Mark Cangialosi, director, fleet procurement for The Hertz Corporation, is a new member of IARA, and he sits on the association's board of directors. But IARA is not new to Hertz. Cangialosi worked with IARA and Hertz on a Second Key initiative.

The initiative involves storing a second key for a rented vehicle, and Cangialosi says the initiative has helped improve customer service and reduce costs involved when a rental customer loses the original key to the vehicle. 

Through the Second Key initiative, Hertz stores the second key of its vehicles with Jack Cooper Logistics rather than attaching two keys to a key ring provided to the customer. Andrea Amico, president of Jack Cooper Logistics, championed the key program through IARA's standards committee and introduced Cangialosi to IARA. 

"When you put two keys together, you double your chances of losing that key with one set," Cangialosi said. 

Cangialosi has come up with new initiatives in his fleet procurement role with Hertz, and he has taken initiative to move up in the remarketing industry. He started out working for the Walt Disney Co. when he was in college, managing Disneyland retail stores.  

"Over the years I’ve grown from managing Disneyland Stores to the director of fleet procurement for Hertz and being on the board of IARA – my path has been an interesting journey." 

While Cangialosi was at Disney, used car retailer CarMax entered the Los Angeles market and recruited him. He was not sure a career in used cars was for him, although he has had a strong interest in vehicles since he was a child. 

"I remember when I was 5 years old, my best friend and I would sit in front of the house and try to guess what type of vehicle was driving by, looking at the headlights or taillights," he said. "When CarMax came calling, one of the things that clicked in my head is that this has been my childhood passion. Maybe I could make a go out of it. After researching and understanding more of the company and remarketing industry, I decided to follow that passion." 

He started in CarMax's purchasing department as a buyer in training, and worked his way up to senior buyer/liaison, where he led teams of buyers who were responsible for appraising customer trade-ins, retail and wholesale pricing and buying vehicles at auction in the Los Angeles area. 

In 2013, Cangialosi accepted a position at Hertz to create and lead a used-car buying department for its rental fleets. “The position provided me an opportunity to develop processes and a team that was ultimately responsible for buying vehicles in high-volume across all 50 states,” Cangialosi said.   

Cangialosi has been involved with other unique projects at Hertz, including the development of the 50th anniversary edition of the Ford Shelby GT-H, which Shelby American designed and outfitted exclusively for Hertz’s rental fleet. Today, he manages the entire fleet procurement department and is responsible for buying all the vehicles for Hertz’s U.S. rental fleet. 

His team also manages negotiations for Hertz's Dealer Direct program. The team approves the sale of all the vehicles sold for Dealer Direct, an in-person and online program that sells off-rental vehicles. 

“Dealer Direct helps us save on the cost of selling vehicles through traditional auction channels,” he said. “We review and approve all the offers. We're responsible for buying the cars and selling a portion of them." 

Depreciation and plateauing SAAR is a top issue of concern for Cangialosi, who noted his department is working to meet the challenge of determining what vehicles will be worth at the end of their service with Hertz. Depreciation is a major component of Hertz's cost structure, he noted.

"It's just like buying vehicles for a car dealership," he said. "You make the money when you buy the car, and you set the cost of your vehicles at the time of purchase." 

Buyers can do many things over the life of the vehicle to control costs, but it all starts with the purchase price and understanding what the car should be worth a year or two down the line, he said. Looking to the future includes forecasting which equipment customers will want in two years and which equipment will continue to hold value. As an example, he noted that navigation was a strong option that added great value to vehicles several years ago. Now, connected car technology such as Bluetooth and Apple Car Play has become more important to renters and car buyers. 

“My career has been a great journey,” Cangialosi said.  “I’m excited to take on my new role with IARA and help drive the remarketing industry forward in a very unique time in the industry.”