FleetManagementWeekly
March 19, 2019

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Editor's Analysis & Top Industry News


Celebrating Fleet Excellence!

FMW extends our congratulations to the winners of NAFA’s 2019 Fleet Excellence Awards.

Excellence in Public Fleet or Mobility Management:
Mario Guzman, CAFM
, Director of Support Services, City of Palm Beach, Florida
Robert Stine, CAFM, Director – Fleet Management Department, Hillsborough County, Florida

Excellence in Corporate/Private Fleet or Mobility Management
Dave Dahn, CAFM, Corporate Fleet Program Manager, Erie Insurance Group
Jodi Weber, Americas Fleet Manager, Johnson Controls International

The winners were selected from an outstanding group of nominees.

The FLEXYs will be presented at NAFA I&E in Louisville, Kentucky, on Tuesday, April 16.
Learn more about the awards and the annual conference.

Janice Sutton
Editor in Chief


VIDEO: What’s New at NAFA I&E in Louisville? Plenty.

There are some exciting changes and improvements for this year’s NAFA I&E in Louisville, and the networking and educational opportunities will be as bountiful as ever.

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VIDEO: Loss of Industry Knowledge


 Burning Issue: Brain Drain is Leaving a Void in Fleet
 

Brain Drain is one of the most burning issues in the fleet industry today. There’s a substantial loss of industry knowledge as tenured technicians, managers and drivers retire, and recruiting their replacements is proving to be incredibly difficult.


VIDEO: Safe Driving Tips

 Safety Tip: Managing Your Speed
 

Speeding is one of the top risk factors in serious and fatal crashes. Watch this one minute safety tip from Driving Dynamics for tips on how your drivers can properly budget their time, so they are less tempted to speed.





The Fleet Spot



NAFA March 27 Webinar – Don’t Miss it!

Getting The Most Out Of Your ELD Data: Halliburton’s Story
(Sponsored by MiX Telematics)
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 PM EST
Date: Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Thanks to the ELD Mandate, virtually every U.S. trucking fleet now has the means to track myriad levels of data, ranging from driver behavior to driver hours of service to vehicle location. Yet most fleets are using only a portion of that data – hours of service, to ensure compliance with FMCSA rules.

In this session, oilfield services leader Halliburton will describe how its fleet operations team is leveraging data collected from its ELDs to impact not only compliance but also safety and efficiency – ensuring a positive ROI on their ELD investment.

NAFA webinars are available for FREE for all NAFA Members and $25 for non-members. Register now for the March 27 webinar!

Motus Report Sheds Light on the Cost of Vehicle Ownership in 2019

Motus released its 2019 Cost of Vehicle Ownership Trend Report, which reveals how new vehicle prices, residual values and depreciation directly impact the costs of owning and operating vehicles.

The report found that depreciation accounted for 32.9 percent of the total cost to own and operate a vehicle over the past 12 months.

“This is a slight year-over-year decrease and establishes a three-year trend of gradual decreases in the rate of depreciation, representing an eight percent improvement since 2016,” said Ken Robinson, market research analyst for Motus.

Read more to access the full report.

 

Merchants Expands Truck Sales & Engineering Group

Merchants Fleet is expanding its Truck Sales & Engineering Group in response to growing demand for vans and trucks and the specialized equipment that goes along with them.

Candice Groth, Director of Purchasing – Operations at Merchants Fleet, said, “Our goal with this team is to provide high-touch service to clients so their drivers have the right vehicles to do their jobs safely and efficiently. We also combine engineering expertise with dedicated truck sales experts, who both have strong relationships with upfitters and suppliers, to provide a smoother experience.”

READ MORE

How to be Successful in a Customer Driven World

By Laura Jozwiak, Senior Vice President of Sales and Client Relations, Wheels, Inc.

Hundreds, if not thousands of books, have been written on the critical skills needed to be successful in today’s corporate environment.

