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Mercury
Associates, Inc. is a leading provider of fleet management consulting
services. With offices in thirteen states, our staff of professional fleet
consultants has assisted hundreds of public and private sector clients
evaluate and identify opportunities to improve all facets of their fleet
management and operating practices. Our consulting team combines years
of hands-on fleet management experience with more than 450 years of fleet management consulting experience.
This combination of experience enables our clients to tackle a wide
array of challenges and opportunities, secure in the knowledge that our
findings will be technically sound and defensible to senior management,
elected officials, and other decision makers, but also practical and "implementable."
Our vehicle and equipment consultants have worked with fleets ranging in size from fewer than
25 to more than 600,000 vehicles and pieces of equipment has given us a full appreciation
of the daily demands and expectations that most fleet management
organizations share in common, and of the operational, managerial, and
political environments that make each fleet manager's job unique. We do
not employ a "cookie cutter" approach to our consulting engagements.
Rather, we tailor each project to the particular circumstances, needs,
and objectives of our client. We are passionate about seeing our
recommendations implemented, so we work hard to understand the
communication channels and decision making processes through which a
fleet manager must navigate if he or she is to effect real business
process changes and tangible, measurable improvements in performance.
The key principals in our firm are:
Paul Lauria
President
Over the last 21 years, Paul has provided fleet consulting and
management training services to hundreds of state and local government,
investor-owned utility, and corporate fleet operations touching on
virtually every facet of fleet management. His particular areas of
expertise include program evaluation, strategic business planning, cost
of service analysis, charge-back rate development, and replacement
planning and financing. Before co-founding Mercury, Paul was a Vice
President in Maximus, Inc., a publicly held consulting firm, where he
served as national director of fleet management consulting services.
Prior to joining Maximus in 1992, he was a Senior Manager in the
Transportation Consulting Group of Ernst & Young, and a management
analyst with the North Carolina Department of Transportation. He holds a
Master’s Degree in Transportation Planning from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. Paul is located in our Gaithersburg, MD,
Mercury's corporate headquarters.
Click here to contact
Paul Lauria by e-mail -
plauria@mercury-assoc.com
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Randy Owen, CAFM
Senior Vice President
Randy has 17 years of experience as a fleet manager and fleet management
consultant. Located in our Charlotte, NC office, he is a nationally
recognized expert in public-sector fleet management best practices and
in fleet management outsourcing and managed competition. His areas of
expertise also include best practices assessments, vehicle and equipment
utilization analysis and right sizing, and performance measurement and
benchmarking. Before co-founding Mercury Associates, he was a Senior
Manager in Maximus, Inc. Prior to this, he served as the fleet manager
for the City of Charlotte and for the Los Angeles County Department of
Public Works. He is a Certified Automotive Fleet Manager ( CAFM ) and
holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the University of
California at Los Angeles
Click here to contact
Randy Owen by e-mail -
rowen@mercury-assoc.com
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Brad Kelley
Vice President
Brad has 10 years of experience in the fleet management profession. He
is the director of Mercury’s Houston, TX and Seattle, WA - based application hosting and
information technology consulting services. He has assisted a number of
prominent organizations with information technology projects including
the implementation of stand-alone and web-based fleet management
information systems; assessments of the performance and use of existing
fleet systems; the implementation of platform and network upgrades; the
conduct of fit-gap analyses of commercial off-the-shelf ERP systems
(e.g. SAP, PeopleSoft, and IFAS); and
the design and development of specialized analytical and management
reporting tools for fleet managers. Before co-founding Mercury
Associates, he was a Manager in the Maximus, Inc. Fleet Group. Prior to
this, he was Assistant Director of the Vehicle and Equipment Fleet Management Department of
Sarasota County, FL. He holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration
from Southern Illinois University.
Click here to contact
Brad Kelley by e-mail -
bkelley@mercury-assoc.com
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Steve Burnett, CMC
Associate Vice President
Steve is located in our Atlanta office. He has more
than 35 years’ experience as a management consultant. Prior to joining
the firm, Steve was the Director of public sector fleet management
consulting services for Transportation Consultants, Inc. where he was
responsible for general marketing, strategic development, and final
quality control for the public sector fleet division. In addition to his
work in the area of fleet management, he also has considerable
experience in the areas of financial and general management consulting.
He has held the positions of Partner and Executive National Director for
Government Services with Touche Ross & Co., now Deloitte & Touche, and
regional Vice President of David M. Griffith & Associates, Ltd. He hold
a Master’s Degree in Finance from the University of Tennessee and is a
Certified Management Consultant (CMC).
