NAFA CEO Phillip E. Russo, CAE: NAFA Serves Diverse Fleet Needs

For more than a decade, NAFA had been touting its "strength in diversity" mantra. You may recall the annual conference a few years back when our planning committee and others wore t-shirts with that slogan. That was the real launch of our message that we as an association are stronger, better, and more equipped for the future than any other organization or entity precisely because of our diversity.

Yes, we serve many audiences at NAFA. From corporate fleets to government fleets, law enforcement fleets to university fleets, and everything in between. Large fleets and small fleets. Centralized and de-centralized. Local and national. Leased and owned. Sedans, trucks, vans, semis, off-road equipment, and just about anything else with a motor and wheels. They all have a home at NAFA.

And if our new "Certificates of Completion" program takes off like we think it will, we may need to build a new addition on to the NAFA home. This new program should not only appeal to every single audience and every single fleet manager, but I think it has outstanding potential to spread the gospel about NAFA and our fleet management profession far beyond our current boundaries. Let me tell you about it.

Right now, NAFA offers the Certified Automotive Fleet Manager – CAFM^® – designation to those who want to prove their expertise in fleet management. The CAFM^® program tests your knowledge and mastery in the 8 core disciplines of fleet management:

1. Asset Management
2. Business Management
3. Financial Management
4. Information Management
5. Maintenance Management
6. Risk Management
7. Vehicle Fuel Management
8. Professional Development

We have also the CAFS – Certified Automotive Fleet Specialist – designation for someone who doesn’t necessarily work in all eight disciplines but wants to be certified in four of those areas. The CAFS program was NAFA’s first step in recognizing that individuals involved in fleet are not always dedicated to fleet 100 percent of the time. They have other responsibilities. Our new ‘certificate program’ is an even deeper recognition of that reality.

Now, under the certificate program, NAFA has completely unbundled the CAFM^® certification program and will grant "Certificates of Completion" in any of the eight competencies. This means that individuals can take a single discipline that is relevant to their current (or future employment) and get immediate recognition upon successfully completing an exam on that topic.

Unlike the CAFM^®, there is no prerequisite to enroll in the certificate program. And there is no limit to the number of certificates you can earn.

Upon enrolling in the certificate program, you will be emailed a link to an online Study Guide and reference materials for that module. You can prepare for the exam by using the reference materials to answer the questions in the Study Guide. When you feel you are sufficiently prepared, you simply sign up to take a local exam. (Right now, these exams are paper and pencil, but we will be moving to online testing in 2016.) If you pass your exam, you will be awarded a Certificate in that discipline.

We think this program is ideal for Fleet Managers who want to improve skills in one specific area, or fleet managers who want to try out the CAFM^® program before committing to 4 or 8 modules.

It’s also perfect for fleet professionals who work in only one area of fleet. So, if you have a colleague that is only involved in, say, the risk management side of fleet, that person can enroll in the Risk Management certificate program and, after studying and passing an exam, receive a certificate from NAFA in Risk Management.

This is also great for our industry partners, the Affiliates. If you are an industry partner and want to be able to honestly tell fleet managers you speak their language, what better way for you to prove this then to say you earned a certificate from NAFA?

We also believe professionals outside of fleet who work closely with fleet but don’t necessarily "do" fleet are perfect candidates for these certificates. I’m thinking these days about all those procurement professionals who have a huge impact on fleet but don’t handle the day-to-day fleet responsibilities. They would be ideal for the Asset Management certificate.

If you are interested in the certificate program, or if you think it would be good for others in your company, check out the details at www.fleetcertification.org under the "individual certification" tab. Or, contact Danielle Barrouk at NAFA at (609) 986-1061 or dbarrouk@nafa.org.

Thank you for making NAFA the strong, diverse organization it is. We are proud and we are strong precisely because of you. We believe we will continue to grow and appeal to an even wider audience, which will only make us stronger. I hope you will be part of this journey.
Sincerely,

Phil

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