Rapid technology changes, multi-generational teams, and global competitiveness are just a few reasons why it is important to be adaptable, collaborative and organized in order to keep pace with the complex dynamics of today’s workforce. Honing these three skills can open doors – allowing you to take on new responsibilities and to grow within your organization.

READ MORE

Safety & Risk


By Art Liggio, President and CEO, Driving Dynamics

According to recent reports, the annual accident rate for fleets is currently around 20 percent and each results in an average cost in excess of $24,000. These statistics shed light on an area of opportunity to improve driver safety, which starts with adopting the proper training programs.

Researchers at leading traffic safety institutes around the world acknowledge that training can play an extremely important role in developing cultural values, beliefs, sound habits, and skills. But, that’s only if the proper instructional design methods for adult learners are incorporated into the training regimen.

Why is this important? Because properly trained fleet drivers can lower their risk of crashes using advanced driving techniques. However, gaining control of the behavioral challenges of drivers— the largest safety issue fleet operators struggle with today, still seems elusive when using outdated training methods.

READ MORE

 

In the Public Interest


A case study in optimizing vehicle utilization

By Mark Boada, Executive Editor

One of the issues uncovered in last year’s benchmark study by the National Conference of State Fleet Administrators was that many of them were uncertain as to how efficiently they were using their vehicles. And, as a webinar sponsored by the NAFA Fleet Management Association last month hinted, the problem is that it can be hard for government fleets to monitor and measure vehicle use, especially when they are highly decentralized.

The subject of the webinar was the fleet owned by the City of Stamford, Connecticut, a booming suburb of 130,000 people about an hour’s drive from New York City. Seven years ago, the fleet consisted of slightly more than 1,100 vehicles, of which 80 were sedans, all operated as the exclusive assets of more than 45 different city departments and agencies.

Today, the sedan fleet has been trimmed to 21 vehicles, all centrally managed as a pooled fleet, and happily shared by all the same users.

READ MORE

 

Fleet Spectator


By Mark Boada, Executive Editor

In what is possibly a sure sign that mobile fleet vehicle maintenance is here to stay, YourMechanic announced today that tire giant Goodyear has added the company to its distribution network for consumers and fleets.

Under the arrangement, YourMechanic technicians will inspect the tires of vehicles they service and, using Goodyear’s predictive analysis capability, determine when the tires need to be replaced and where Goodyear can replace them.

The difference between outfits like YourMechanic and brick-and-mortar service stations is that the company brings those services to the car, rather than having the driver bring the car to the service station. What mobile providers are selling is convenience, but in the fleet market, the key selling point for mobile service providers is the time, productivity and money that they save the driver and his or her employer.

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Fleet Trends & Issues


NAFA’s 2019 Institute & Expo Brings Future Insights with Keynote Presentations

NAFA’s all-new Institute & Expo (I&E), taking place April 15-17, will feature two dynamic presentations from Chris Riddell and Lukas Neckermann that will bring the future into focus for all attendees.

On Monday, April 15, Chris Riddell, an award-winning global futurist and industry-recognized keynote speaker on the future of humanity and digital, presents a glimpse into what’s ahead for us all, both behind the wheel and out in the world.

On Wednesday, April 17, mobility expert Lukas Neckermann, Managing Director at Neckermann Strategic Advisors, kicks off a full day devoted to the new frontier of transportation. The next decade promises to be one of the most innovative and tumultuous ever seen for drivers, what they drive, and if they drive at all. Every organization that relies on transportation will be affected by the paradigm shift, and the time for fleet professionals to make crucial decisions is now.

READ MORE

NTEA Showcases Life Cycle Cost Calculator at Work Truck Show

The message was Incremental, Not Abrupt Industry Change

By Mark Boada, Executive Editor

It was hard to find dramatic news at this year’s Work Truck Show put on by NTEA, the commercial truck trade association, in Indianapolis last week.

