Holman looks back at 100 years in business, while outlining plans for the century that’s still to come.

Miami Beach served as the backdrop for the Holman DRIVE24 event, which took place Nov. 12-14 as the company celebrated their 100th year in business. More than 200 fleet professionals from the U.S., Canada and Germany enjoyed the three-day conference, with presentations and interviews covering a broad range of topics including current industry trends, the electrification of the North American fleet, sustainability, and the challenges that are sure to face our industry in the coming years.

Holman’s CEO, Chris Conroy kicked off the program with a look back at the company’s humble beginnings, and an overview of where Holman is today. The Holman story began in New Jersey, back in 1924, in a small town called Merchantville. That’s where Steward Holman opened up a Ford dealership, and where he ran his new business governed by a single yet powerful philosophy: “Find one customer, treat them right, and you’ve earned the right to find another.”

Steward Holman recognized that when you prioritize people, everything else naturally falls into place, and this philosophy has been at the heart of Holman for four generations. Today, Holman is a diverse and global organization spanning sectors from upfitting and manufacturing to powertrain distribution, commercial vehicle equipment, automotive retailing and, of course, fleet management.

Holman celebrated their 100th anniversary by throwing no less than 11 parties during the 2024 calendar year. The organization currently employs almost 10,000 people worldwide, operates a number of B2B and B2C businesses, and boasts USD $10 billion in revenue.

Conroy announced that Holman’s business portfolio will be expanding in the near future. “We will be launching Holman Robotics in the third quarter of 2025,” he said. “No, we’re not going to build robots, but think finance and fleet management for autonomous mobile robots. Could be a lift device in a warehouse, could be unmanned delivery assets. We will be providing services for that, and I think many of you will likely have some interest in that as we move forward.”

A family-owned business

Next, Conroy interviewed Holman’s Chair of the Board, Mindy Holman. She is the granddaughter of Steward Holman, and currently at the helm of the global Holman organization, which includes operations in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Germany.

“I represent the third generation of our family-owned business, and it’s been a wonderful ride,” Mindy Holman told the audience. “It’s been a special year, and we’ve been really proud to be able to grow, to deliver good service, and to take care of our people and our communities for over a century.”

Holman spoke about the family’s plans for the business. “Plan A is for us to be a family-owned business for generations to come, and we hand to Plan B,” she said. “There are five of us that are from the third generation working in the business today, and we have seven from the fourth generation working in the business, as well. We’re very excited about the future.”

The fact that Holman is family-owned is a clear benefit in that the organization can pivot at will, make decisions about products and services, as well as the direction they want to take their organization, without having to worry about what shareholders will think, or the immediate impact their strategic long-term plans may have on today’s stock values.

Honouring long-time customers

Throughout the event, Holman honoured their long-time fleet customers with video presentations explaining how long some customers have been with Holman, how their relationship with Holman started in the first place, the lengths Holman has gone to deliver on their promises with each customer, and the benefits these long-time customers have enjoyed.

In addition to these video presentations, a number of Holman’s newer fleet customers were invited to the stage to take part in panel discussions and interviews where they explained the challenges their fleets were facing, and how Holman’s fleet management team stepped up to the plate with solutions that in many cases resulted in multi-million-dollar savings for these companies.

One of these fleet customers was Ed Cleaver, Senior Vice-President of Procurement with First Onsite who explained how his organization issued an RFP last year with seven different fleet management companies. “Holman, and one other company were far ahead of all the others, and neck-and-neck,” he said. “Our committee decided unanimously to go with Holman.”

The decision to go with Holman, Cleaver explained, boiled down to a few key factors, “including the people at Holman, Holman’s technology platform, the expertise that Holman brings, and their thought leadership. We’ve been able to hand off a lot of work to Holman, and that’s resulted in significant efficiencies for us.”

Jamila Chillemi, Global Fleet and Transportation Manager at ExxonMobile spoke about the challenges of running a fleet that spans many countries and continents. “Our fleet is complex and diverse,” she said. “We have about 12,000 vehicles globally.”

Chillemi explained how difficult it was to keep track of assets that are scattered all over the globe, and how Holman was able to help her, and her team figure out which assets to keep, which ones to retire, and which ones to repurpose. She added: “From a savings perspective, given the scale and the volume, we’re talking millions in the reduction of our annual operating costs.”

Breakout sessions

In addition to the general program, which was presented from the main stage, Holman organized a number of of breakout sessions for smaller groups to enjoy. During one of these sessions, Mindy Hwang, VP, Technology Product Management, highlighted Holman’s continued investment in technology and how these investments will deliver new, innovative solutions for your fleet challenges.

In another session, Tom Aydelotte, Director of Strategic Services at Holman offered advice for passenger fleet benchmarking and explained how to determine the variables driving fleet operating costs. One of the questions he looked at is whether it’s more cost effective to provide employees with a company vehicle or to reimburse employees for the use of their personal vehicles for work. The conclusion: When you factor in annual mileage, fuel economy, tax benefits and upfront costs, the vast majority of fleets will find that a company-provided vehicle is more cost effective than a reimbursement model.

The future of fleet sustainability

One of the key issues facing fleet in 2024 and beyond is sustainability. With that thought in mind, Emily Graham, Director of Energy & Connectivity at Holman spoke about Holman’s numerous sustainability solutions, explaining that while sustainability remains a key initiative for a growing number of organizations, there is no singular solution for fleet sustainability. Rather, it often requires a comprehensive, multifaceted approach comprised of several technologies, teams, and strategies.

Graham outlined a number of headwinds for EV adoption, including the availability of charging infrastructure, concerns about battery degradation, limited available of EV makes and models, the impact weather has on batteries, driver training, and the need to optimize routes for EVs.

She explained that among fleet decision makers, less than 40% report being highly prepared for EVs, which is a concern because EVs are coming, and the sooner fleets prepare for this inevitability, the better.

That said, Graham stressed that adding EVs to a fleet is not the only way to achieve sustainability goals. Her message: Don’t be afraid to add variety to your sustainability strategy, consider other alternative fuels options, remain agile, and explore other innovative ways to manage energy needs.

Finally, as we think about 2025 and beyond, Holman’s top brass offered the following view of what they’ll be focusing on for the next 100 years: “Holman promises to continue to enhance the customer experience while leveraging our industry expertise and technology to further improve the quality of service we deliver for all fleet stakeholders, and ultimately, the value we provide for our customers.”