By Fleet Management Weekly Staff
July 17, 2024
Whether a fleet is buying a new EV, storing the vehicle, performing maintenance, or reconditioning services, or delivering cars to customers, it relies on an automotive logistics company to store and transport the vehicles. Many companies can transport vehicles from point A to point B, but few provide the level of white glove, customized service that ACERTUS does.
ACERTUS specializes in moving, managing, storing, and delivering vehicles to customers ranging from FMCs to dealers to OEMs. With North America’s largest carrier and driver network, ACERTUS can move vehicles from the warehouse to the driveway. The company also has title processing capabilities in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada, allowing fleets to avoid navigating complex rules and regulations for each state and jurisdiction.
Scalability and customization are the most significant factors that set ACERTUS apart from other automotive logistics companies. To learn more about ACERTUS and its one-of-a-kind, customized service, we interviewed Trent Broberg, CEO of ACERTUS. Here’s what we learned:
How did you get into this industry?
I’ve been in the logistics space for over two decades, mainly on the two-sided marketplaces of technology and freight, though I’m now in the automotive logistics space. I met Bill, the previous owner and co-founder of ACERTUS, and saw an opportunity to build a two-sided marketplace in a large market with underserved technology. I’ve been on-board for over three years, in which we’ve experienced tremendous growth.
Tell me a bit about ACERTUS. How do you help fleet managers?
ACERTUS is the largest automotive logistics platform in the fleet industry by a fair margin. We service fleets in a handful of ways 
through our product and platform. We move metal, whether long-haul moves, short-haul moves, home deliveries, or pickups. We deliver and pick up vehicles from driveways regularly. We do a lot of title and registration work, from initial registrations and renewals to the tough stuff that goes through the DMV. We service a network of 65 transportation hubs where we store and recondition fleet vehicles. We’re a fleet’s eyes and ears on the road.
You have some competitors out there. What is it that sets ACERTUS apart?
ACERTUS is differentiated in the market due to our product platform. We’re the only automotive logistics provider in the industry to move, manage, store, title register, and deliver a vehicle to your home with a white glove service and a customized approach. As retail sales grow and fleets adopt more vehicles, we can provide that unique, bespoke service that others can’t.
What are some trends you’re seeing these days?
The trend I get asked about the most is electrification. It’s pervasive not just in the consumer economy but also in the fleet world. We have electrified 80% of our transportation hubs’ level two or better vehicles. When we distribute assets to the field, pick them up for wholesale, or even just in maintenance or storage, we ensure they are charged and continually exercised as they are in our facilities.
Another trend we’ve seen is new players in the fleet space, some of which are OEMs. At the same time, there’s been a considerable consolidation of the more prominent fleet players. A few recent acquisitions have created a lot of integration challenges for some large companies. It’s a bit of stress relief for these companies when we provide technology and services that make it easier to do business.
The last trend that we see with fleets is something we saw through COVID: the inability to purchase vehicles. It was a big challenge for fleets to understand their depreciation cycles and how their service levels increased. The ability to scale up and down instead of relying on bulk or wholesale decisions is here to stay. As we continue to adapt and understand the customers’ and the fleets’ needs, this dynamic approach we started during COVID will stay relevant. One of our key differentiators is that we can provide a service level that meets the surging needs of fleets, which is different from the traditional long-term approach.
What can you tell us about the current state of EVs in the commercial sector?
EVs had an abnormal adoption curve through COVID. Many companies bought large fleets of electric vehicles without the proper infrastructure or understanding of how they should be utilized within the fleets. There were a lot of reasons and incentives to make those purchases, but now that we’re returning to a normalized market, we’re starting to see where EVs work and don’t work. Intra-city or shorter-distance hauls make sense because you can bring them back to a facility that might not need to charge every vehicle simultaneously. Building the infrastructure to charge these more considerable light- or medium-duty vehicles is a heavy investment, and many municipalities and utility companies can’t support the charging.
We’re seeing a hybrid move to understand where to deploy EVs and where they’ll work with the appropriate infrastructure. We’ve invested in our facilities to augment where the infrastructure doesn’t exist today, is delayed, or is incompatible. So that’s a big trend.
I also think we’re seeing more significant movement on light-duty vehicles now that more products are available. Both small and large fleets are integrating light-duty electric pickup trucks wherever it makes sense to do so. There are a lot of incentives from the administration or otherwise to adopt these vehicles in the fleet. But the reality is the majority of vehicles are still ICE. Infrastructure and adoption are still challenging throughout most of the population.
Will the emergence of Ford Pro, GM Envolve, and Ram Professional, do anything to accelerate commercial adoption of EVs?
They’re leveling up their adoption curves through their fleet services. They provide incentives and programs that many third parties can’t provide. They typically serve a different market than FMCs, but they serve a need. When you think about the transition, they’re not just providing EVs but an overall product. They’ve found a balance between creating incentives for themselves and incentives for customers who are buying many vehicles from them.
From our perspective, we’re looking to serve the market as a whole. As our customers and some of these OEM fleets come on-board and start providing products to what we consider a “customer of a customer,” we’re here to support them. But ultimately, I think there’s a considerable consolidation happening. Some OEMs are trying new things to get products to market.
How soon might we expect charging infrastructure similar to ICE fueling stations?
Infrastructure is always an exciting conversation with EVs. With ICE vehicles, there’s a gas infrastructure on every corner across the United States. Depending on how you utilize them, EVs typically don’t get charged up because it takes time to charge these vehicles. You won’t see a significant utility for charging stations per se. Where EVs make sense are in the fleets that return every night or on a chronic basis where they don’t run out and have to charge in the field.
You’ve got the consumer side and the fleet side. The consumer mostly charges at home. I, for instance, have an EV, and I’ve never used a charging station. Home charging is straightforward and perfect for the needs of the vehicle. So, I don’t think you need the same network density you have with ICE vehicles for EVs to succeed. About 8% of cars sold nowadays are EVs, which is increasing even with the adoption curve slowing a bit. Primarily, it’s based on the perception that there aren’t charging facilities everywhere.
It’s a simple calculation with fleets: can I make it out and back every day? You see Amazon EVs every day because they don’t need to drive over a hundred miles daily. They can come back and charge and then go out, which is the beauty of the electric vehicle. But if you need to charge in the field, that will take a long time. We’re probably five to ten years away from that.
What will happen in the EV supply chain in the years ahead?
The biggest driver of the EV supply chain will be the onshoring and nearshoring of parts and services to take advantage of administrative incentives. Additionally, as tariffs for foreign vehicles increase, we’ll see an inflection where EVs continue to grow in adoption. As EVs become more efficient, as they go farther, and as charging stations and infrastructure continue to increase, they will only grow faster.
Will they be the majority of cars sold or on the road by 2030? I don’t think there’s a chance of that, but we’ll see a continued adoption curve, especially when we start thinking about younger generations and how they look at and understand vehicles. The days of taking long car rides are less so than they used to be because it’s so easy to get another means of transportation now.
