In 2026, the United States celebrates its 250th birthday, and at BBM, we will share our reflections throughout the year. As I have advocated and written about for years, the future of fleet is at the business strategy table. Without including fleet professionals, there is a disconnection between the boardroom and the street.
Two hundred and fifty years ago, the title “fleet manager” wasn’t used, but the role and struggles of quartermasters and wagon masters were the same.
When we picture the American Revolution, we think of heroic generals, brave soldiers, and daring skirmishes. But behind every victory were people whose names rarely made the history books. Quartermasters and wagon masters were the logistical pioneers who kept Washington’s army fed, clothed, armed, and moving.
In June 1775, just weeks after taking command of the fledgling Continental Army, General George Washington and the Continental Congress recognized a critical reality: no army could fight without organization. They established the role of quartermaster general to bring order to the chaos of supply and transport.
Washington appointed Major Thomas Mifflin as the first quartermaster general. Mifflin inherited a nearly impossible task—creating a functional supply chain for an army with no steady funding, limited staffing, and no established routes. Despite criticism and accusations of corruption that he never entirely escaped, Mifflin laid the groundwork for the system that would sustain the army.
By 1778, after the devastating winter at Valley Forge revealed deep logistical failures, Nathanael Greene took over the post. Greene brought innovation, establishing regional depots and reliable routes that ultimately allowed Washington to outmaneuver British forces. His work modernized the position, elevating logistics from a clerical function to a strategic asset.
While the quartermasters planned, it was the wagon masters who executed the plan—managing fleets of wagons, teams of horses or oxen, and supervising civilian teamsters. They were, in every sense, the fleet managers of their time.
The day-to-day reality for a wagon master was grueling: pre-dawn starts, long hours on dangerous roads, and constant pressure from senior officers made the job thankless. But without them, Washington’s “ragtag” army would have been immobilized.
The relationship with senior leaders was complex. Washington and Greene understood the importance of logistics, often defending quartermasters and wagon masters against political criticism. Washington himself wrote, “Without supplies, we cannot act; without wagons, we cannot move.”
When shortages struck, it was often the quartermaster corps that took the blame, regardless of whether the real problem was chronic underfunding or political infighting.
If any of this sounds familiar, you are definitely part of the fleet community. The daily struggles mirrored those of fleet professionals today—and even included the challenge of recruiting younger generations. Nathanael Greene stressed in one of his letters that the business of enlisting wagon masters must be pursued persistently and with urgency.
In 2026, let’s work together, continue to embrace the community, and inspire applicants for the opportunities that exist in fleet.
Wagon masters wanted!
