. The magazine will also honor the Public Fleet Hall of Fame inductees, and announce the Legendary Lifetime Achievement Award winner and the 2019 Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year.

Leading Fleets Award 

Sponsored by 

Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year

Sponsored by 

Public Fleet Hall of Fame + Legendary Lifetime Achievement Award

Sponsored by 

Room 394

Join us for an evening of networking, food and festivities in the French Quarter.

B.B. King's Blues Club
1104 Decatur St, New Orleans
*Event Badge REQUIRED for entry.

Complimentary shuttle service will depart from each hotel at 8:30pm.
Shuttles will depart at 11:00pm to return to hotels.
(Marriott Downtown at the Convention Center, Renaissance New Orleans Arts Warehouse District Hotel, Loews Hotel)

Sponsored by

Registration sponsored by

Convention Center Hall H Foyer

Breakfast will be followed by awards presentations of the Certified Fleet Management Operation (CFMO) and Fleet Masters Operation awards on behalf of the Government Fleet Management Alliance (GFMA). After the awards we'll have the Big Solutions Roundtable.

Big Solutions Roundtable

What are your biggest challenges? Whether it’s fuel management or budgeting concerns, this interactive session gives you a chance to discuss these topics and more with your peers and brainstorm solutions. Then, learn from the rest of the group as other fleet managers share the best solutions their groups found.

A full continental breakfast will be served from 8:00am - 8:30am along with coffee and drinks.  

Room 394

Can employee incentive programs work for your fleet operation? City of Baltimore created a program to incentivize fleet employees to make individual changes to their performance, with the avoided costs shared with them in the form of a bonus.  Over a six-month pilot, the team saw increased employee ownership of processes and more than $400,000 in the avoidance of certain projected costs without negatively impacting the quality of service provided.

Presenters: Chichi Nyagah-Nash and David Martin, City of Baltimore, MD

Room 265

Garbage trucks running their usual routes can mine data to send to city planners. Vehicles with telematics systems can be turned into mobile smart sensors that map road quality and hyper-local air quality. Connected vehicles can help drivers enhance vehicular safety, improve pedestrian mobility, and provide high quality data of the traffic flow of first responders for traffic operations. Learn how new technologies available today can transform your vehicles’ capabilities as well as the role of fleet managers, and how they can help public agencies make better policies.   

Moderator: Chris Brown, Executive Editor, Auto Rental News

Panelists: Michael Allegretti, Rubicon Global; Neil Garrett, Geotab; Brad Salazar, City & County of Denver, CO

Room 267                            

Electric vehicle range is increasing, and there are more vehicle options than ever before. But what does it take for an agency to add a significant number of electric vehicles to their fleet? Bring your questions and experiences to this roundtable to discuss vehicle options and applications, going with and without grant funding, charging infrastructure, costs, and more.
Facilitators: Kevin Devery, City of Tempe, AZ; Mark Stevens, City of Sacramento, CA

Room 273

Enjoy a buffet lunch in the Exhibit Hall from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm.

Convention Center Exhibit Hall H

Enjoy a buffet lunch in the exhibit hall.

Convention Center Exhibit Hall H

While in the exhibit hall, drop in on our micro-training sessions located in the back left corner "A" and back right side "B". Designed to get straight to the point in a less structured setting, these presentations will feature maximum take-home value.

Government Fleet Magazine Lounge, Booth 109

Fleets are seeking solutions to reduce the cost and headaches associated with parts acquisition and inventory. Discover how transitioning the parts and inventory operation to a “just-in-time” parts consignment process helped one city in cost savings, increased fill rates, no obsolete parts, and a more efficient parts management operation.

Presenter: John King, City of Ocala, FL

Room 265

There are numerous ways for fleet managers to inspire and retain their staff. These could be a mentoring program to train a future fleet manager, a program to create pathways for technician advancement, or a partnership with a technical school to train a new generation of technicians. Learn how these programs can help you hire and retain staff members, and what you need to do to start one.

Speaker: Tim Calhoun, Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, FL

Room 267


 

Before you say goodbye, join us for good conversation and drinks to round-out your GFX experience.

Streetcar Bar
(Hall G Lobby)

Learn about the latest features in AssetWorks’ FleetFocus fleet management software, as well as the FuelFocus fuel management system, KeyValet automated motor pool solution and integrated GPS. AssetWorks senior project management staff will review all the great features in the current release, discuss what is in the pipeline for the next release, and help with all functionality questions. Interact with other AssetWorks users to learn how they cope with the business challenges you face every day. Lunch will be included.

Room 265 and 267

This session will include an overview of FASTER Web including the business intelligence and FASTER’s Web add-ons including: motorpool reservation and dispatch; VIN decoder; inventory import utility; and more. Then the session will include an overview of FASTER Win including reports and system switches, and we will remind users of general tools that are often forgotten.

Room 279