Director of Fleet

DIRECTOR OF FLEET

Position Overview

The Director of Fleet is responsible for enterprise fleet strategy, financial performance, governance, and the operating model across Sperber Companies. The role owns the Fleet Operating System, including lifecycle strategy, maintenance standards, compliance governance, fleet technology, CapEx planning, vendor strategy, and performance management. The Director partners with Operations, Finance, Procurement, Safety, IT, and business leadership to improve asset utilization, control total cost of ownership, reduce risk, and support operational growth.

Key Responsibilities

Fleet Strategy & Governance

• Develop and execute the enterprise fleet strategy across vehicles and equipment.
• Establish fleet policies, standards, controls, and decision rights across operating businesses.
• Define the Fleet Operating System and ensure consistent adoption across the organization.
• Provide executive leadership with fleet performance, risks, priorities, and recommendations.

Asset Lifecycle & CapEx Planning

• Own vehicle and equipment lifecycle strategy from acquisition through disposition.
• Develop annual and multi-year replacement plans using age, utilization, maintenance cost, condition, and total cost of ownership.
• Lead fleet CapEx recommendations and prioritize investments within approved budgets.
• Establish repair-versus-replace standards and ensure timely disposition of underutilized or uneconomical assets.
• Partner with Finance to quantify EBITDA, depreciation, maintenance, fuel, and lifecycle impacts.'

Maintenance Strategy

• Establish enterprise preventive maintenance and repair standards.
• Determine the appropriate in-house, outsourced, or hybrid maintenance model by business and geography.
• Evaluate shop and mechanic productivity, capacity, cost, and service quality.
• Develop sourcing strategies for maintenance, parts, tires, towing, and related fleet services.
• Monitor maintenance cost, downtime, repeat repairs, and vendor performance.

Fleet Technology & Data

• Own the business strategy and governance for Fleetio and related fleet platforms.
• Establish data standards and accountability for accurate asset, maintenance, utilization, fuel, and compliance information.
• Partner with IT and system owners on integrations, automation, security, and technical support.
• Use fleet data to identify exceptions, cost drivers, and improvement opportunities.

Financial Performance

• Own fleet operating budgets and cost-control initiatives.
• Monitor cost per mile, maintenance cost, fuel performance, utilization, depreciation, and total cost of ownership.
• Identify and execute initiatives that reduce operating expense and improve EBITDA.
• Develop fleet scorecards by region, business, and branch and manage performance by exception.

Compliance & Risk Governance

• Establish enterprise controls for registrations, inspections, DOT/FMCSA requirements, IFTA, permitting, and related fleet compliance.
• Partner with Safety and Operations to clarify ownership for driver- and vehicle-related compliance requirements.
• Maintain visibility to compliance exceptions, ensure corrective actions are completed, and escalate material risks.

Vendor & Procurement Strategy

• Lead strategic sourcing and negotiations for vehicles, equipment, maintenance, fleet services, fuel programs, and related vendors.
• Standardize vehicle and equipment specifications where operationally appropriate.
• Develop supplier performance standards and leverage enterprise scale while maintaining operational flexibility.

Team Leadership

• Lead and develop the Corporate Fleet team with clear accountability and role separation.
• Director of Fleet: strategy, governance, financial performance, CapEx, lifecycle planning, executive reporting, vendor strategy, and enterprise standards.
• Fleet Operations Manager: Fleet Operating System execution, Fleetio adoption, maintenance workflows, compliance operations, shop/mechanic alignment, training, and branch support.
• Fleet Coordinator: asset administration, registrations and titles, documentation, transactions, reporting support, system updates, and day-to-day coordination.
• Ensure work remains with the appropriate owner across Fleet, Operations, Finance, Safety, and IT.

Key Performance Indicators

1. Fleet operating cost and cost per mile
2. Maintenance cost versus budget and PM compliance
3. Fleet utilization, downtime, and asset availability
4. Fleetio adoption and data quality
5. Compliance exceptions and corrective-action closure
6. Replacement plan execution and disposition cycle time
7. Fuel performance, idling, and vendor savings
8. CapEx savings and EBITDA impact

Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive fleet, equipment, operations, procurement, or asset-management experience, including 3+ years in a leadership role.
• Experience supporting a large, decentralized, multi-location fleet.
• Strong knowledge of lifecycle strategy, maintenance programs, CapEx planning, utilization, and total cost of ownership.
• Experience managing internal maintenance operations and outsourced service providers.
• Working knowledge of fleet compliance requirements and controls.
• Strong analytical, financial, negotiation, change-management, and executive communication skills.
• Experience with Fleetio, telematics, fuel-management systems, and ERP/FAM platforms preferred.
• Experience in landscaping, construction, field services, or another asset-intensive industry preferred.

What Success Looks Like

• First 90 Days
• Establish clear Fleet team responsibilities, decision rights, and operating cadence.
• Confirm enterprise fleet standards and baseline cost, utilization, maintenance, compliance, and data-quality metrics.
• Prioritize businesses requiring immediate Fleet Operating System intervention.
• Establish a consolidated fleet scorecard and executive reporting process.

First 12 Months

• Implement a consistent Fleet Operating System across applicable businesses.
• Establish a reliable multi-year replacement and disposition strategy.
• Improve preventive maintenance compliance, asset availability, utilization, and data accuracy.
• Reduce avoidable maintenance, fuel, and fleet operating costs.
• Establish a sustainable in-house versus outsourced maintenance model and reliable fleet financial reporting.