LeasePlan USA Offering Consultative Aid in Response to Effects of COVID-19
Fleets driving less, extending leases, delaying orders
By Mark Boada, Executive Editor
In this exclusive interview with Fleet Management Weekly, Matt Dyer, CEO of LeasePlan USA – one of the largest fleet management companies in North America – discusses his clients’ reactions to the pandemic and how the company is helping them find solutions to the challenges they’re facing.
How much less driving are fleets doing because of COVID-19? Does it vary by the type of fleet or the nature of the drivers' job?
Although it felt like everything stopped immediately, that’s not entirely true for the majority of our clients. In fact, we only saw a 36.5% mileage decrease from our client fleets in the first two months of the pandemic. Many of our customers fall into the essential business category, so they have continued to operate their fleets albeit under new health and safety guidelines from the CDC.
Are We Set for an Increase in Distracted Driving?
By Paul Atchley, PhD, eDriving’s Brain Scientist Advisor
For Mother’s Day this year, my spouse and I drove 800 miles from Florida to see my mother who lives by herself in rural Virginia.
The twelve-hour journey reminded me of how the current crisis has affected the traffic on our roadways. Traffic was relatively light both directions and I started to wonder how these times would be reflected in crash statistics.
But on the return journey, I was reminded that there is never a good time for complacency. In South Carolina, on a daytime freeway with light traffic and sunny weather, we passed a horrific single tractor-trailer crash. In the median, full of pine trees, sat a tractor-trailer that had left the freeway, and hit a stand of pines. The cab was crushed and open to the elements. The numerous patrol vehicles and officers that surrounded the cab told a story of an investigation in progress. There was no sign of a driver or medical responders.
In that brief glance it was impossible to tell the circumstances of the crash. But I was left wondering why a tractor-trailer would end up off road on a clear freeway, light with traffic in the middle of the day. My thoughts turned to distraction and how we must remain constantly vigilant, even now.
Donlen Changes and Adapts in the Wake of the Pandemic
In the wake of COVID-19, Donlen was quick to make changes and adaptations - some of which will have lasting implications.
Lock Your Cars! Vehicle Theft Spikes in COVID-19 Pandemic
With more people than ever staying home to lessen the spread of COVID-19, their sedans, pickup trucks and SUVs are parked unattended on the streets, making them easy targets for opportunistic thieves.
The virus has created a “perfect storm: Drivers are at home and not using or checking their cars regularly. School's out, so teenagers are trying their luck. Criminals are out of work and have more time on their hands or need fast money to support a drug habit.
Salt Lake City police Detective Greg Wilking said a 22% spike in vehicle burglaries there could be from a few criminals working quickly on “car prowls.” “It’s really 10 seconds," he said. “They’re not spending a lot of time in your car. It’s a smash-and-grab-and-go,” sometimes in broad daylight.
Read the article at U.S. News.
A Call to Action: A More Sophisticated Measure of Products and Services, The Value Spectrum
By Ed Pierce, Fleet Industry Marketer
Although the economy has been growing for some time now, businesses continue to focus on savings when comparing products and services. Savings is just too limited a means of determining the potential benefit of a product or service.
A good example: cost savings persist in carrying the most weight in the procurement’s “weighted scorecard”. Worse, there is the oversimplification of costs into two buckets -- “hard” or “soft.” This effort may uncover easy-to-find “hard” cost savings while disregarding or undervaluing “soft” costs that have a detrimental effect on the business.
Value, on the other hand, is all-encompassing. It takes into account both cost reduction and revenue generation. Yes, it is inherently harder to analyze but provides a more accurate basis for decision-making by offering an entire spectrum of possible business rewards.
