Mercury’s management team consists of a diverse group of fleet management industry experts, many of them well known for their frequent speaking engagements and participation at industry events.
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT
Paul Lauria, President
Paul Lauria is a co-founder of Mercury Associates and the company’s President. During his 37-year consulting career, Paul has worked with a wide array of organizations in the public and private sectors touching on virtually every facet of fleet management and operation. He has conducted presentations and workshops on fleet management best practices for more than 50 organizations in 20 countries around the world; directed research studies for entities such as the RAND Corporation and the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies; and served as an expert witness on vehicle costs and vehicle safety management in more than 20 class-action lawsuits and arbitrations. He also has authored articles for a large number of transportation and fleet industry journals.
Prior to co-founding Mercury in 2002, Paul held positions as the Vice President and Director of Fleet Management Consulting Services for Maximus, Inc.; Senior Manager in the National Transportation Consulting Group of EY; and transportation analyst with the North Carolina Department of Transportation and Durham (NC) Transit. He holds a Master of Regional Planning degree in Transportation from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
SENIOR MANAGEMENT
Janis Christensen, Managing Director
Janis Christensen, CAFM is a Managing Director in Mercury with more than 35 years’ experience as a corporate fleet manager and fleet management consultant. She directs most of Mercury’s consulting projects related to the optimization of fleet leasing and management services, and also is well known for her expertise in fleet safety and risk management, DOT compliance, asset acquisition and remarketing, and fleet fuel management. Janis has conducted presentations and workshops for thousands of industry professionals for a variety of prominent industry and professional associations, has authored dozens of articles, and has written several published policies and procedures manuals. Her driver’s agreement template, designed in 1984, has helped hundreds of fleet managers implement comprehensive change in the management of employee use of company-owned vehicles.
Before joining Mercury in 2006, Janis spent eight years running her own fleet consulting firm and 15 years as a fleet manager at TRW (later acquired by Northrop Grumman), where she managed a fleet of 1,700 vehicles. She received the NAFA Fleet Management Association’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award for leadership, innovation, education and advocacy of professional fleet management, in 1999. Janis is a Certified Automotive Fleet Manager.
Tony Yankovich, Managing Director
Tony Yankovich is a Managing Director with Mercury with more than 25 years’ experience as a management analyst and consultant in the fleet management and public works professions. He works primarily with state, provincial, and local government agencies and public and private universities on fleet management resources and business process reviews. He also directs Mercury fleet facility space programming and master planning projects, having performed assignments in this area across the continental US, in Hawaii, and in Central America. Prior to joining Mercury, Tony was a senior manager in the Fleet and Facilities Division of Eclipse, a division of Bucher, Willis & Ratliff Corporation, and a senior consultant with Maximus, Inc.
Before beginning his consulting career, he worked for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, KS where he held management positions in the Public Works, Operations Services, and County Clerk departments. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Personnel Administration and Sociology from the University of Kansas.
Marc Canton, Senior Manager
Marc Canton is a Senior Manager with Mercury with 22 years of experience in transportation and fleet management. Prior to joining Mercury in 2017, he was transportation director for Fordham University, a position he held for 12 years. His experience includes technology and software implementation, the development of driver training programs, supply chain management, strategic planning, and fleet management policy development and process reengineering.
At Mercury, Marc directs our Data Analytics Team which supports all of Mercury’s market-specific and functional consulting teams with an array of standardized and ad hoc fleet data analysis services. He also directs consulting projects focused on fleet rightsizing and right typing, fleet replacement planning and alternative capital financing analysis, and fleet cost of service analysis and charge-back rate development. Marc is a National Safety Council certified defensive driving instructor, and holds an MBA in Market Management and post-MBA certificates in Advanced Analytics and Executive Leadership from Fordham University.
Ryan Daley, Senior Manager
Ryan Daley, Senior Manager, directs Mercury’s US federal government fleet management services team in addition to serving as the company’s lead subject matter expert on projects with all types of clients on telematics data-based fleet utilization profiling and rightsizing and right typing plan development, and AFV/EV suitability analysis and sustainability improvement plan development.
