By Oswaldo Flores, Product Manager, Teletrac Navman

Over the years, sensor technology has become a stalwart ally in keeping up with the maintenance needs of a fleet, but for how far this tech has come, there will always be some parts of a vehicle that simply aren’t capable of announcing that they need attention.

Fleets have adopted different strategies to address this gap, often leaning towards either rigid scheduling or pure reactive maintenance when something goes wrong.

Instead, by utilizing electronic tracking, fleet managers can automatically track and record digital inspection reports, machine hours, mileage and even fault codes. This avoids common errors that can arise from relying on drivers and operators to record information using paper records, but it has the additional boon of providing an easy way to track large amounts of historical data.

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By Eric Bandin, Content Specialist, COOP by Ryder

The past two years have brought a lot of changes, to our society as a whole as well as within many different industries.

Aside from the supply chain issues caused by the global lockdowns and problems that people had trying to find out of stock items that they wanted or needed, there have been a large number of changes that were invisible to the average consumer.

The changes in consumer behavior and even place of deliveries changed, forcing the logistics industry to adapt once again to ensure that the trillions of dollars worth of goods sold in this country every year arrived where they needed to be.

The industry is known for both its adaptability and resilience, so while there may be major changes and challenges on the horizon, we can rest assured that the transportation industry will meet those challenges in stride.

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Hologram, a global cellular platform for Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity, unveiled its enhanced IoT Dashboard analytics, the industry’s first to provide teams both with at-a-glance views into fleet health data and device usage and the tools for taking action in real time.

In industries from transportation and logistics to healthcare and agriculture, companies have rapidly adopted IoT technology but have lacked the transparency and control required to proactively manage costs, downtime and safety issues.

In addition to metrics around device health and location information, fleet managers are presented with opportunities to reduce spend and manage total cost of ownership, directly from the Dashboard homepage.

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June 28, 2022 — The Biden administration announced $700 million in private sector commitments to build and expand the vehicle charging infrastructure needed to transition to zero-emission cars and trucks.

“Given the task before us, we need both public and private investments in charging infrastructure to scale up as quickly as possible – and deliver a clean-driving future,” said Colleen Quinn, president of eMobility Advisors and one of the coalition’s organizers. “The announcement from President Biden today demonstrates that the private sector is stepping up to do its part.”

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June 26, 2022 – GM will join a growing list of automakers focused on streamlining the EV charging process by equipping its models with ‘Plug and Charge’ capability.

Plug and Charge simplifies the process by allowing drivers to pay at a charging station using their account for a different charging network. Though it’s an important step, GM’s reach remains limited to the EVgo network.

“We want to be the company that makes the EV experience seamless and convenient for everyone, as well as take the mystery and fear factor out of EV ownership,” Hoss Hassani, GM vice president of EV Ecosystem, said in a statement.

via Autoblog

June 21, 2022 – Speeding increased during the morning and afternoon commuting hours in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic — and drivers never slowed down.

“The empty roads probably tempted pandemic-stressed drivers to put the pedal down,” says Jessica Cicchino, vice president of research at IIHS. “But information collected since the lockdowns ended and the roads filled back up suggests that risky driving has become the new normal.”

A new study from the IIHS shows that the absence of rush-hour traffic prompted drivers to step on the gas. Crash deaths rose 7 percent in 2020 despite a dramatic decrease in the number of miles Americans drove.

via IIHS

June 24, 2022 – Manufacturers make vehicles that are safer than those from 10 years ago, for sure. However, some are safer than others. At least that’s the finding of the IIHS and the government’s NHTSA

If you choose a car on this list, you can be assured you will likely survive a crash, but in many cases avoid it altogether. In a nutshell, these car models go above and beyond government-mandated safety features and manufacturer norms.

The 2022 Acura TLX shines where safety is concerned. Its safety and driver aids include lane-departure warning, forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, and Traffic Jam Assist. Adaptive cruise control and high-beam assist are standard as well.

via Kelley Blue Book

A new report from Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows that drivers are aware of the risks of driver distraction and want help staying engaged while their cars automate some tasks.

When the road safety advocacy group asked drivers about advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) such as lane centering assist (LCA), automatic lane changing, and driver monitoring, respondents said they wanted the features—but they also indicated that they wanted to remain engaged behind the wheel.

These results are in line with Consumer Reports’ own findings on the topic. When CR surveyed over 47,000 members about their vehicles’ ADAS features, they learned that drivers prefer systems that relieve stress and help them drive more safely—and that they don’t like features that interfere with the driver’s intentions.

via Consumer Reports

By Steve Bender, CEO and President of Fleet Street Remarketing and Founder of CarvantEdge

As a remarketing provider for nearly 20 years, one of the things that I’ve always hated about the car business is the fact that there often seems to be both a winner – and a loser – in every transaction.

As a guy who grew up – in essence – to be a used car dealer, this was hardly the kind of experience I wanted my customers to have.

The problem is that, as a corporate vehicle remarketer, I rarely get to see the entire vehicle buying or selling process.

That’s because in most cases we sell vehicles to auctions or dealers who then sell them to the public. The process always felt a little cold and it made me wonder —

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By Ed Pierce, Fleet Management Weekly Editor

Managing a fleet requires juggling countless expenses. From fueling to maintenance, it can be hard to monitor and minimize the various expenses required for the upkeep of an entire fleet.

But a new partnership between Car IQ and EverWash seeks to simplify at least one area of fleet management–washing the vehicles.

Car IQ offers a payment solution for vehicles and fleets. They’ve created technology to allow customers to use their vehicles to pay for services, receive and store funds without needing a credit card.

EverWash is a leader in wash marketing that offers its customers monthly unlimited car wash plans at a network of car washes.

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