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.”