But when it comes to the four big transportation revolutions referred to as “ACES”’ – vehicles that are autonomous, connected, electric and shared – the show’s message, in more than one place, was that rather than being disrupted by these new technologies, the commercial truck industry is undergoing gradual, incremental change.

READ MORE

Top Choice of Vehicle for Millenials is the Honda Accord

The Detroit Bureau

The millennial lifestyle contributes significantly to the type of vehicle they purchase, if they buy one at all.

The most popular vehicle among drivers 22 to 37 years old is the Honda Accord, a $23,000 sedan.

These lower priced purchases come despite the fact that the average millennial makes more than $69,000 annually. However, they also carry more than $33,000 in college loan debt, which is the highest number ever.

Read the article at The Detroit Bureau.

Mandatory Interlock Devices to Prevent Drunk Driving Pursued by Congress

USA Today

With more than 10,000 drunken driving fatalities a year, some safety advocates and members of Congress are pushing legislation, such as Congresswoman Debbie Dingell’s Abbas Stop Drunk Driving Act, which could mandate interlock devices in an effort keep drunken drivers off the road.

For more than a decade, the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety has been working on technology that could result in devices that keep a car from starting based on more passive testing, such as automatically measuring the blood-alcohol of a driver as he or she breathes naturally behind the wheel, or a touch-based system that “measures blood alcohol levels by shining an infrared–light through the fingertip of the driver.”

Read the article at USA Today.

Brexit


The New York Times

The uncertainty surrounding Britain’s departure from the European Union has made it difficult for companies to plan ahead, with several automakers saying they will close their factories temporarily in Britain in order to adjust to the disruptions that could arise.

More than half of the components in cars come from the EU, delivered by trucks that could face substantial delays if they must go through customs checkpoints.

“Companies around the world are having to re-evaluate their positions,” said Peter Wells, professor at the Center for Automotive Industry Research.

Read the article at The New York Times.

 

Tesla, Well-Positioned


Forbes

A new J.D. Power analysis says not only has Tesla achieved remarkable success with its previous portfolio of vehicles, but it also is “well-positioned to exploit a significant sales opportunity with its new products and price points.”

Tesla sold an estimated 160,000 vehicles to U.S. buyers in 2018 with a sales pace approaching 250,000 annual sales in the fourth quarter. Tesla recently launched a variant of its Model 3 priced at $35,000 and has just shown the Model Y hatchback/sport-utility vehicle, so it is poised to tap into a much larger market, and J.D. Power thinks it will do well.

Read the article at Forbes.

 

Sales Training


Harvard Business Review

By recognizing the value of developing sales managers and blending the right learning methods, companies can create a winning sales management team and accelerate sales force performance.

Yet many companies don’t do enough to develop their sales managers.

There are two main reasons. First, some sales leaders think that because sales managers were once successful salespeople, they should be able to manage salespeople effectively just based on natural instinct. Second, some sales leaders believe in training managers, but find it hard to justify a formal program due to the expense.

Read the article at Harvard Business Review.








Fleet Management Resources
 
AFLA – Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association
Providing the advanced forum for corporate fleet professionals to network with industry leaders.
The CEI Group Inc.
CEI is North America’s largest provider of fully integrated fleet accident management, driver safety and risk management services.
NAFA Fleet Management Association
NAFA is the association for the diverse vehicle fleet management profession regardless of organizational type, geographic location, or fleet composition.
ACERTUS
Offering a nationwide vehicle delivery and relocation service; serving the corporate and commercial fleet industry.
Donlen
Since 1965, Donlen has been the fleet management industry’s leading provider of comprehensive, integrated financing and asset management solutions — and that spirit of innovation continues today.
PARS
PARS' mission is to provide you with high-quality service at competitive prices for all of your transportation needs.
ARI
Driven fleet professionals. Driving results.
Driving Dynamics
Driving Dynamics was established to help corporate fleet drivers develop expert, safe driving skills using proven, advanced driving techniques.
Wheels, Inc.
First in fleet for 79 years. Wheels helps you build tomorrow’s fleet today.



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