Logistics, Safety & a Birthday
Work trucks form the backbone of many fleets and properly managing these assets is vital for a healthy TCO. Some fine tips on handling logistics can be found in this new white paper from AmeriFleet: “Six Things to Look for in a Superior Work Truck Logistics Provider.”
We were intrigued by this month’s Safety & Risk column: "Are In-Car Technologies Influencing Dangerous Driving Behaviors?” Driving Dynamics’ president Art Liggio compellingly gives us his expert views on the topic.
Happy Birthday, TCOPlus! They are celebrating their first anniversary within the TÜV SÜD Auto Service Fleet Business Unit. I applaud this company. They have an offer on a GreenCube 2020 -- a tool which "allows the fleet manager to assess the business case for a future fleet strategy based around CO2 reduction, looking at a host of variables including the impact on TCO." We sustainable planet supporters love that!
Janice Sutton
Editor in Chief
The Importance of Alibaba’s New ‘Internet Car’
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba introduced its first automobile last week, the RX5 sport utility vehicle, set to be delivered to customers in August.
The company called the vehicle, made with Chinese carmaker SAIC, the first “Internet car” in a news release. It will run software developed by Alibaba’s YunOS division to connect with other smart devices, the company said. It will retail for 148,800 yuan, or $22,300.
Alibaba in its announcement said the car will use the company’s own e-commerce platform to deliver such services as finding parking spaces, locating gas stations or making restaurant reservations. Drivers will also be able to pay for services from the car using “Alipay.”
Cybersecurity: Car Theft by Hacking
By Mike Sheldrick
Now that cars have become rolling laptops — or tablets, or smartphones, take your pick — it’s becoming increasingly clear that automakers have yet to get a handle on fully protecting their products from hackers.
In the latest incident, a car thief equipped with a laptop was able to steal a Jeep Wrangler. Hacking has become the 21st century’s carjacking.
This is just the latest in a series of worrisome incidents over the last couple of years. The most unnerving might have been the incident where a couple of hackers demonstrated that they could remotely penetrate a Jeep’s control system, and drove it into a ditch — just to show that it could be done.
Art Liggio, Driving Dynamics President, to Speak on Coaching Techniques for Non-Safety Professionals at the 2016 Fleet Safety Conference
Driving Dynamics President Art Liggio will present at the 2016 Fleet Safety Conference in Schaumburg, IL.
In his session, E-Z Coaching Techniques for Non-Safety Professionals, Liggio will share a coaching method designed to remove the barriers of communication between a supervisor and fleet driver regarding issues that can directly put that driver at risk.
Get the H Outta Here: Life With a Hydrogen Powered Car
I have a lot of conversations about advanced technology vehicles and alternate fuels. About half of them end somebody saying, “Sure, fuel cells sound great, but who can live with a car that needs special fuel you can only get at a few stations?”
So you can imagine that when somebody who does exactly that e-mailed me, I wanted to talk.
“I love it, and I feel like I’m part of the solution” to climate change, said Mark Mobley of Garden Grove, Calif. “I went from a 2005 Corolla to the Mirai. I skipped the whole hybrid step and went from a car with roll-up windows to all this new technology. People stop me in the grocery store parking lot to talk about it.”
