Safe Fleet selects senior vice president of commercial vehicles for North America

Safe Fleet, based in Belton, Missouri, has selected Steve Kiefer as its senior vice president of commercial vehicle for North America. Kiefer replaces Brad Templeman, who is retiring at the end of the year.

Based in Safe Fleet's Elmhurst, Illinois, office, Kiefer will assume responsibility for the commercial vehicle product portfolio and market share growth for its last-mile delivery, commercial upfitting and video-based safety solutions.

“I am excited to join the Safe Fleet Commercial Vehicle team,” Kiefer says. “I look forward to growing awareness for Safe Fleet’s market-leading brands and innovative safety solutions that help keep commercial vehicle operators safe and productive.”

Kiefer joins Safe Fleet from Manitex, a $250 million publicly traded manufacturer of truck-mounted cranes and specialized lifting equipment, where he most recently served as their president and chief operating officer. In this role, he was responsible for successful top-line and earnings before interest taxation and amortization growth across Manitex’s brands in the U.S., Europe and South America.

Before joining Manitex, Kiefer was the business development, sales and marketing vice president at the Pettibone Group, a division of The Heico Cos., where he was responsible for driving global sales growth and implementing channel development strategies. He also served as the president of Intellitec Products, a provider of energy management, electronics, lighting and controls solutions in various markets, including the truck and trailer market.

“We are pleased to have Steve on board,” Safe Fleet President Michael Schulte says. “With his broad experience developing and executing market growth strategies, engineering and new product development, Steve is a great asset to further strengthen our position as the leading supplier of safety and productivity solutions for the commercial vehicle market.”