November 1, 2011
BRUCE MCLEOD COMPLETES HIS CAREER IN FLEET

Subaru’s Bruce McLeod is retiring after a varied and successful career in fleet that has spanned many key functions. Functions that make the fleet business engaging, sometimes unpredictable but consistently profitable to those who grasp its challenges with satisfaction and gusto as Bruce has done for over 35 years.

CAF: How has your fleet career changed and grown since you ran the Robin Hood company fleet in 1976?

MCLEOD: I was Special Projects Internal Auditor with Robin Hood and was asked to look at the fleet as an internal auditor. We anticipated an 18-month look at the car fleet, then after 18 months I was asked to look at the truck fleet. I started to manage 168 cars in 1976. When I left in 1988, the fleet of cars, trucks, tractors, trailers, and forklifts amounted to around 700 units under management. At the same time, we expanded fleet management to include safety programs and other innovations.

CAF: You moved to PHH in June 1988 as Manager of Used Vehicle Administration.

MCLEOD: I had responsibility for used vehicle marketing centres, PHH had three; Montreal, Mississauga and Calgary, also for looking after damaged vehicles; calling on banks and insurance companies, salvage operations; write-offs and reposetions and short-term leasing.

CAF: From when you started December 1993 how has your role changed and expanded with Subaru?

MCLEOD: We built a fleet department; one of the most successful in the industry among non-big three companies in Canada. Over the years we incorporated dealer development, an umbrella program that covers many areas. We added a sign program, a brand identification program and a corporate facility image program. Those were activities that were subsequently rolled into the dealer development program.

In March 2001, I took over responsibility for the Quebec region for about a year and a half. The responsibility for Quebec continued while running fleet out of Mississauga. About mid-2002 I got involved in dealer development or market representation. We took over the national program for facility upgrades and expanded the sign program mentioned earlier but on a national basis. After that and over the following year new responsibilities came thick and fast, legal as it relates to sales, dealer contracts; more intensive market analysis and dealer responsibility as well. I was asked to start a business management operation including dealer financial statement analysis preparing composite financial reporting and benchmarking dealers. We added on to that mix a certified pre-owned component.

CAF: At what point did you expand the fleet department itself?

MCLEOD: In 2001 and 2002, when I became responsible for Quebec I had to have some help so we added staff. We changed our fleet process in 2002, and I set up a new system because I wasn’t happy with growth. I believe fleet is more about process than product; everyone makes good product today but it comes down to customer service, how you look after the customer, how you deal with them, and, how you deal with them from the end user point of view; the fleet manager, but also from the lessee point of view. We try to represent our lease partners very well.

When I was at the Willowdale dealership we did a lot of that. We did a lot of trucks and started pushing Dodge trucks and all the accessories; bed liners and toolboxes and all the other things that were supplied by Chrysler Canada and Mopar. We had a body shop and sold extended service contracts. So, I tried to bring that experience to our dealer body and make them realize it is not just putting the car over the curb, it’s service, accessories, parts, warranty, potentially body shop work, all of these different revenue streams. It also puts cars in neighbourhoods. One dealer in Orillia told us that out of one fleet delivery, he got two retail sales so the program works. It is all about servicing the customer and making the customer happy.

CAF: You witnessed a lot of change in fleet over 35 years. What are a couple of the game changers you’ve seen in the fleet industry?

MCLEOD: That’s a big question. The most obvious is change to the economy and the downsizing of the fleet management function; combining it with other functions corporately. In the ‘80s, I recall talking to clients, especially leasing companies and seeing that their clients were rationalizing, downsizing and combining functions. What I am seeing more recently and this is a bigger issue and more disturbing, is that more and more of these functions are heading south of the border. We are dealing more with fleet managers in Chicago, Atlanta, and New Jersey. More and more decisions are globalized or North Americanized and we spend more time dealing with new colleagues south of the border and travelling south to call on accounts.

We are doing more work with Subaru America jointly calling on customers North America-wide. Those are the biggest changes. Other changes I’ve seen are in technology as the product continually advances. The interesting on-going change now is beyond the hybrid to electrification. I am involved with that even though we don’t market a product. I am involved as a member of Electric Mobility Canada and researching information to give feedback to head office in Tokyo.

