By Tod Trousdell, Marketing Consultant
May 29, 2024
At Fleet Management Weekly, we’re obviously great admirers of fleet professionals – especially hard-working, dedicated leaders like Matt Craig, Fleet Director at Helios Fleet Solutions. Matt shares his thoughts with us about the current state of the fleet industry and also tells us a little bit about his family and home life.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing fleet in 2024?
Inconsistency. The continuing effects of high interest rates, supply chain issues, and rising costs of services and goods are making it difficult for fleets to maintain consistency in vehicle life cycles and budgets. Fleets are spending more money keeping older vehicles in service while trying to manage or maintain downtime and expectations on keeping vehicles running with reduced fleet budgets.
What are the biggest challenges facing your fleet at Helios?
Project management and onboarding new partnerships. Helios Fleet is currently in the process of off-boarding older fleet relationships and onboarding new partners. This includes working with an FMC to create and launch maintenance, registration, and toll programs. We are also working on a telematics retrofit of our fleet so that all our business lines operate on one unified platform.
We’re also deploying a unified fueling partnership to increase efficiency and oversight in the field. These are all significant projects that require a lot of work behind-the-scenes and consume the bandwidth of a fleet team.
Looking at the industry today, what excites you most about fleet?
I’m excited about AI capabilities that allow fleets to make quicker adjustments to drivers’ safety. AI can detect early signs of fatigue and unsafe driving practices and avoid potential collisions by taking corrective action, such as steering or applying the brakes. These capabilities also enhance data-driven decisions, allowing us to manage our fleet as efficiently as possible.
What about the fleet industry keeps you up at night?
The decreasing talent pool and technology outpacing the industry. The automotive industry has been in dire need of new and sustainable talent for years. It seems every maintenance and body shop has a backlog of a few weeks or even months on repairs because quality technicians are hard to find and harder to retain, creating a significant deficit in the availability of skilled workers.
In addition to that, technological advances are currently outpacing the industry’s capacity. For example, most vehicles average between 30 and 100 or more specialized computer modules, creating even more strenuous training and skill base requirements for the already taxed talent pool. I believe we are straining an industry that already feels fragile and is still fighting to recover from a pandemic, supply chain issues, and global economic struggles.
How would you compare the industry before COVID vs. today?
Prior to COVID, vehicle and parts supply accrual were essentially a la carte. Fleets could readily procure needed resources to meet business demands. Post-COVID, procurement and accrual are significantly more challenging and create the need for contingencies for your contingencies. Vehicle planning has shifted from year-over-year to year-over-years, with companies needing to project vehicle needs from two to five years down the road due to extended vehicle lead times and manufacturing backlogs.
And now, Matt Craig answers our Lightning Round questions…
Birthplace? Jacksonville, Florida
Family? Wife Lauren, married for 15 years; kids Anna Grace (13), Caleb (12) and Luke (10).
Years in fleet? 18 years
Favorite food? Cedar plank salmon with grilled vegetables – especially if I cook it.
Favorite musician and why? Andy Mineo – He talks about his own real-life struggles, and I identify with him in many of those areas. He’s, at times, profound and humorous! I find myself both in deep thought and laughing at some of his songs.
Favorite color? Blue
Favorite pastime? Smoking BBQ – I need a pastime that allows me to focus on creating things, like really good food. I love how the quiet, outdoor time involved with grilling allows me to think, play with my kids, and fellowship with family and friends.
Favorite movie? ‘Lord Of the Rings’ series
Passion? Being a good husband, dad, son, and friend. This is the most important thing that I can do to leave a legacy and impact my little corner of the world for good.
Superpower? Getting people to connect in different ways. Whether this is through playing board games, cooking, watching primetime boxing matches, or leading a bible study, I enjoy facilitating opportunities that allow people to get out of the everyday grind of life and connect with one another, creating the lasting relationships that we all need.
Dog or cat? Definitely a cat – Dobby
Fleet Pro Focus is a bi-weekly series compiled by Marketing Consultant Tod Trousdell of RobertsTrousdell Communications who along with his partner Kathi Roberts has been helping customers in the fleet, hospitality, sports, and technology sectors for more than 23 years. He can be reached at [email protected].
