Self-Driving Cars Will Cost Cities, Futurists Say
Self-driving cars and other emerging technologies are going to cut into municipal budgets nationwide, a panel of futurists says.
Imagine this brave new world:
• Autonomous cars that never speed, never run red lights — and owners who never get popped for drunken driving or pay a dime for traffic tickets.
• Robotic vehicles that deliver people and goods anywhere — and choke off income taxes from displaced taxi drivers and delivery-truck drivers.
Explosions of Data Everywhere
In today's world, we are all having to navigate our way through mountains of data, constantly. In this issue’s Fleet Marketing column from Ed Pierce, he points to a recent study of 1,700 CMOs - finding that 59% have been unable to implement planned digital marketing strategies; and that 82% felt unable to deal with the explosion of data being thrown at them. But the biggest problem uncovered in the study is that CMOs are saying that they are now being judged on the revenue their marketing activities generate, NOT on the leads they find. It’s a thoughtful, informative read.
In today’s Fleet Asset Management column, Element’s Keith Trumbull talks about the benefits of “brand independent” management, which is one of the newest and most popular ways to organize and operate assets. Find out why fleet managers are increasingly turning to brand independent providers.
Enjoy this week's issue, and be sure to check in with FleetManagementWeekly.com for daily updates.
Ted Roberts
Chief Content Officer
Richard Irvin Outsources Van and Car Fleet to Fleet Alliance
Pictured: Richard Irvin Supply Chain Manager, Chris Curtis (left) with Chris Caddick, Key Account Manager, Fleet Alliance
Aberdeen-based Richard Irvin Energy Solutions has outsourced the management of its fleet of 220 light commercial vehicles and 25 cars to Fleet Alliance to standardise its fleet management approach across Scotland.
“Our aim is to have a consistent approach to fleet management across the business and regional offices. We’re delighted that Fleet Alliance is able to create a tailor-made proposal for the management of our fleet requirements,” said Richard Irvin Supply Chain Manager, Chris Curtis.
Following the appointment, Fleet Alliance began an implementation process, including uploading all Richard Irvin vehicle details onto its state-of-the art, online fleet management system, “e-fleet”, which provides an extensive and comprehensive suite of management information reports and allows the insight of all aspect of the fleet operation.
Wheels Promotes Laura Jozwiak to Senior VP
Wheels, Inc. has promoted Laura Jozwiak to senior vice president of sales and client relations. In her new role, Jozwiak will lead the Wheels teams that provide strategic guidance and analytic resources to assist clients and prospective clients in making informed decisions to improve the performance of their fleets.
“During her 14 years at Wheels, Laura has led countless initiatives for areas like operations, account management and information technology that have yielded tremendous value and process efficiencies for our clients,” said Jim Frank, chief executive officer of Wheels. “Laura’s deep experience in our business and her enthusiastic energy make her the perfect candidate to lead our sales and client relations organizations going forward.”
Element CEO: ‘Growth at Element is Not Over!’
Pictured: Steven Hudson, CEO, Element Financial Corp
By Mike Sheldrick
Element Financial Corp. has vaulted to the largest North American fleet leasing company by buying GE Capital’s fleet leasing assets in the U.S. and Mexico, and in Australia and New Zealand for a total of $6.9 billion. The deal comprises about 580,000 vehicles, doubling Element's North American presence.
In Europe, GE plans to sell its fleet of 160,000 leased vehicles to Arval, a unit of PNB Paribas. Arval and Element already partner in North America. On closing of the transactions, the Element-Arval Global Alliance will be serving customer fleets in more than 40 countries— more than 2 million vehicles.
