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Sean M. Lyden

Sean M. Lyden

Sean M. Lyden is the editor of Utility Fleet Professional magazine.

Building – and Maintaining – a Strong Professional Network

| Sean M. Lyden |
A common trait I’ve seen in interviewing numerous successful fleet professionals over the years is that they’ve all learned how to cultivate a strong network. Relationship-building is a critical skill for professional success because you never know when you’ll need to call on someone to help you get out of a jam, make an important […]
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Women in Utility Fleet: Michele Davis

| Sean M. Lyden |
Michele Davis has loved cars for as long as she can remember. So, when her father bought her a 1968 Chevy Camaro for her 16th birthday, “I lost my mind,” she recalled. “I didn’t expect anything like that. I mean, I just wanted a car to drive to school, go to work, see all my […]
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Driverless Vehicles are Closer Than They Appear

| Sean M. Lyden |
You know the label on a vehicle’s sideview mirror that reads, “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear”? Perhaps something similar could be said about autonomous vehicles (AVs): They’re closer than we expect. Now, most industry experts agree that full SAE Level 5 driverless vehicles – which can drive themselves anywhere, at any speed, […]
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3 Pitfalls to Avoid When Purchasing Automotive Lifts for Your Garage

| Sean M. Lyden |
When operating heavy lifting equipment, like forklifts and cranes, there should be no one underneath the lifted load. But there is one exception to that rule: automotive lifts. “The automotive lift industry is the only one where operators are encouraged to go underneath a lifted load,” said R.W. “Bob” O’Gorman, president of the Automotive Lift […]
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Never Split the Difference

| Sean M. Lyden |
Negotiation is a significant part of your job as a fleet professional. You have to negotiate new supplier contracts, the fleet budget with senior management and job offers with top talent. So, if you haven’t read “Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It” by former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss, […]
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Fairfax Water: Overhauling Crew Truck Specs to Improve Safety and Productivity

| Sean M. Lyden |
In his classic bestseller, “Thriving on Chaos,” management expert Tom Peters put it best when he wrote, “Excellent firms don’t believe in excellence – only in constant improvement and constant change.” Perhaps the same could be said about excellent fleets, where you never ultimately arrive at a destination called “excellence.” Instead, you remain on a […]
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Recruiting for Fleet in a Tight Labor Market

| Sean M. Lyden |
Ask utility fleet professionals about their biggest challenge, and many will say that it’s recruiting – and keeping – good, young mechanics. That’s because you have to compete with OEMs, local truck centers and other types of fleets for access to a shrinking pool of highly skilled mechanics. So, how do you gain an edge […]
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What are Your Stories? Share Them.

| Sean M. Lyden |
A couple of months ago, Dale Collins, the fleet services supervisor at Fairfax Water in Virginia, emailed me about four new crew trucks he had ordered. He and his team were proud of the final product – and of the nearly three-year process they went through to get the spec right. Collins thought there might […]
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Women in Utility Fleet: Holly Giffrow-Bos

| Sean M. Lyden |
In 2006, when Holly Giffrow-Bos applied for the open fleet position at East Central Energy in Braham, Minnesota, she wasn’t exactly sure what she was getting into. “Automotive is what I knew, but I really didn’t know what fleet was all about because it’s a completely different animal than the retail automotive business,” she said. […]
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The State of Drones in the North American Utility Market

| Sean M. Lyden |
Line inspections using helicopters cost about $1,500 per mile compared to around $200 per mile with a drone. That nearly 90% reduction presents a compelling business case for utility companies to use drones, while also being able to improve safety by putting fewer lineworkers and helicopter pilots in harm’s way. But drone sales in the […]
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