Prior to joining Mercury, he served as CEO of Sawatch Labs, where he spearheaded the development of an industry-leading fleet electrification suitability analysis solution and client engagement and decision-support platform, working with such clients as the states of Colorado and Utah and the cities of Charlotte; Columbus, OH; and San Diego. Prior to founding Sawatch Labs, Ryan managed the Sustainable Federal Fleets program at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He holds a master’s degree in Geography and Political Science from UCLA.
Ralph Filicko, Senior Manager
Ralph Filicko is a Senior Manager with Mercury who specializes in the evaluation, development, implementation, and administration of fleet management information technology, including asset management, motor pool management, fuel management, and telematics solutions. He has worked with many of the best-known commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) ERP, EAM, and fleet-specific applications on the market today. He also oversees Mercury’s private cloud-based fleet management application hosting services, which have been utilized by such prominent organizations as Cox Enterprises, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, General Motors, Primoris Services Corporation, and State Farm and dozens of other companies, cities, and counties since 2003.
Prior to joining Mercury, Ralph was a senior project manager and implementation specialist for CCG Systems, Inc., providers of the FASTER fleet management information system, where he performed system implementation projects for more than 35 clients. During his 20-year US Army career, Ralph managed service and support operations for military base trade schools and field operations. He holds an associate’s degree in Accounting from Thomas Nelson Community College (Hampton, VA).
MANAGEMENT & SENIOR ASSOCIATES
Maria Neve, Manager
Maria Neve is a Manager with Mercury Associates where she works on our corporate fleet management services team, advising clients in such areas as the renegotiation and rebidding of full-service lease contracts, executive recruitments, and fleet management policy and procedure development.
Prior to joining Mercury in 2019, she spent 20 years working with fleet management companies and OEMs in various operations management and business development roles. Most recently, she was the Government Sales Manager with Merchants Fleet where her role focused on positioning the company as a leading fleet management services provider to federal, state, and local governments across the US. Prior to her time at Merchants, Maria held positions with Admiral Leasing and Donlen. She began her career in the alternative fuels and transportation safety sectors as a marketing and policy consultant for automobile manufacturers and the US Department of Energy. Maria currently is the Secretary/Treasurer of the NAFA Fleet Management Association Board of Directors and helps lead the association’s government affairs efforts on Capitol Hill. She holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from The George Washington University.
Barry Shpil, Manager
Barry Shpil, CFFM is a Manager with Mercury, assigned to our US federal government services team. He has over 33 years’ experience in the federal sector where he’s held positions as Transportation Specialist/Director with the US Navy Civil Service and Senior Fleet Manager, Fleet Policy Officer, and General Services Management Office Director with the US Department of State. He has been an active member of the Federal Fleet Policy Committee, which he chaired for three years; the Federal Motor Vehicle Executive Steering Committee; the Federal Interagency Committee on Alternative Fuels and Low Emission Vehicles (INTERFUEL), and several interagency working groups.
At Mercury, Barry assists federal agencies in the development of fleet management policy documents and plans, the conduct vehicle allocation methodology (VAM) studies; and with federal fleet statutory and regulatory compliance. He also serves as a training program developer and instructor the Certified Federal Fleet Specialist, Administrator, and Manager certification program, which Mercury developed and manages in partnership the National Property Management Association. Barry holds an MBA from Golden Gate University and is a Certified Federal Fleet Manager.