Click here to contact
Steve Burnett, CMC by e-mail -
sburnett@mercury-assoc.com
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Gary Hatfield
Senior Fleet Consulting Manager
Gary has over 32 year’s experience in fleet management, including 23
years directly managing large diverse fleets in Colorado and California,
and 10 years as a full time fleet consultant. Now based in Bradenton
Florida, he has directed and performed dozens of fleet studies for
cities, counties, utility companies, and universities. He has recently
taken the lead in performing several key fleet management improvement
projects for the Federal government for organizations such as NASA, the
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the General Services Administration, and
the U.S. Marine Corps. He is widely recognized as an expert on
alternative fuel vehicles. Before joining Mercury Associates, he owned
his own fleet consulting firm, Advanced Fleet Management Solutions, and
was formerly a Manager with the Fleet Consulting group of Maximus, Inc.
Gary holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University.
Click here to contact Gary by email –
ghatfield@mercury-assoc.com
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Dr. Adlore Chaudier
Senior Fleet Consulting Manager
Adlore previously held a leadership position in the
U.S. General Services Administration, overseeing the reengineering of
the Federal travel per diem program and contributing to initiation of
relocation reengineering efforts for the Office of Governmentwide
Policy. Before joining GSA, Adlore was Vice President, Government
Services, for Runzheimer International, for which he worked for 22
years, holding management positions in Consulting Services,
Publications, and Business Vehicle Services. He has extensive experience
in fleet, travel and relocation management; vehicle reimbursement and
allowance programs; site selection; and housing market research. He has
led Federal (e.g., Coast Guard, DoD, IRS, NASA, USPS), Utility (e.g.,
Gulf States Utilities, Citizens Utilities), and Corporate (e.g., AT&T,
General Motors, Porsche Cars of North America, Starbucks) consulting
projects.
Click here to contact Adlore Chaudier by e-mail -
achaudier@mercury-assoc.com
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Janis Christensen, CAFM
Senior Fleet Consulting Manager
Commercial Services
Janis has more than 25 years experience in corporate
fleet management. She directs Mercury’s consulting services to
commercial clients, focusing on evaluating full-service lease contracts
and fleet management company performance, accident management and fleet
safety programs, policy and procedure development and fleet-related
regulatory compliance. Before beginning her consulting career in 1998,
Janis worked for over 20 years at TRW in New Jersey and California,
where she managed a fleet of 1,700 vehicles. Her responsibilities
included all aspects of fleet management from acquisition through
disposal. She also directed the company’s alternative transportation and
telecommuting programs.
Since 1984, she also has served the National Association of Fleet
Administrators in a variety of national and local positions. She left
the Board of Trustees as vice president in 1998, after forming her own
consulting company. She received NAFA’s highest honor, the Distinguished
Service Award, in 1999.
Click here to contact Janis Christensen, CAFM by e-mail -
jchristensen@mercury-assoc.com
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Tony Yankovich
Fleet Consulting Manager
Tony is an experienced management consultant and
public sector manager. He specializes in program evaluations;
productivity and competitiveness assessments; fleet replacement planning
and financing strategies; maintenance facilities reviews and facilities
space needs assessments. Prior to joining Mercury Associates, he was
Senior Manager in the Fleet and Facilities Division of Eclipse, a
division of Bucher, Willis & Ratliff Corporation, and Senior Consultant
for Maximus. Before beginning his consulting career in 2000, he worked
for Kansas City/Wyandotte consolidated city/county government for twelve
years. During that time, he held several management positions in the
Public Works, Operations Services and County Clerk departments.
Click here to contact
Tony Yankovich by e-mail -
tyankovich@mercury-assoc.com
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Julie (Pearman) Blanford
Senior Travel and Relocation Manager
Before joining Mercury Associates, Julie owned her own consulting firm,
Travel & Relocation Management Solutions. Prior to that, she was Senior
Management Consultant for Runzheimer International. With more than 15
years as a consultant, she has extensive experience in travel and
relocation management; vehicle reimbursement and allowance programs;
site selection; and housing market research. Julie is unique in her
experience with and knowledge of corporate, government and military
relocation policies and practices. From July 1999 through September
2000, she worked onsite in the Defense Integrated Travel and Relocation
Solutions (DITRS) Office in Arlington, Virginia, assisting DoD in its
travel-entitlement reengineering efforts. She has led Federal (e.g.,
Coast Guard, DoD, FDIC, GSA, VA) and Corporate (e.g., AT&T, AT&T
Solutions, AEtna, Deere, DuPont, Eastman Kodak, Merck, McGraw-Hill,
Southwestern Bell Communications [SBC], and State Farm Insurance)
consulting projects.
