By Sarah Bechtold, eDriving

As winter fades and spring approaches, many fleet managers breathe a quiet sigh of relief. Snowstorms subside, daylight stretches longer, and road conditions appear more forgiving.

But beneath the surface, spring represents one of the most underestimated risk periods of the year for fleet operations. Seasonal transitions introduce subtle—but significant—changes in driver behavior, road conditions, and cognitive demand.

Fleets that fail to recalibrate their safety strategies during this period often see spikes in incidents that could have been prevented with proactive planning.

Platforms like Mentor by eDriving help fleets see seasonal risk shifts before incidents occur. By analyzing driving behaviors and trends through the FICO® Safe Driving Score, fleets can identify early warning signs.

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By Ed Pierce, Contributing Editor, Fleet Management Weekly

Artificial intelligence is quickly transitioning from a technology concept to a practical management tool for fleets.

An increasing number of AI platforms now serve as digital assistants, capable of analyzing fleet data, producing reports, detecting operational issues, and automating administrative tasks.

For fleet managers overseeing vehicle acquisition, maintenance, telematics, driver safety, and fuel management, these tools provide a new way to handle the growing complexity of modern fleet operations.

While fleet software platforms already produce extensive operational data, the latest AI solutions aim to turn that information into actionable insights and automated workflows.

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By Tod Trousdell, Fleet Marketing Consultant and Partner, RobertsTrousdell Communications

To hear the folks at NTEA – the group that organizes Work Truck Week – explain it, this year’s annual shindig was all about trucks, new product releases, and innovation – and AI if you read between the lines.

Of the more than 25 attendees and exhibitors I spoke to for this article, every one of them had solid things to say about their 2026 Work Truck Week experience.

And the mood? Positive and intense – as if the industry were beyond ready to put the craziness of the past six years behind it simply to focus on the tasks at hand: Selling vehicles; Pushing products and solutions.

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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is pushing automakers to improve their crash avoidance systems and demanding superior protection for back seat passengers in the 2026 award season.

Even with tougher rules, 63 vehicles qualify for IIHS awards so far. That is up from 48 at the same point last year. Of the winners, 45 earn a Top Safety Pick+ and 18 earn a Top Safety Pick.

“This year, we’re asking automakers to make excellent protection for back seat passengers the norm,” IIHS President David Harkey said. “For Top Safety Pick+, we’re requiring crash avoidance systems that are better at preventing pedestrian crashes as well as higher speed crashes with other vehicles.”

via Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)

A start-up called Ionna, based in North Carolina, hopes to shake things up by rapidly rolling out what’s set to become a nationwide network of 30,000 charger bays.

A critical goal is to keep its chargers running at all times, no easy task considering the industry up-time averages barely 70%. Ionna aims to deliver the dependability owners of gas vehicles expect at the pump.

“Our uptime is 99.5%” at the first 97 sites that went live,” Ionna CEO Seth Cutler reported. Just as importantly, added Cutler, when there is an issue, the company has set up methods to make sure it’s immediately identified, with technicians quickly dispatched to get the problem resolved.

via Autoblog

Commercial fleets have been adopting electric vehicles for their long-term fuel and maintenance savings, but Benore Logistics has found another big benefit to making the switch: going electric is helping the company attract younger drivers – and keep them.

Benore Logistics operates a fleet of more than 700 trucks. The company is diving headlong into decarbonizing its fleet, investing big money in new, alternative fuel trucks that are helping Benore reduce its fleet’s harmful carbon emissions, total cost of ownership (TCO), and – crucially – employee turnover.

What’s more, Benore says younger drivers are more interested in sustainability and are more comfortable interacting with the technology that’s baked into newer trucks than their older peers.

via Electrek

Gaps in the U.S. vehicle safety system make commercial vehicles riskier to both their drivers and to those they share the road with.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) plans to push manufacturers to build – and encourage fleets to demand – commercial vehicles that exceed existing safety requirements.

This year they began evaluating cargo vans and Class 3 pickups, which have a gross vehicle weight rating from 10,001 to 14,000 pounds. Occupant protection ratings for these vehicles will be released in the spring.

via IIHS

By Waqar Siddiqui, General Manager, Business Mobility Americas at Shell

Fleet managers today have access to more technology, data and analytics than ever before. AI-powered dashboards, automated alerts and integrated platforms promise clearer visibility into fuel use, vehicles and spending. Yet many fleet leaders still struggle to translate insight into real cost savings.

The challenge is rarely a lack of data. Instead, it is the gap between identifying an issue and knowing how to act on it. Fleet managers juggle multiple responsibilities — from safety and compliance to budgets and operations — leaving limited time to interpret complex data streams or fully activate every digital tool available.

As a result, better outcomes often depend not just on better platforms, but on better questions and stronger support. When fleets examine how vehicles, fuel programs and maintenance systems interact, hidden inefficiencies often surface. Combining technology with experienced human guidance helps organizations connect the dots, turn insights into action and manage costs more effectively across large, distributed operations.

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By Ed Pierce, Contributing Editor, Fleet Management Weekly

Fleet managers responsible for budgets, route planning, and vehicle use no longer need to ask whether fuel prices will rise. Instead, they need to know how high they might go and for how long the prices might stay there.

Fleets that use analytics, improve efficiency, and plan costs best navigate price swings. In a world of 20% diesel price swings, tracking and acting on fuel data is now key for fleet management.

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By Ed Pierce, Fleet Brand Acceleration

Fleet buying cycles are long, complex, and relationship driven. Marketing teams that understand how sales actually win deals can develop tools that engage decision makers and accelerate purchasing decisions.

Marketing teams that work closely with sales organizations — offering insights, tools, and educational content that support each step of the buying process — help turn prospects into long-term fleet partners.

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