Scott Rood, CAFM, Manager
Scott Rood, CAFM is a Manager with Mercury assigned to our state and local government fleet services team. He spent 22 years in the US Air Force, starting as a mechanic and retiring as the fleet maintenance manager for Holman AFB where he managed a work force of civilian and military personnel, including 90 maintenance technicians, and a $35 million annual operating budget. He subsequently held fleet management positions with the State of Washington State Motor Pool, overseeing the maintenance of approximately 1,500 vehicles statewide; Clark County, WA Utilities; and Clark County, WA Public Works Department. Scott has served as the President of the Public Fleet Manager’s Association, and as Chairman of the Fleet Committee and member of the Board of Directors of the Washington State Chapter of the American Public Works Association. He holds several ASE maintenance technician certifications and an MBA from Saint Martin’s University (Lacey, WA). He is a Certified Automotive Fleet Manager.
Bannu Hurtig, PE, Manager
Bannu Hurtig, PE is a Manager with Mercury, who provides expertise in key aspects of fleet management, fleet-related information technology, and outsourced fleet management services to both public and private-sector organizations. Immediately prior to joining Mercury, she served as the Director of Fleet Asset Management for the City of Toronto Fleet Services Division where she was responsible for vehicle acquisition, maintenance and repair and special projects such as Green Fleet, telematics, and outsourcing maintenance and repair for light-duty vehicles for a 5,000-unit fleet.
Prior to that, Bannu spent 28 years with BCE, Inc., the preeminent information and communications technology company in Canada. While at Bell, she served as Managing Director in the company’s Vehicle Fleet Solutions (VFS) organization which managed a nationwide fleet of 13,000 vehicles used by approximately 15 different business units. The Bell fleet operation included almost 60 company garages in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, an in-house fleet M&R call center, and contracts with third-party service providers in other regions of the country. At VFS, Bannu was a key leader in the design, development, deployment, and support of enterprise fleet asset management and telematic solutions. Bannu holds a master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto, and is a licensed Professional Engineer.
Danny Brashear, Senior Consultant
Danny Brashear, Senior ConsultantDanny Brashear, CEM is a Senior Consultant at Mercury on our fleet information technologies team. He has more than 30 years’ experience in the fleet management profession, with his career being roughly evenly split between working in a local government fleet management organization and in fleet information technology solutions implementation, support, and advisor services. Immediately prior to joining Mercury, he held a business development position with E.J. Ward, Inc., working with a wide array of fleet owners to improve their in-house fleet fueling practices. Prior to this, Danny spent 12 years working as a Senior Fleet Consultant for CCG Systems, Inc., providers of the FASTER Fleet Management Information System, where he successfully installed, configured, and/or improved organizations’ use of their fleet systems to support data-driven fleet management practices.
Prior to joining CCG, Danny spent 18 years with Lee County, FL where he worked his way up the chain of command from Maintenance Technician to Shop Superintendent to the Fleet Operations Manager. During this tenure as Fleet Operations Manager, Lee County achieved recognition in 2004 as the #1 fleet in the nation by the Utility Fleet Management Magazine and Fleet Counselor Services, Inc. Danny is a Certified Equipment Manager (by the Association of Equipment Management Professionals) and a former ASE-certified master mechanic.
Steve Riggs, Senior Consultant
Steve Riggs, Senior ConsultantSteve Riggs, CAFS, recently joined Mercury as a Senior Consultant. He has almost 30 years’ experience in the fleet industry, including 21 years with the US Air Force, where he rose from apprentice maintenance technician to Fleet Manager and Transportation Superintendent at Fairchild AFB, directing a staff of 250 personnel. After retiring from the Air Force, Steve held maintenance superintendent positions with Clark County, Washington and Crawford Area Transportation Authority in Pennsylvania, and as Director of Fleet Services for the City of Spokane, WA. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Technical Management from DeVry University and is a NAFA Fleet Management Association Certified Automotive Fleet Specialist.
Diane Thomas, Business Manager
Diane Thomas serves as the Business Manager for Mercury Associates where she handles the day-to-day financial and administrative operations of the firm, manages human resources, and oversees federal contract administration.
Prior to joining Mercury, Ms. Thomas was an administrative manager at Councilor, Buchanan, & Mitchell, PC. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies with concentrations in Business, Accounting, and Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
