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NAFA's highly successful CAFM Boot Camp, which made its debut at last year's Institute & Expo in Salt Lake City, will be brought back for the 2009 I&E in New Orleans April 25-28. The Boot Camp provides training for fleet managers either involved or interested in the Certified Automotive Fleet Manager (CAFM) program. Program participants can gather valuable information, take the exams, and receive test results the very next day. This year's Boot Camp will be expanded to include those in the Certified Automotive Fleet Supervisor (CAFS) program as well.
The Boot Camp sessions are taught and moderated by members of NAFA's Certification Board and active CAFMs. Sessions review concepts in the certification curriculum in which most candidates have difficulty, and provide participants enrolled in the CAFM or CAFS program the opportunity to reinforce their existing expertise and obtain assistance for concepts that might be problematic.
"For me, the fact that the material was presented in a way that I could understand and retain was important," said 2008 Boot Camp attendee Wayne Harriman, CAFM, CMAT, Automotive Mechanic, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. "The presentations kept my interest because the instructors were nice people who made fleet management seem like a career I would be happy in."
New to the CAFM Boot Camp is the addition of the CAFS certification program, which was created at the beginning of the year. This program is open to workers within a fleet department, including technicians, assistants, and others in fleet-related positions who wish to develop and enter into a fleet management career.
The CAFS was created by dividing NAFA's CAFM designation into two tiers (upper and lower). Each tier covers four of the eight fleet management disciplines currently required to earn a CAFM. The four disciplines covered in the CAFS tier include Fleet Information Management, Maintenance Management, Professional Development, and Vehicle Fuel Management. The CAFM tier encompasses the four disciplines of the CAFS along with four additional disciplines: Asset Management, Business Management, Financial Management, and Risk Management. Successful completion of the lower-tier program earns the participant the CAFS designation. Successful completion of all eight disciplines earns the participant the CAFM designation. Participants may also choose to bypass the tier system and work only towards the CAFM designation, which is recognized as the fleet management industry's highest level of excellence.
Attendees enrolled in the CAFM or CAFS programs may take their test on Friday, April 24 and then attend Boot Camp sessions on the disciplines they haven't yet passed and retest on Wednesday, April 29, if necessary. Results of Friday's testing will be provided by Saturday morning. Candidates who pass the remainder of their exams, and thereby complete the program, have the option to participate in the graduation ceremony at the CAFM breakfast on Tuesday morning.
"The biggest benefit of the Boot Camp, for me, was the testing before and after," said David Siron, CAFM, Specialist Fleet Staff. "Not only did it prepare me for the format of the testing, it also saved me money. The instruction between the test days allowed me to better understand the concepts and the information was fresh in my mind for the test session at the end of the Boot Camp."
About NAFA Fleet Management Association
NAFA Fleet Management Association is a not-for-profit, individual membership professional society serving the needs of members who manage fleets of sedans, public safety vehicles, trucks, and buses of all types and sizes, and a wide range of military and off-road equipment for organizations across the globe. NAFA is the association for the vehicle fleet management profession. NAFA's Full and Associate Members are responsible for the specification, acquisition, maintenance, and remarketing of more than 3.5 million vehicles – including in excess of 1.1 million trucks. In fact, NAFA Members across the North American continent have more than 350,000 medium- and heavy-duty trucks in their fleets, totaling more than $21 billion in assets for medium- and heavy-duty trucks alone.
About NAFA's 2009 Institute & Expo
NAFA's 2009 Institute & Expo will be held at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center April 25-28. Global automotive industry expert, Graeme Maxton, will provide the Keynote Address. The I&E features over 60 hours of fleet training, education, and workshops; the Public Safety Roadeo and a large collection of emergency vehicles, the Green Fleet Ride-and-Drive where you can test drive various alternative fuel vehicles; the Green Zone, which contains the latest in "green" products, information, and services; and an Expo Floor with more than 150 companies showing their products and services. Future I&E locations include Detroit (2010), Charlotte (2011), St. Louis (2012), and Atlantic City (2013).
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gwien[.]nafa.org 
