By Ed Pierce, Fleet Industry Marketer

Last month, I suggested that an Agile approach to marketing allowed companies to keep their promotional and branding programs focused on strategic goals while permitting adaptation that kept up with changing market conditions.

Jim Ewel, a marketing consultant specializing in Agile, stated that this process leads to marketing that is “rapid, iterative, experimental, and unafraid-to-fail.”

Starting on the Right Foot

Finding a first project to confirm Agile’s value to a company is important. The ability to improve an obvious problem or exploit a big opportunity is critical. However, look for projects with medium risk.

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Are you assessing the effectiveness of your current telematics program, or considering a telematics solution for the first time?

eDriving’s free new eBook will help you to realize even greater risk reduction from your telematics solution and sustain those reductions over time.

The quick-read eBook explains the benefits of selecting a solution that matches your needs, starting with a safety culture, identifying driver risk levels, combining multiple sources of data, incorporating driver training into your solution and benchmarking your results.

Download “Six Ways to Optimize your Telematics Safety Solution”

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By Felipe Smolka, Executive VP of Transformation for LeasePlan USA

The spread of the subscription economy

“There’s no reason you should have to buy anything… everything we purchase — from transportation, entertainment to groceries — will soon come with a monthly plan”, said Zuora’s CEO Tien Tzuo last year.

Zuora is one of many cloud-based companies that have targeted and monetized the subscription economy as a product in itself, helping companies transition their offerings into the full-length subscription model. Stanford Business reported that the subscription market has been growing at a stellar rate of 100% a year, generating billions of dollars in value to these market players.

Many of us have shifted to an experience-driven buying pattern, all but confirming that Everything-as-a-Service (EaaS, or Xaas) is well on its way to becoming the de-facto marketing strategy – no matter the industry or sector. It seems hard to believe that we own fewer things than we used to. We have been possession junkies for generations, but we have seen an ageless transformation in purchasing behavior, as consumers shift their preferences from buying products and services to buying experiences.

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Whether a business has a fleet of trucks or a few salespeople on the road, driver safety and negligent entrustment pose a multi-million dollar threat.

Negligent entrustment occurs when a dangerous article, in this case a vehicle, is entrusted to somebody who is reckless, inexperienced, or incompetent. If the entrusted individual has an accident, the injured party has the right to bring a case against the individual’s employer.

In order to find fault with the employer, all the plaintiff needs to show is:

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The Detroit News

Trump announced that E15 gasoline, a brew comprised of 15% corn-based ethanol, higher than the benchmark 10% widely sold, will be allowed year-round.

It was a measure lauded by corn farmers looking for some relief from low prices, a trade war with China and incessant rains.

“A modest uptick in ethanol demand from year-round E15 pales in comparison to risks posed to the farming sector from escalating trade tensions with Mexico,” said Josh Price, an analyst with Height Capital Markets.

Read the article at The Detroit News.

The New York Times

Ride-hailing companies see a ‘massive market opportunity’ in replacing bus and subway rides in the 4.4 trillion miles traveled by people on public transit in 175 countries in 2017.

Lyft emphasizes its capacity to supplement public transportation “by providing rides for the first and last leg of commute trips, late-night rides home and shuttle replacement rides.”

Uber, too, says it wants to solve the “first-mile, last-mile.”

Read the article at The New York Times.

Teslarati

Auto industry analysts see luxury electric vehicle-maker, Rivian’s new R1T electric pickup as an addition to commercial fleets.

It is capable of serious work in nearly any industry currently utilizing trucks for business purposes in company fleets.

“EV pickups may best be suited for commercial fleets, such as those owned by energy companies,” Michelle Krebs, executive analyst for Autotrader. “Fleets operating in clearly defined areas, such as metro Detroit, could be ideal. Short distances and a good charging infrastructure might also make EV pickups practical for construction and mining companies.”

Read the article at Teslarati.

The Verge

As Trump continues to escalate his fight against foreign-made cars, some experts think the US will move closer to another recession.

Prices of cars will go up, and sales could go down since the profit margins are already thin in the auto industry.

Some of Trump’s other trade policies have also hurt the auto industry. His tariffs on steel and aluminum cost GM and Ford about $1 billion each, and Fiat Chrysler around $500 million.

If tariffs escalate to the 25 percent cap Trump proposed, it could cost General Motors (GM) $6.3 billion, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) $4.8 billion, and Ford $3.3 billion, according to a Deutsche Bank estimate.

Read the article at The Verge.

New tools are disrupting the fleet industry to deliver a faster, easier, more intuitive payment experience to drivers

By Bernie Kavanagh, SVP and GM, Large Fleet, WEX, Inc.

As mobile payment technology continues to mature and security solutions come to the rescue of any outstanding consumer security concerns, it’s conceivable that most consumers will soon pick up their smartphones to make the majority of their purchases.

With that behavior taking shape, it’s likely that B2B payers will soon expect their B2B payments to be made as effortlessly.

This is certainly true in the fleet management industry, which is expected to undergo explosive growth and change in the next four to five years.

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A recent study of total economic costs in Europe found wide variations, in part due to differing definitions, methods and data sets.

By Andrew Boada, Editor at Large

Building a business case for new fleet safety initiatives hinges on a single piece of data: the cost of the average crash to employers. In the U.S., fleet managers have a ready-made number: as of 2015, it’s $24,057. But what about the rest of the world?

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