Wheels, Inc., was selected by International Data Group’s CIO as a recipient of the 2017 CIO 100. This prestigious award recognizes 100 organizations around the world that have distinguished themselves by creating business value through the effective and innovative use of IT.
Wheels was honored for its inventive software-as-a service-solution that supports its industry-first Reimbursement program. By applying advanced concepts to existing Wheels technology, the company created a new offering that allows drivers to use personal vehicles instead of company-provided vehicles, while still accessing appropriate services utilized by their organization’s fleet of leased vehicles.
I’m writing from Las Vegas, where I just attended my first AFLA Board Meeting (I'm here because I’m Chair of the AFLA Communications Committee). It’s no big surprise that an organization as wonderful as AFLA is led by a great group of people, but I am thankful for the opportunity to get to know them all a little better.
Speaking of AFLA, their September conference - at the beautiful M Resort and Spa Casino in Las Vegas - isn’t really so far off anymore. Early bird pricing ends on June 9th - have you registered yet?
The Incredible Importance of Driver Training
It’s hard to overstate the importance of safe driving, or driver training. We see dangerous, distracted driving more and more - and it’s terrifying. This week we have an excellent video interview with Kathy Rude, a Senior Driving Instructor at Driving Dynamics, and it is definitely worth watching!
Enjoy this issue, and check in at FleetManagementWeekly.com for daily updates.
Ted Roberts
President
Most of the leadership advice aimed at senior functional managers is how to build, align, energize, and guide a world-class team.
This is a challenging task in its own right, but we all know it isn’t the whole story. Leaders, even those in the C-suite, must also extend their influence upward and horizontally.
Organization theory suggests that managing upward and sideways is good for both the company and the individual leader’s career: CEOs need the insights and pushback of trusted executives to help sharpen strategy. And complex modern organizations benefit when people engage with their peers across functional and business-unit boundaries to bring a range of perspectives and drive change and innovation.
Each year, Element Fleet Management releases its Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Index, a study that looks at major cost categories affecting vehicle fleets.
The index is designed to help fleet managers and businesses understand fleet and vehicle expenses in the context of a changing economic landscape.
The TCO Index found that 2016 was a good year for fuel cost savings – with a 12 percent reduction in spend, driven by lower prices than in 2015. In addition, those savings enabled businesses to offset a 7 percent increase in net depreciation, almost entirely due to a softening resale market for vehicles other than pickups and cargo vans. In contrast, last year’s TCO Index only reported a 1 percent rise in depreciation costs.
If the sticker shock faced by car shoppers in the showroom isn’t enough to provoke a cardiac episode, a visit to the dealership’s service department might do the job.
That’s where a tire-kicking customer is likely to spot the sign announcing labor charges upward of $125 an hour, a rate typical in cities and at the low end for luxury brands.
Besides chest pains, the number might also elicit a gasp of realization: “That’s way more than I earn.”