Click here to contact Julie (Pearman) Blanford by e-mail -
jblanford@mercury-assoc.com
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Len Bammer
Senior Fleet Consultant
Len has more that 20 years’ experience as a
public-sector fleet manager, most recently as the General Superintendent
of Maintenance for the Denver Regional Transportation District, where he
managed a transit fleet maintenance organization with 480 employees and
an annual operating budget of $46 million. During his 20-year fleet
management career, he also has served as fleet manager for Jefferson
County, CO (northwest suburbs of Denver), Larimer County, and the City
of Colorado Springs. He is a past Chairman of the Board of the Rocky
Mountain Fleet Management Association. His particular areas of expertise
include maintenance operations planning and program evaluation, cost
benefit analysis, and project management. He holds a bachelor’s degree
in Business Administration from Regis University (Colorado Springs, CO).
Click here to contact Len Bammer by e-mail -
lbammer@mercury-assoc.com
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Al Lundy
Senior Fleet Consultant
Al Lundy, Senior Fleet Consultant, has over 40 years experience with Navy and Air Force fleet management programs. For the Navy, Al was responsible for developing long-range activity support plans and conducting on site management reviews. He was responsible for policy development, revision, interpretation and implementation for the U.S. Navy vehicle fleet with a replacement cost of $1.2 billion, including more than 35,402 pieces of equipment. His experience covers inventory management, cost controls and budgeting, organizational improvement, policy manual development, and risk assessment. He is credited with two extensive revisions of the Navy’s railroad manual and the Navy’s policy manual on transportation management. Al holds an MBA in Management from Golden Gate University in San Francisco.
Click here to contact Al Lundy by e-mail -
alundy@mercury-assoc.com
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Nancy Deras
Senior Fleet Consultant
Nancy has over 20 years experience as an account
management professional with U.S. Fleet Leasing (later Associates Fleet
Services, CitiCapital Fleet and GE Fleet Services). She was
responsible for managing the daily customer service needs of automotive
fleet clients and received several awards, including “Client Service
Representative of the Year” and “Keys to Success” for continuing
customer satisfaction. Other responsibilities included the hiring,
training and management of client relations representatives. At Mercury,
Nancy specializes in providing client management services for corporate
accounts.
Click here to contact Nancy Deras by e-mail -
nderas@mercury-assoc.com
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Kevin Fareri, CAFM
Senior Fleet Consultant
Kevin has over 25 years' experience in transportation and logistics in
both the public and private sectors, including fleet, traffic,
facilities, safety, inventory control, materials management, asset
management, and distribution. Prior to joining Mercury Associates, Mr.
Fareri was fleet manager for United Services Automotive Association (USAA),
which operated a fleet of 1,650 vehicles. He managed the largest private
vanpool program in Texas in addition to the fleet's in-house safety
program and maintenance facility. He also managed a nationwide private
truck fleet with deliveries to domestic and Canadian locations, and was
responsible for specifications and administration for European and
Canadian based vehicles. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Transportation
and Logistics from the University of Tennessee, and is a Certified
Automotive Fleet Manager.
Click here to contact Kevin Fareri by e-mail -
kfareri@mercury-assoc.com
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Steve Saltzgiver
Senior Fleet Consultant
Steve has over 30 years' experience in the fleet management and public
transportation industry with the City of West Jordan, Utah Transit, and,
for the last 10 years, the State of Utah. his experience also includes
vehicle equipment sales, vehicle engineering/assembly, and diesel engine
maintenance and repair. He started his professional career in a vehicle
assembly plant, became a certified vehicle operator, lube technician,
diesel mechanic apprentice; moved onto journeyman mechanic, maintenance
supervisor, fleet manager, and finally the Director of the State of Utah
vehicle fleet. This career path has given him a unique perspective on,
and appreciation for, the interconnectivity and interdependence of
positions at various levels as they relate to the overall success of a
fleet management organization. Steve holds a Master's Degree in
Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix.
Click here to contact Steve Saltzgiver by e-mail -
ssaltzgiver@mercury-assoc.com
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Key associates within our firm are:
Kathe
Carter
Associate Senior Fleet Management Consultant
Kathy recently joined Mercury Associates as a Senior Fleet Management
Consultant after retiring from the State of Michigan. During her 30-year
career there, she held management and executive positions in several
divisions of the Department of Management and Budget, including Vehicle
and Travel Services, Facilities, Mail, Logistics, Printing, and Real
Estate. As Director of Vehicle and Travel Services, she was responsible
for the management of a state-wide fleet of more than 8,000 vehicles. As
the State's Deputy Director for Management, she had responsibility for
managing annual capital and operating budgets of almost $1.2 billion, a
portfolio of capital assets worth $40 billion, bonds of $1.9 billion,
815 employees, and a wide variety of contractual services. Kathe has
completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local
Government at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University, and
holds a Master's Degree in Economics from Michigan State University.
