Axel Schäfer began his career at IBM Deutschland GmbH (in the area of sales and leasing) and subsequently worked successfully for many years in sales at leading leasing companies (most recently as an authorized signatory). To complement his education, he completed a degree in financing and leasing management. In 1991 he started his own business as a consultant and trainer. With Schäfer & Partner GmbH, founded in 1992, he works in a network of consultants and trainers with different focal points (expertise, communication, psychology, coaching). In the area of his core competence leasing and fleet management, he works for clients in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

In 1992, the Nürtingen University of Applied Sciences awarded Axel Schäfer a teaching assignment (leasing and special forms of financing), which he held until 1999. He also gave guest lectures at the Stuttgart University of Cooperative Education, VWA Stuttgart and at various congresses on the subject of leasing and fleet management.

He published/specialized articles with various specialized publishers for book and press publications. From 1992 to 2012, he was author and editor of the practical handbook for fleetmanagement, in which he published for the first time a uniformly usable definition for the term fleetmanagement for germany. He is co-founder and managing director of the Bundesverband Fuhrparkmanagement e.V. (German Fleetmanagement Association). He is also co-founder and the speaker of the umbrella organization EUROPEEN FLEET AND MOBILITY MANAGEMENT FEDERATION (FMFE), which was founded in March 2018.