Why RTA

Founder Story

RTA began serving fleet managers in 1979, but the company’s true beginning occurred years earlier when Ron Turley was a young father and Korean War veteran. Ron started at the bottom rung, as a driver for UPS® in 1961. Within five years, he worked his way up to become the Automotive and Building Maintenance Manager in the brand new Georgia District. While there, he ran the best-performing district throughout the entire company. They had the fewest road calls and lowest cost of all UPS fleet management districts in the U.S.

Fast forward to 1973. After several promotions and reassignments, Ron was given responsibility for the maintenance of all UPS vehicles in the U.S., Canada, and Germany – more than 48,000 in all. In the next five years, Ron would help UPS save $100 million in shop operating costs, allowing UPS mechanics to take care of nearly 80 percent more vehicles per man-hour than they had been doing up to that point. He instituted time standards and innovative cost-saving measures throughout the company’s maintenance operations until 1978.

At this point, RTA’s story begins, quite by accident. Ron left UPS and moved his family back to Phoenix. He received numerous requests from fleet managers needing help to improve their operations. As Ron’s popularity grew, he began to regularly deliver seminars around the country, in addition to his consulting jobs. Ron published his first book to offer at these seminars. Managing Fleet Maintenance was published in 1979, and three other books followed: Time Management, Preventive Maintenance Inspections, and Operations and Safety. Through his books, Ron established and demonstrated how key reports help maintenance managers control costs. These reports formed the backbone of what RTA would become.