Click here to contact Kathe Carter by e-mail -
kcarter@mercury-assoc.com
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Dayton Rumbough
Associate Senior Fleet Management Consultant
Dayton has 33 years of combined federal civil and military fleet service
that includes 20 years of middle and senior management experience. He
has directed and managed federal organizations involved in automotive
fleet and public works administration, operations and maintenance. His
background encompasses the development of strategic planning, vehicle
replacement programming, development of operating budgets, performing
quantitative/program analyses, organizational design, benchmarking,
business case analysis, developing instructional fleet training programs
and conducting fleet administrative, maintenance and operation audits
and assessments.
Click here to contact Kathe Carter by e-mail -
drumbough@mercury-assoc.com
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Dave Robertson, CAFM
Associate Senior Fleet Management Consultant
Dave has over 30 years of experience as a
professional fleet manager in the public and the private sector. He held
three fleet management positions with the City of Houston (in the Fire,
Police, and General Services departments) over a period of 16 years, and
spent 17 years in the fleet leasing industry, working primarily with
over-the-road truck fleets. One of the best-known fleet managers in the
United States, Mr. Robertson is a long-time member and the Immediate
Past President of the National Association of Fleet Administrators. He
has extensive experience as a fleet management instructor, has testified
before the US Department of Transportation and the US Department of
Energy on legislative and regulatory initiatives of national
significance to the fleet industry and fleet management profession; has
served as an expert witness in lawsuits related to vehicle maintenance
practices; and has authored articles on a variety of fleet management
topics. His particular areas of expertise include emergency vehicle
fleet management, parts management, maintenance staffing and work flow
management, maintenance facility planning, and alternative fuels. Dave
is a Certified Automotive Fleet Manager ( CAFM ) and holds a bachelor's
degree in History from Eckerd College.
Click here to contact
Dave Robertson by e-mail -
drobertson@mercury-assoc.com
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Chris Amos, CAFM
Associate Senior Fleet Management Consultant
Chris works on a part-time basis with Mercury
Associates in addition to serving as the Commissioner of Equipment
Services for the City of St. Louis, where he manages a fleet of 3,000
vehicles and pieces of equipment. He also edits fleet management and
alternative fuel articles for Automotive Digest. Chris’ previous fleet
management experience includes five years as Fleet Manager for St. Louis
County, MO and ten years as a US Army officer. He has participated in
several federal rulemaking processes, testified before the Senate Energy
Committee, taught at numerous fleet management seminars and conferences,
and served as editor of several important fleet management manuals
published by the National Association of Fleet Administrators. In 2004,
he was honored with NAFA’s Distinguished Service Award. He also was the
inaugural recipient, in 2003, of NAFA’s Excellence in Education Award,
and is a past recipient of NAFA’s Larry Goill Quality Fleet Management
Ideas Award. He is a Certified Automotive Fleet Manager ( CAFM ) and
holds a master’s degree in Information Systems Management from the
University of Southern California.
Click here to contact
Chris Amos by e-mail -
camos@mercury-assoc.com
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Tom Adams
Senior Associate Fleet and Facilities Consultant
Tom has had a varied career in the federal
government and as a management consultant. Over the past several years,
he has participated in and managed dozens of consulting engagements. He
has completed fleet management reviews, public works management
analyses, fueling studies, and developed detailed organizational
policies and procedures for various fleet management organizations
across the country. He has also developed comprehensive facilities
programs and plans for cities, counties, universities, and federal
government agencies. Prior to joining Mercury Associates, Tom was a
Senior Manager with Eclipse – a division of Bucher Willis and Ratliff
Corporation – and a Manager with the Maximus Fleet Management Consulting
Group. Before beginning his consulting career, he held a senior
management position in the Department of Defense where he implemented,
directed, and evaluated projects touching on a wide array of logistics
management disciplines, including transportation, facilities, supply,
maintenance, physical distribution, and training.
Click here to contact Tom Adams by e-mail -
tadams@mercury-assoc.com
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Todd Cromett
Associate Senior Fleet Management Consultant
Todd has 20 years of management experience in both
the private and public sectors, including 11 years as a management
analyst and FMIS system administrator in the Fleet Management Division
of the Alaska Department of Transportation’s. His areas of
responsibility at Alaska DOT&PF included oversight of the fleet
management computer systems, fleet utilization monitoring and inventory
management, annual cost charge-back rate development, and assistance in
the development of fleet utilization and management policies and
procedures for all vehicles in the State of Alaska. Todd spent 5 years
as an IT Manager and quality control specialist for two prominent
software development companies before joining Mercury Associates in
2004. He has since worked on major consulting assignments for the states
of Alaska and South Carolina, among other clients. He holds a bachelor’s
degree in Geology from the University of Iowa.
Click here to contact Todd Cromett by e-mail -
tcromett@mercury-assoc.com
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