Enterprise Fleet Management Enters Its Next Leadership Chapter
In 2008, Brice Adamson returned to St. Louis from a 13-year stint in Europe, where he had opened Enterprise’s operations in Manchester, England, and later served as senior vice president for the UK and Ireland.
On paper, his timing wasn’t great — the economy was just entering the Great Recession, and the auto industry was in a crisis. But for Adamson and Enterprise, the timing was oddly perfect. Amidst the financial upheaval, Enterprise was in the process of integrating the acquisition of Alamo and National and expanding its airport operations.
“That’s quite honestly the reason why I came back,” Adamson said, noting the opportunity to help steer the company through a new transformative phase.
Adamson helped the company grow its rental business before taking over Enterprise Fleet Management (EFM) in 2016. At that time, the division leased around 340,000 vehicles, which grew to 500,000 vehicles by 2021. Since then, EFM has grown by more than 50%, reaching 750,000 vehicles today.
This growth, Adamson emphasized, has been entirely organic. “We haven’t been part of the consolidation in the industry,” he said. “We got there by turning non-users of fleet management into users of fleet management.”
Upon his recent retirement, Adamson reflected further on his career and the evolution of the industry as he prepares to hand over the reins to Bryan Taylor, the incoming senior vice president.
The Blueprint Reimagines Fleet Management
Adamson began his journey with Enterprise in Southern California as a management trainee in 1988. As the story goes, he initially wanted to be a stockbroker — he thought Enterprise would be a good training ground in customer service and sales — but got hooked and never looked back.
In an interview with Automotive Fleet, Adamson recounted Jack Taylor’s founding of the Executive Leasing Company in 1957 “with seven cars and one employee.”
The company later expanded into the rental market. But it wasn’t until the early 1990s that a group of stakeholders formed and launched the “Blueprint,” which shifted EFM from simply providing leased vehicles to offering comprehensive fleet management services.
The initiative entailed going after local businesses and municipalities with small- to medium-sized fleets. “Most of our customers didn’t even know what a fleet management company was,” Adamson said. “They just knew they needed help to figure it all out.”
Today, growth continues to come from client referrals, the rental car division, and other sectors of Enterprise’s mobility solutions.
EFM’s local teams and client strategy managers work closely with clients, many of whom lack dedicated fleet managers. “A lot of our clients don’t even have fleet managers,” Adamson noted. “We are their fleet managers.”
Internally, EFM’s unique structure draws talent from its rental operations. “Our employees who come over to fleet management are almost exclusively from rental,” Adamson explained. “Their professional career before they come into fleet is working in rental and managing their own fleet in rental. It’s in their DNA.”
Navigating Industry Disruption
Adamson’s tenure also coincided with significant industry changes, including the rise of connected vehicles, electrification, and artificial intelligence.
“There’s been a lot of disruption that’s occurred within the industry over even the past 10 years,” he said. “You look at the introduction of electrification and technology, some pretty incredible enhancements that 20 years prior weren’t as dynamic.”
The company, which rebranded as Enterprise Mobility in 2023, now claims to manage one of the largest private connected vehicle fleet, with 700,000 connected vehicles across its rental and fleet management operations.
Bryan Taylor Takes the Reins
Enter Bryan Taylor, who has assumed the role of senior vice president of EFM. Taylor started as an intern out of high school and followed Adamson’s path at Enterprise by getting into the trenches, managing people, and learning all facets of the business.
“Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with all our mobility lines in a variety of roles and regions, including Puerto Rico under Brice's leadership,” Taylor said.
One initiative in his first year is to embark on an internal listening tour. “I’m taking time to connect with our local leadership teams, get firsthand insights from them, and look for new opportunities to further elevate the client experience,” he said.
While the fleet space continues to evolve rapidly, Taylor said the strategy isn’t to chase new verticals or shift market focus. Instead, he sees a continuing opportunity in what’s made EFM successful so far: converting non-users into fleet management clients.
“There’s still huge upside in simply reaching the businesses that don’t even know they need us,” he said. “We’re expanding into places like Fresno, Albuquerque, and Charleston, places where small- to mid-sized fleets exist but lack dedicated fleet managers. That’s where we can make a real difference.”
In other words, maintaining and building on what Adamson fostered and grew.
“I’m beyond excited about the opportunity to work with the incredibly talented team here that Brice has assembled,” he said. “Fleet management might be the entry point, but there’s so much more that we can provide with our comprehensive options of mobility services.”
Source Article: https://www.automotive-fleet.com/10243730/enterprise-fleet-management-enters-its-next-leadership-chapter