Largest vehicle fleet management, leasing players in North America

With some 313 million vehicles running on streets and about 9 million of them being corporate, the United States and Canada certainly has its work cut out when it comes to managing these assets but who are the top players doing it in the region? 

For more information on fleet and mobility topics in North America, visit the region's on-demand streams of the Global Fleet Conference 2021. 

Boasting the largest fleet in North America is ARI Fleet of the Holman Enterprises group with nearly 2 million vehicles under fleet management in the region. While most of them are in the United States and Canada, the company has a joint venture with Corporación Zapata in Mexico under the name Ariza where just over 33,000 vehicles are managed. 
 
Headquartered in Mount Laurel, New Jersey (USA), the company also has offices in the UK and Germany and under the Global Fleet Services network (ARI-Orix), it has partnered up with Orix in the APAC region and Eqstra in South Africa, bringing the network fleet total to some 4 million vehicles in 37 countries. 

 "The last few years have shown a true demand for open-end leasing, the standard in North America. Our central objective is the continued adoption of this solution in Germany and the UK as an attractive financing option for fleets wanting more flexibility and transparency, ” ARI president Bob White (pictured left) told Global Fleet's sister company Fleet Europe. 

The runner-up on our list is Element Fleet Management based out of Toronto, Ontario (Canada) with 1.3 million vehicles under its belt. While most of its fleet contemplates vehicles in the United States and Canada, the company is the leader in Mexico with 70,000 vehicles in the country.  

The company provides fleet management and vehicle leasing of automobiles, light commercial vehicles (LCV) and medium to heavy duty trucks. Under the Element-Arval alliance, the group manages some 3 million vehicles in 50 countries.  
 
“While we are facing unforeseen consequences arising from the pandemic – including a strengthening Canadian dollar, OEM manufacturing delays due to microchip shortages, and robust used-vehicle pricing – our efforts over the the first quarter of the year have delivered results that tell us that we have the right strategy to create meaningful long-term value for all of our stakeholders,” Element Fleet Management President and CEO Jay Forbes (pictured right) said  in the company's 1Q21 earnings release.

In 2021, the company is also turning its attention to environmental and social governance, bringing its clients a diverse supplier network and leading the industry on the electrification of fleets, accordig to the executive. 

Based in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), Enterprise Fleet Management follows with more than 630,000 vehicles under management in the United States and Canada. By way of its 50 fully staffed offices throughout the region, it serves companies, government agencies and organizations with medium-sized fleets with fleet management and vehicle leasing. 

Under parent company Enterprise Holdings, the combined businesses under the group - which include car rental and carsharing services, truck rental, corporate fleet management, retail car sales and a vehicle-subscription service – operates nearly 1.7 million vehicles worldwide.  
 
"Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Enterprise Fleet Management portfolio has grown, and it is bigger today than it was pre-pandemic. The forecast for 2021 is positive as its forward-order volume remains robust," Enterprise Fleet Management executive vice president Brice Adamson (pictured left) said on his Linkedin page. 

Coming in at No. 4 on our list is Wheels Inc. based out of Des Plaines, Illinois (USA) which manages nearly 350,000 vehicles in North America. It is part of the ALD Automotive-Wheels alliance which manages a total of 2.73 million vehicles in 59 countries. 

“Our principal strategic development objective for 2021 is helping our clients stay ahead of key mobility trends, focusing on connected, electric (sustainability) and shared vehicles in the near-term and laying the groundwork for autonomous vehicles in the long term," CEO Daniel Frank (pictured right) says on the company's website. 

Wrapping up the top five is Donlen fleet management of Hertz Global Holdings based out of Bannockburn, Illinois (USA). It manages just over 300,000 vehicles in North America but when combined with Athlon and other small partners under the Athlon-Donlen alliance, the group manages 750,000 vehicles in 24 countries. 

“In 2021, Donlen is embarking on a new path as a standalone fleet management company...Our focus will be on continuing to innovate to deliver actionable insights and solutions for our client partners to help them achieve their business goals," says Donlen CEO Tom Callahan (pictured left) who spoke at the 2021 Global Fleet Conference. 

Donlen understands how important it is to provide its customers with the tools and resources it needs to manage its fleet operations and the Donlen team strives to continually identify strategic growth opportunities for the organization and its customers, according to the executive.

Largest Fleet Management Companies in North America 

Although government makes up a large part of fleets in North America, there is a significant number of large corporate fleets in the region. Among the biggest ones are AT&T, UPS, Fedex Corp, Charter Communication, Verizon, Pepsico, Johnson Controls, Republic Services, AutoZone Inc, Waste Management Inc, and Coca Cola.