By Ed Pierce, Fleet Management Weekly Contributing Editor

The modern fleet industry no longer operates within the confines of vehicle procurement, maintenance schedules, and fuel cards.

Today’s fleet leaders are navigating a far more complex operating environment shaped by global trade disputes, volatile energy markets, evolving EV policies, AI-driven technologies, supply chain instability, and mounting organizational expectations.

For fleet managers, the takeaway is less about predicting political outcomes and more about building flexible procurement strategies to withstand sudden cost fluctuations.

Fleet leadership is becoming more strategic and consultative, requiring stronger cross-departmental collaboration and closer alignment with enterprise goals.

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By Michael Brennan, Asset Management Consultant, on behalf of RoadFlex

Fleets use systems to capture card swipes, collect transactions and produce reports. By the time the data reaches your department, your Director of Finance may have already identified a discrepancy in the fuel cost from reporting channels.

If this happens multiple times, without anyone in your department doing anything wrong, and the reason for each transaction is obvious, a credibility gap is created.

The gap is not about the transactions themselves; the gap is about who found the information first and what that says about who is really monitoring the program.

The solution is to invest in visibility tools that allow your fleet manager to view transaction data in real-time or near real-time, so your fleet manager is the most knowledgeable individual when a fuel-related issue arises.

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By Shuie Yankelewitz, Chief Product Officer for Central Analysis Bureau at Fusable

When fleet operators add vehicles or move assets between entities, the systems designed to track fleet-level change can fall out of sync with the realities of fleet operations.

That disconnect means fleets are often unintentionally underreported, misclassified or out of compliance with their insurance coverage.

This poses risks for both insurers and operators. When a vehicle or piece of equipment isn’t properly accounted for in a policy, it can leave motor carriers exposed to denied claims, unexpected costs, or compliance issues.

As fleet managers cycle vehicles and equipment in and out of their fleets, they need to understand how these compositional changes could impact their coverage and overall risk profile.

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A new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety finds that from 2018 to 2022, advertisements emphasizing vehicle performance increased even as deaths linked to speeding and aggressive driving continued to mount.

Forty-three percent of vehicle ads aired during 2018, 2020 and 2022 highlighted speed, maneuverability, traction, stopping or power.

“Showing a stunt driver zooming around a tight turn in the rain might seem harmless, but these ads reinforce our cultural obsession with speed,” IIHS President David Harkey said. “The fine print may caution that it’s a professional driver on a closed course, but the message they convey is that you can drive this way too.”

via IIHS

The U.S Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)  announced its Click It or Ticket campaign urging Americans to buckle up ahead of Memorial Day and the summer travel season.

From May 11-31, state and local law enforcement will ramp up patrols to ensure every passenger and driver is buckled on roads across America. Unbuckled seatbelts accounted for a death in a passenger vehicle every 54 minutes in 2024.

“Buckling up only takes a second, and that second could be the difference between life or death in a crash,” said NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison.

via NHTSA

“Made in China” may be one of the most common pieces of printed literature in the world right now. While Chinese car brands aren’t available in the United States for now, the country’s parts dominate the supply chains for pretty much any brand you can think of.

There are quite a few cars that are quantifiably Chinese in the United States, even if their assembly point of origin begs to differ.

More than 60 U.S. auto suppliers are owned by Chinese companies. Things like airbags, auto glass, steering systems, suspension dampers, and more are more often than not sourced from China.

via Autoblog

General Motors has long held that a future with zero crashes is not just an aspiration: it is a mission. New research from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) confirms that GM is making measurable progress toward that goal.

The latest study examined approximately 12 million GM model year 2020-2024 vehicles and matched them to more than 700,000 police-reported crashes across 18 states.

The findings show that GM vehicles equipped with driver-assistance systems helped reduce certain crash types by as much as 86%.

via GM News

Forward Thinking Systems (FTS), a leading provider of fleet management and video telematics solutions, details expanded capabilities for government, education, and nonprofit organizations through its renewed Sourcewell purchasing contract.

Purchasing through Sourcewell allows government and public sector agencies to expedite the procurement process through a pre-negotiated cooperative purchasing agreement awarded via RFP.

“The competitive evaluation is already done, and the terms are pre-negotiated. Agencies can quickly access a connected platform with GPS tracking, AI cameras, driver coaching, field workforce management, and more.” – Gil Peters, Director of Government Sales at Forward Thinking Systems

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By Fleet Management Weekly Staff

This is a summary of Lori Olson’s insights on the strategic application of data and AI in fleet operations. Lori is Geotab’s Signature Advisor for Data-Driven Decision Making. Her thoughts were delivered at the recent NAFA I&E conference.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming one of the most valuable tools for fleet operations managers.

The real opportunity lies in combining AI’s efficiency with human judgment, empathy, and experience.

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By Bill Bishop, SVP of Sales and Marketing, FLD Remarketing

Just when you thought things might be returning to some semblance of a normal, predictable order…bam! Global conflict. $6 diesel. See-saw inflation. Unfulfilled rates cuts.

In an effort to bring a little clarity to the current situation, let’s take a look at the current state of the used wholesale vehicle market.

The wholesale used vehicle market has shown some resiliency in the first quarter this year, peaking in early to mid-March, including an 8% increase over the previous 10 weeks.

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