The first-ever webinar from the recently formed Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) is to take place tomorrow, 15 July, majoring on the effects of COVID-19 on the industry.

AFP chair Paul Hollick

Open to anyone in the fleet sector, the event takes place on 9:30-11:00 am and will feature speakers including AFP deputy chair Stewart Lightbody, analysing how the virus has affected the sector, alongside a corresponding fleet manager view from Paul Brown of Stericycle.

The webinar, hosted by Julie Summerell of TR Fleet, will also include details of three new AFP committees – covering Future Roads, Risk and Compliance, and Future Mobility Steering and part of a total line-up of seven committees that include one focused on LCVs,

Paul Hollick, AFP chair, said: “We’ve already announced the members of our Electric Vehicle, Low Carbon and Alternative Fuels, and LCV committees, and the webinar seemed like an appropriate moment to reveal the composition of the next three. Some outstanding fleet professionals have agreed to take part and we are confident that these will become important industry forums.”

He explained that the webinar would be the first major event since the formation of the AFP earlier this year, as a result of the merger between the Association of Car Fleet Operators (ACFO) and the Institute of Car Fleet Management (ICFM), and, alongside the COVID-19 content, there would be discussion of how the last few months had been used to build the infrastructure of the AFP.

“Covid-19 has clearly had a dramatic and almost certainly lasting impact on the fleet sector and we will be using the event to examine its effects, how fleet managers have responded in a proactive manner, and the ways in which we see the situation playing out in the future.”

The webinar is being held using Zoom and delegates can register by contacting the new AFP Administration Centre on [email protected].

Hollick added: “The webinar has been some months in the planning and we’re really looking forward to engaging with as many fleet professionals as possible, discussing what are clearly some of the most urgent fleet issues of the moment and swapping best practice ideas on how we are all approaching them.”