Last week, Fleet Management Weekly’s Ted Roberts had the pleasure of interviewing the ebullient Mike Pitcher, immediate past president of LeasePlan USA. Our first video clip from that interview appears this week.
Highly respected within the industry, Pitcher is the embodiment of a compassionate, dynamic leader and is now a sought after speaker. Also an author; his book Seven eLements of Leadership for a New Breed of Leader speaks to the tenets that form the foundation of true leadership.
Senior editor Mark Boada pens a thought-provoking article about the state of America’s driving environment. It’s not just the dismal condition of our highways that is at cause – we drivers also bear some blame.
When we ask fleet managers what their number one mission is, invariably the answer is to control costs. Identifying opportunities for cost savings is the subject of Wheels' newest White Paper: Factors That Influence Fleet Operating Costs. This excellent guide identifies the potential impact of the various factors on both overall fleet costs and on the driver.
Janice Sutton
Editor in Chief
MetroGistics, a leading provider of automotive logistics services, has hired Susan Moritz as vice president of business development. In this new position, she will be responsible for leading and growing the OEM and Mega Dealer business segments.
Moritz has more than 25 years of experience in the automotive industry, including positions with Cox Automotive, Finance Express, KAR Auction Services and ADESA.
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
Lane departure warning, a technology designed to address an often-fatal type of crash, is preventing crashes on U.S. roads, new research from IIHS shows.
A separate study shows that blind spot detection also is yielding benefits when it comes to preventing lane-change crashes.
The studies are the latest in a series by Jessica Cicchino, IIHS vice president for research, that evaluates different crash avoidance features by looking at data from police-reported crashes (see "Crashes avoided: Front crash prevention slashes police-reported rear-end crashes," Jan. 28, 2016, and "Rearview cameras reduce police-reported backing crashes," Nov. 17, 2016).
Three key appointments highlight the company’s operational transformation.
Juan Perez, senior vice president of operations at LeasePlan USA, recently announced the appointments of Elizabeth Kelly, Gerri Patton and Wanda Mills to key positions that will support a life-of-the-vehicle approach within the company.
“Our priority as an operations team is to deliver the promise. The promotion of these three incredibly talented leaders will be a big part of that,” said Perez.
Key oil and gas facilities along the Texas Gulf Coast have temporarily shut down as Harvey pounds the region with torrential rain and high winds, virtually assuring gasoline prices will rise in the storm's aftermath.
Even before the Harvey made landfall late Friday, dozens of oil and gas platforms had been evacuated, at least three refineries had closed and at least two petrochemical plants had suspended operations.
How soon they reopen depends on the severity of flooding and the resumption of power to the areas.