By FMW Editorial Staff

In October 2021, Wheels and Donlen merged to become a mobility leading provider of financing and fleet management solutions.

Now, having merged with LeasePlan USA in December 2022, the company is poised for continued success with a foundation of 180 years of fleet experience and four guiding principles.

In an interview with FMW, Shlomo Crandus, CEO, shared his thoughts about the foundation for launching the newly-expanded company.

“In the short-term, there’s not going to be a lot of disruption or change for our clients because we’re taking a measured approach towards integration,” says Crandus. “Our focus is really on coming through for clients and giving them what they’re used to, but also new capabilities that they’re going to need.”

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By Dave Bean, Editor, In the Public Interest

Like many large cities in the U.S., traffic deaths and serious injuries in NYC have spiked upward precipitously since pre-pandemic days.

It seems that as of the 2021 fiscal year, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and Sanitation Department (DSNY) combined to tally the most road accidents where payouts were mandated.

In a report entitled ‘Wreckless Spending: The Accelerating Cost of City Car Crash Settlements, it was made clear that the city fleet needs to be the standard where vehicle design meets driver behavior.

While steps have been taken in the past, recent innovation and improvements in vehicle design and technology have now been demonstrated to improve traffic safety and consequently create safer vehicle fleets.

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The J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) looks at vehicles from 2020 regarding quality, component replacement and overall appeal.

This year’s study report reveals that vehicle owners were more satisfied with their mass market vehicles than owners in the premium segment, largely driven by their frustration with new technology.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently spent some time at The White House to talk about the prospects of opening up Tesla’s Supercharger network – which is the largest and arguably most widespread and reliable DC Fast Charging network on our shores – to all electric vehicles, regardless of the brand.

We do know that the administration already promised that Tesla would be producing new Supercharger equipment to enable non-Tesla EV owners to use its network. There were also leaked details and images of a Tesla “Magic Dock” with a CCS connector for non-Tesla EVs.

If Tesla follows through with The White House’s plan, it could stand to get a sizable portion of the initial $7.5 billion the Biden administration has earmarked for the expansion of public charging infrastructure.

via InsideEVs

There are three primary factors that have shifted in the past few decades that caused headlights to appear brighter and cause more glare.

Vehicles are getting taller. Adding to that, the color of many headlights has shifted from a warmer, yellow hue to a harsher, blue-white one. And finally, most cars have at least one headlight that’s misaligned. A key issue is that, as cars are produced, there isn’t a specific entity tasked with ensuring alignment.

Adaptive driving beams automatically adjust the high beams emitted from LED car headlights in real time to avoid blinding pedestrians and other drivers. But don’t expect to see it anytime soon on American roads due to the complexity of the NHTSA’s regulations around adaptive driving beams, which differ tremendously from Europe.

via Business Insider

Hyundai and Kia have developed theft deterrent software for millions of their vehicles that lack an immobilizer and will provide it FREE of charge to vehicle owners.

The software updates the theft alarm software logic to extend the length of the alarm sound from 30 seconds to one minute and requires the key to be in the ignition switch to turn the vehicle on.

The effort is in response to a TikTok social media challenge that has spread nationwide and has resulted in at least 14 reported crashes and eight fatalities. NHTSA urges owners of these vehicles to contact Hyundai (toll-free at 800-633-5151) or Kia (toll-free at 800-333-4542) for information on the FREE update.

via NHTSA

image: Zoox

Zoox, the Amazon subsidiary that created an autonomous self-driving robotaxi, witnessed the vehicle’s inaugural voyage on public roads over the weekend, when the company’s employees were shuttled through the streets of Foster City,. California

The vehicle, which has no steering wheel or pedals, has received state approval to operate on public thoroughfares, according to Zoox. Starting this spring, the robotaxi will shuttle full-time employees between the company’s two Foster City office buildings during business hours, carrying up to four people at a time and traveling as fast as 35 mph.

via Patch

By Dave Bean, Editor, In the Public Interest

President Joe Biden announced that he’d like former environmental attorney Ann Carlson to lose the “acting” descriptor in her job title and become the official Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Carlson assumed the interim role in September 2022 after serving as that department’s Chief Counsel. Prior to joining the NHTSA, she was an award-winning law professor at UCLA, focused on the environment and climate change.

One of her more noteworthy achievements came in the form of a trailblazing Standing General Order, mandating that data generated from vehicles with automated driving systems and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) be reported to her department in a timely fashion.

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What makes EV charging so frustrating? The first major hitch is the physical state of the chargers: Often broken, glitching, or out of commission for updates.

Owner education is a concern – slower-charging EVs take up fast-charging spots. A Chevy Bolt may not be able to handle the high charging speeds of a Rivian, but the Bolt owner may not know — and may default to the charger with the biggest number on it.

These issues, plus even more relating to fees and payment processing, are hindering EV adoption. Range anxiety is one thing, but charging issues still turn prospective buyers off from going electric and are yet another factor holding up the full-scale EV transition.

via Jalopnik

It’s important to remember a key lesson about one of the core communication tools of organizations. Email was and still is problematic.

Although it is certainly efficient, email is often ineffective, and potentially damaging to building work relationships. Perhaps because it carries more weight as a “record” of a conversation, seems to leave more room for someone to read tone into your message that you didn’t intend. In those instances, email is much more likely to harm existing relationships than build connections between people.

“We have to get off email and pick up the phone, call our clients and walk down the hall and speak to our peers, because tone makes a gigantic difference in the way somebody receives information,” said Steve Stoute, the founder and CEO of UnitedMasters. “You need tone and mannerisms to build relationships.”

via strategy+business