A Deep Dive Into Public Fleets
Fleet Management Weekly is delighted to introduce its new monthly column: In the Public Interest. Edited by FMW senior editor Mark Boada, column authors will rotate among specialists with a wealth of government fleet knowledge. Which leads me to distinguished fleet guru Steve Saltzgiver who leads off In the Public Interest with a tutorial on The Two Best Ways Government Fleets Can Reduce Costs.
The FMW team are ardent supporters of Women in Fleet Management (WIFM) and note their upcoming webinar Chasing Perfection that promises: “You'll learn to stop chasing the illusion of perfection and eliminate the barriers to your full leadership potential." The February 26th webinar will be led by CEO, business coach and author Sue Hawkes.
Janice Sutton
Editor in Chief
Thoma Bravo Acquires and Merges Motus and Runzheimer
Craig Powell to Lead the Combined Organization to Better Serve $2 Billion Fleet Market
Thoma Bravo, a leading private equity investment firm announced an innovative deal to acquire the premier vehicle management and reimbursement platforms of Motus and Runzheimer.
The combined organization – with approximately 2,000 customers and more than 220,000 end users – is positioned to better serve the rapidly growing needs of the addressable fleet market and provide customers with significant alternatives to today’s “company car” or limited vehicle reimbursement options.
Read more of the release.
Automakers Team Up With Tech Companies
As self-driving cars become more of a reality, automakers are teaming up with new sorts of companies, many of them startups, to tell the world that they are "with it" and hip to the autonomous technology.
It's a critical opportunity for the younger, smaller companies, as the public’s perception of cars changes. They need your trust to keep your family safe in a self-driving car.
“With all the new technologies merging, you have to have partners, because you can’t be expert in everything,” Henrik Fisker says.
Read the article at Wired.
New York May Become the First City in the US With a Pay-to-Drive Plan
Under a major proposal prepared for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, driving a car into the busiest parts of Manhattan could cost $11.52, trucks would pay $25.34, and taxis and for-hire vehicles could see surcharges of $2 to $5 per ride.
Uber and ride-hail cars jam streets in Midtown and Lower Manhattan, while truck deliveries and rampant construction routinely block traffic that now crawls at an average of 4.7 miles per hour, down from 6.5 miles per hour five years ago.
“New York City traffic congestion now ranks second worst among cities in the United States and third worst among cities in the world,” a draft of the report says. If not abated, the congestion will cost the economy of the metropolitan area $100 billion over the next five years, the task force estimated.
Read the article at The New York Times.
Say Goodbye to the American Sedan
There's a good chance that in eight years, Detroit's automakers will not be producing sedans in favor of the more lucrative crossovers and SUVs
Mid-size sedans like the Chevrolet Malibu and Ford Fusion have gotten bigger, making the Taurus or Chevy Impala less necessary. A consumer who needs more space will just buy an SUV.
“You can call 2018 the death of the car,” said Mark Wakefield, head of the auto practice at consultant AlixPartners. “Just look at all the new model launches in crossovers and the dearth of launches in cars. You can see where people are putting their money.”
Read the article at Bloomberg.