CAF: About technological change; you alluded to things like cell phones, personal computers, the ability to transmit data and information.

MCLEOD: The universality of the computer has been a game changer, as has the Internet in the ‘90s. You can check almost anything in 30 seconds now where you used to have to send someone out on a field trip. From our corporate, leasing company, clients, and dealers point of view, we are all impacted by technology; it makes things faster and more accurate. It also makes things more competitive.

CAF: You mentioned how the “Big Three” once dominated the fleet business. Increasingly, other players are more interested and active. What underlies this change in strategy?

MCLEOD: Yes, other players are and they are hiring professionals. Two examples: Allison Scarangella who moved into that side of the business as well as Bruce Lindsay, these are people with experience, they know the game and can be game changers for companies like BMW and Volkswagen. When I first moved to Ontario, and even in Montreal, the only players in the game were GM, Ford, Chrysler and AMC. AMC dropped out then Toyota and Nissan came in. Gradually then the numbers grew, Mazda, Subaru and others came and went.

CAF: Do you foresee more dieselization and as a member of EMC you’re optimistic about electrification?

MCLEOD: I was part of the EMC group put together to create a roadmap for the Canadian government. We’re seeing more hybrid vehicles, which will help companies that have city territories because of the extended range of gasoline engine or diesel engines, we can certainly foresee a hybrid electric diesel.

A vehicle like Volt, is more flexible because you do have the extended range of the gasoline engine, full electric up to a certain point and continue from there. It is still a small part of the market and it will probably remain a small, but growing part for the next 10 years. It will be interesting because other players like Azure Dynamics are getting involved with Ford, who is also allying with Toyota for development; and companies like Tesla are coming in with their Roadster. The R&D is heavy but the bottom line benefits everyone. We’ve had LPG since I was a fleet manager in the early ‘80s.

CAF: Do you see broad adoption of telematics, the “command and control” types of technologies that can help routing, benefit fuel economy and control some driver behaviour? Do you see increased adoption?

MCLEOD: I would hope so. Personally I won’t drive without it anymore and I take it very seriously. I don’t waste fuel because I know where I’m going, I can plot in my destination and know in advance how long it will take to get there. There is also new technology that will allow you to see the traffic ahead and detour around it rather than sit wasting time and fuel. I find that I drive more slowly; I drove back from Montreal and was doing between 100 and 105 kilmetres all the way as opposed to what I used to do or what others do which is around 120 or 125 km, because I know when I will get to my destination and there is no real rush. It makes traveling safer, less stressful and from a driver’s point of view, great.

CAF: What words of advice would you give to fleet operators to help them effectively manage the fleet?

MCLEOD: The bottom line is still the same. The fundamental is to supply a tool to do the job for your company, whether getting your sales people out, your customer service or technicians out, you need a product that is going to do that job for you. As a fleet manager you are probably under more pressure than ever to stay on budget so you need to do the job in the most cost-effective way possible.

CAF: What advice would you give or what suggestions would you have for the person who has the challenging task of filling your shoes?

MCLEOD: Customer first. Help them do their jobs. For the role that I am in right now the first priority is the customer, without them we’ve got nothing. Without them, leasing companies and dealers are not needed, and we are not needed.

CAF: Please expand on the “fleet glue” idea of customer first.

MCLEOD: We live it. I hear that from our clients. I think that the job that Scott Langlois and Lorraine Smith do here is very much appreciated in the industry. We are not the biggest and don’t have the resources that many of our competitors have but we have great attitude and customer ethic. The rest of the plan then falls into place. When I look back, my background was accounting and I started with an audit project but when I started getting involved in fleet, events, getting out to the proving grounds, and the styling studios, I really enjoyed it and there was nothing else I wanted to do after that. They started expanding the role to keep me in fleet, so I said, “hey no problem, I’m there.” There has been just a great group of people over the years whether they were clients, vendors, industry competitors, it is a terrific industry. It was terrific in 1976 and it still is today and there are even a few of us still around.

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