CEI’s Wayne Smolda: Fleet Safety Programs Return Substantial Savings
In this interview, we talk with Wayne Smolda, founder and CEO of The CEI Group, Inc., on a number of topics. We wanted to get his unique perspective on the state of the fleet industry as well as how CEI is positioned to meet the fleet driver safety and accident and risk management needs of its clients.
“We want to help to significantly reduce the cost of fleet operations as well an organization’s insurance expenses,” Smolda said. “When you have fewer accidents you can drive down fleet costs, but you can also substantially drive down, at an even higher rate, the insurance costs that employers actually spend as a result of insuring the driver and paying for third party claims, worker compensation benefits and medical care.”
Rethinking Our Relationship with the Modern Mobile Worker
By Matthew Betz, Vice President Business Development, Fleet at Motus, LLC
“Many baseball fans look upon an umpire as a sort of necessary evil to the luxury of baseball, like the odor that follows an automobile” – Christy Matthewson
“What we have here, is a failure to communicate.” – ‘Captain’ in Cool Hand Luke
To hear many fleet managers talk, our drivers are a necessary evil to the luxury of our industry, like the odor that follows a fleet of automobiles. To illustrate, let me share two quotes:
“I hate drivers. You can’t trust them” – A nationally respected fleet manager
“If it wasn’t for all of the drivers and all of the cars, this wouldn’t be a bad job” – Fleet executive
While these are not my own thoughts or words, I have heard similar phrases throughout my long fleet career. Yet, without drivers and vehicles, there would be no fleet management industry. So, to try to understand this perplexing disconnect, I would like to point out a couple of key facts.
Donlen Presented with “Innovation Award” at 2015 Ericsson Supplier Event
Donlen recently received the 2015 Ericsson “Innovation Award.” This supplier award, in the category of Innovation, is targeted to recognize a supplier that embraces innovative thinking and actively challenges the status quo. The award acknowledges a commitment to process improvement and continued investments in the latest innovation and technologies that result in time and cost-saving solutions.
Brad Bohnen Head of Fleet Management, Ericsson said “Donlen Corporation partnered with Ericsson to develop a customized GPS/telematics fleet offering for the Ericsson Region North America fleet of vehicles. This customized program allowed Ericsson to reduce operating costs and increase the safety of our fleet operators. In addition, after listening to Ericsson’s desired service requirements, Donlen developed a new Consultative Service offering, which provided Ericsson with the necessary administrative back-office support to effectively manage the day-to-day operational aspects of the program. This consultative approach resulted in more efficient operations, reduced costs and lower accident rates.”
The Evolution of Payment Systems
This fleet payment systems expert is seeing three major trends: more companies becoming global, an acceleration of technology, and an evolution in payment systems.
Wheels Earns Top Supplier Award from BD
Wheels, Inc. was recently presented with the 2014 Partnership Supplier of the Year award by BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company).
In business together since 2003, BD and Wheels worked together to deliver best-in-class depreciation, continuous fuel economy improvement and a 95% driver satisfaction rate for the BD fleet last year.
“Wheels has been an excellent partner for BD for more than a decade,” said Chris Shanahan, BD’s VP of Global Procurement. “This past year really stood out in terms of strong collaboration that helped BD achieve strong financial performance and 95% customer satisfaction.”
