New York City has joined Palmark, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport's (CILT) public authority benchmarking club, after the deputy commissioner Keith Kerman was introduced to the idea at Future Fleet Forum.

Mr Kerman, who is not only deputy commissioner but also chief fleet officer for New York City, was the keynote speaker at FFF 2016 in June and told delegates he was not only present to share New York City's experiences with them but also to learn from industry leaders and take ideas back to the New York City.

After announcing the membership of Palmark, Mr Kerman said: 'New York City (NYC) is a government committed to best practices and operational excellence.

'In 2014, NYC's Mayor de Blasio adopted Vision Zero, a comprehensive effort to reduce traffic fatalities and injuries on New York City streets. NYC is also leading wide-scale traffic safety initiatives including lowering the speed limit, improving street design and toughening enforcement. Through Vision Zero, every New Yorker is encouraged to join the public conversation on street safety and to do their part to safely share the roads.

'The city is also a national leader in fleet operations including areas of efficiency, sustainability, preparedness and safety. 

'NYC government operates the largest municipal fleet in the United States with more than 29,000 units including police (NYPD), fire (FDNY) and sanitation fleets.

'In June 2016, NYC presented at the Future Fleets Forum in the UK and met with leaders throughout the UK fleet industry.  To continue this collaboration and help share good ideas and best practices, we're pleased to become Palmark members, the Institute's public authority benchmarking club'

Chris Ruane, CILT's business development officer, welcomed the addition of New York City to the benchmarking club and said: 'Palmark enables members to demonstrate the delivery of efficient public services performance across 12 business critical areas, including fleet, work related road safety and risk management. Committed to achieving the highest compliance, safety and cost-efficient levels, our members' collective desire for continuing improvement is to be applauded'