The First Word: NAFA Is The Organization That Defends You In Washington

Did you know that NAFA has had a lobbying presence in Washington, DC for more than 25 years?

For more than a quarter-century, NAFA has been actively and aggressively defending you and the entire fleet management profession from unruly legislation and regulations. A great deal of NAFA’s success over these 27 years is directly attributable to our Legislative Counsel, Patrick O’Connor, President of Kent & O’Connor, a Washington, DC-based government affairs firm. Pat is an experienced lobbyist before Congress and state and federal regulatory agencies. Almost all of the legislation passed in the last 20 years regarding transportation and the environment have Pat’s imprint on them.

Up until recently, a lot of NAFA’s work in Washington could be perceived as reactionary rather than proactive. We would learn of a bill or proposal that could have detrimental impacts on fleet and we would spring into action. Thankfully, we’ve been successful with these efforts, but it’s certainly not the best way to work. Optimally, we want to be in on the first conversations legislators have when they consider rules that impact fleet, not the last.

A few years ago, NAFA made a conscious effort to be more assertive and more aggressive in our advocacy role. First, we put our intentions down on paper, and included it as part of our strategic plan in the form of a specific goal that calls for NAFA to be, "the recognized advocate for the fleet industry and the primary source of fleet information and knowledge to industry partners, government, fleet managers, and decision-makers." This goal was further defined with specific objectives and strategies that directed NAFA to become more assertive on issues of importance to members, and to increase awareness of NAFA among government bodies. In the past two years, NAFA has put significant resources behind these measures, and the results are becoming plainly evident.

This year alone, NAFA has been approached by no fewer than a half-dozen government agencies for input and opinions before they’ve introduced legislation or regulations. We’ve also worked with agencies to help them collect information from fleet managers so they could make intelligent decisions using real-world fleet situations so they could understand the real impacts of their ideas. Since January, we have worked with government agencies such as:

Government Accountability Office (GAO) - an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress and is sometimes called the "congressional watchdog"
Environmental Protection Agency
Department of Transportation
Department of Energy (including Clean Cities Coalition)
Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

In addition, there are numerous fleet-related associations and organizations that have reached out to NAFA for assistance, guidance, and partnerships. In fact, just as I was writing this message, I received an email from Pat O’Connor suggesting that two associations and two government agencies would like NAFA’s input.

All of this is very gratifying and is a testament to NAFA’s stature when these groups turn to us for expertise and leadership. We are proud to play this role and even prouder to stand up as the only organization that defends fleet managers and the fleet profession.

Sincerely,

NAFA Executive Director
Phillip E. Russo, CAE

NAFA Fleet Management Association
125 Village Blvd., Suite 200
Princeton, NJ 08540

Telephone: 609.720.0882 Fax: 609.452.8004