By Ed Pierce, Editor, Fleet Management Weekly

As 2025 unfolds, fleet managers in North America navigate a changing landscape influenced by rising costs, the push for electrification, digital advancements, and the instability of trade.

Decision-makers in the U.S. and Canada need to consider regulatory hurdles, increases in private funding, and evolving digital tools to remain competitive.

Trade policies remain a major source of disruption. Recent U.S. actions have led to significant tariffs, affecting everything from heavy trucks to auto parts, reaching as high as 50%.

Fleet managers in North America are pressured to change quickly. To stay competitive, they need to be good at figuring TCO, protect themselves from tariff risks, come up with a step-by-step plan for introducing EVs, and other crucial elements.

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By eDriving

For fleet managers, safety isn’t just another compliance box to check — it’s the heartbeat of an effective, sustainable operation. Every collision avoided represents a person returning home safely, a vehicle kept on the road, as well as cost-savings.

Yet, despite the critical importance of safety, many organizations struggle with where to begin or how to sustain meaningful improvement.

That’s where eDriving’s new white paper, The Road to Driver Safety: Getting Started, comes in. This practical guide offers a clear framework for creating a crash-free culture and supporting drivers at every stage of their journey.

Whether you’re just beginning to explore safety initiatives or looking to strengthen an established program, this guide offers practical tools to move forward with confidence.

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By Matthew Wiedmeyer, CTP, Director of Fleet Operations and Maintenance, Fleet Advantage

Organizations with heavy duty transportation fleets focused on CSA performance and regulatory compliance know that in order to improve their safety inspection and incident violation measures, it’s important to focus on a better B.L.T.

No, we’re not talking about making a better sandwich – this is all about Brakes, Lights, and Tires.

Advanced data and analytics continue to modernize truck equipment renewal by providing unprecedented insight into vehicle utilization, performance, and health.

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Retail giant Amazon is testing a small fleet of Chevy BrightDrop electric delivery vans to determine whether they’re suitable for its large-scale delivery operations.

“We’re committed to having 100,000 electric delivery vehicles on the road by 2030, and we regularly test various vehicle options – including a small number of Chevrolet BrightDrops in our fleet,” Amazon spokesman Steve Kelly told Bloomberg.

The exclusivity deal between Amazon and Rivian has wound down. That means Amazon can use any electric van, and any company can buy a Rivian EDV.

via GM Authority

Impairment detection is one of several vehicle features addressing risky driver behavior that Insurance Institute for Highway Safety plans to add to the criteria for its Top Safety Pick+ award in the coming years.

Intelligent speed assistance (ISA) will be the first risky-behavior technology to be added to the Top Safety Pick+ criteria. The first IIHS ratings for ISA systems will be issued in 2027 and incorporated into the award after that.

Risky driver behavior continues to offset features such as airbags and more protective vehicle structures. Automakers can expect multiple features to be added to IIHS award criteria by 2030 or sooner.

via IIHS

Auto loan delinquencies are spiraling, the nation now owes a staggering $1.66 trillion in auto loans, and some figures show scary similarities to the period right before the 2008 financial crash.

One of the reasons owners are struggling is the high cost of monthly car payments. The typical monthly payment is $745 and 20 percent of buyers are saddled with monthly bills of at least $1,000. Things could get worse quickly because the $7,500 EV tax credit is due to disappear imminently.

And this time it’s not just subprime borrowers who are feeling the heat. Car buyers with above-average credit scores are twice as likely to fall behind on payments as they were before the pandemic.

via CarScoops

Electric vehicle sales grew by 25% worldwide through August 2025, marking one of the strongest adoption years yet.

According to the IEA, more than 17 million EVs were sold globally in 2024. China and Europe continue to fuel this momentum thanks to affordable EV options, strong government incentives, and tougher emissions regulations.

But the North American picture tells a different story. Year-to-date growth in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico has been just 6%, a fraction of the global pace.

via Autoblog

By Teri Ross, Vice President, Sales and Client Relations, PARS

Fleet vehicle relocation in 2025 looks very different from what it did even five years ago. Rising costs, larger and more geographically dispersed fleets, stricter compliance requirements, and elevated customer expectations have reshaped what it takes to move vehicles effectively.

For fleet managers, relocation is no longer a routine function—it is a strategic process that impacts cost control, driver productivity, compliance standing, and ultimately, organizational performance.

For more than 25 years, PARS has adapted to this evolving environment by aligning its services with fleet managers’ needs—cost control, downtime reduction, safety assurance, compliance management, and data-driven insights.

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By Tod Trousdell, Fleet Marketing Consultant

Looking to gain insight into one of fleet’s biggest FMCs – as well as some of the biggest issues facing the fleet industry today, I sat down with Matt Dyer, CEO of fleet management company Merchants Fleet.

Today’s fleet management landscape looks much different than it did a short decade ago – a time when nearly a dozen medium to large FMCs competed for business from the same fleets.

“What we hear more and more is how important it is for Merchants…to truly understand the specifics of our client’s business and industry. So, the choice of FMC shouldn’t just be about scale – it should be about the ability to build a true partnership…”

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By Maureen Gillespie, Vice President of Sales at Inspiration Mobility Group

Sometimes the stars align to create a moment too powerful to ignore. Astronomers call it a Supermoon: a phenomenon that’s brighter, bigger, and closer than usual.

Fleet managers are experiencing their own version right now: a rare overlap of federal tax credits, state incentives, and favorable market conditions that make electrification not only sustainable but financially irresistible.

This fall represents a rare alignment of incentives, market economics, and regulatory momentum – a September Supermoon of Savings that won’t appear again anytime soon. Fleets have a narrow launch window to capture these incentives.

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