NAFA Strongly Urges Congress to Raise Federal Fuels User Fee
Automotive fleets are major users of the American highway system. Fleet autos, trucks, and vans depend on the system to carry out the mission of their company or agency, and that system requires funding to keep it viable for now and in the future. Yet maintaining funding for the Highway Trust Fund has been a perennial struggle on Capitol Hill.
On the morning of February 9, 2015, NAFA Fleet Management Association submitted an urgent request to each Congressional office in Washington D.C. strongly urging representatives to raise the federal fuels user fee.
The drivers of fleet vehicles -- whether a sales representative in a company auto, a technician in a utility service vehicle, or a refuse truck crew -- daily face the combined challenges of congestion, poor road conditions, closed bridges, and other obstacles that have a direct impact on their efficiency and their employers’ bottom lines. Congestion reduces productivity as vehicles idle in traffic, delaying deliveries or missing appointments. Crumbling infrastructure damages fleet vehicles, resulting in vehicles having to be taken out of service for needed repairs.
"Although the cost of fuel is the single largest component of operating costs, many fleets are willing to pay more in order to resolve the nation’s infrastructure crisis, provided the funds are used to ease congestion and improve safety," said NAFA Chief Executive Officer Phillip E. Russo, CAE.READ MORE
Get Smart, Cut Costs, Reduce CO2 — and Shine as an Industry
When we met Ben Carter, who guides Intel’s fleet (Carter Inside?), we were eager to get his perspective on an industry that he had joined less than six months prior. First of all, check out our video clip where he talks about his experience at NAFA’s 2014 International Fleet Academy (co-located with I&E in 2015). And if you really want to feel even better about our industry, read the article, “Intel’s Ben Carter: Sharing ‘Best Known’ Methods’ in Fleet Management" in this issue. We echo his sentiments after decades in fleet.
We talked with some folks at Local Motion last week and became interested in their unique sharing technology for fleet vehicles. Check out their recently-published white paper in the article: ‘Optimizing Fleet Operations with Motor Pools.’ We got hooked with this statement: ‘Building and expanding your agency’s motor pool can be the key to maximizing usage, cutting costs, and reducing carbon footprint on a massive scale.’ All laudable efforts indeed.
Janice Sutton
Executive Editor
Miles Enables Auto-Interleasing to Meet Swiss Customers’ Green Fleet Needs
Switzerland’s largest independent leasing company, Auto-Interleasing, based in the capital Basel, is able to exactly meet the ‘green fleet’ needs of its fleet customers, thanks to Miles from Sofico.
An increasingly important trend among Swiss fleet operators is the requirement to have detailed CO2 reports to meet statuary and internal reporting requirements. This means having the ability to identify the total carbon output of the fleet and the average CO2 emissions of all the vehicles on the fleet at several levels.
Toyota to Debut Special Editions at Chicago Auto Week
Toyota Motor Corp. is bringing two new takes on its best-selling sedans to the Chicago Auto Show next week.
The special edition models of the Japanese automaker's Camry mid-size sedan and Corolla compact sedan, will debut with a refreshed 2016 Avalon sedan at press conference from the show floors on Feb. 12.
As the World Embraces Diesels, Americans Still Play Hard to Get
Looking to increase his fuel economy, Roderick Smith of Woonsocket, R.I., who works in information technology, bought a new Volkswagen Golf at the beginning of the year. Unlike most Americans, Mr. Smith opted for a model equipped with a diesel, rather than a gasoline, engine.
“It’s the quietest car I’ve ever owned,” he said.
“Quiet” and “diesel” are two words not usually seen together. When American consumers think of diesel-engine vehicles — if they think about them at all — other words most likely come to mind, like “noisy,” “smoky” and “slow.”
