Ford Files High-Tech Patent That Could Eliminate Keys & Start Cars With Fingerprints

There are apps to manage passwords, but many of us are looking past the password itself to some other means of user identification. Apple added a fingerprint system to recent iterations of the iPhone, and one new company wants to tie logins to your heartbeat.

According to Patently Apple, Ford has filed a patent application to add similar features to future automobiles. Ford envisions a vehicle equipped with sensors embedded in the steering wheel and the car seat. Those sensors would measure heart rate, temperature, and other biometric data.

READ MORE about the technology

Element Fleet Management’s Michele Cunningham: ‘The Best of the Best’

We seldom miss a chance to talk with the bright and engaging Michele Cunningham, Senior Vice President, Strategic Development at Element Fleet Management, and enjoyed our interview with her at the recent AFLA Conference. We asked her to bring us up to date on the transition from PHH to Element Fleet Management.

Michele says, “We are taking the ‘transition and then transform’ approach because our customer success is the most critical factor. We are noting lots of exciting opportunities to extend products and services and take a best of the best approach in creating Element Fleet Management out of these composite companies and really bringing our customers something special.”

Traffic Congestion Costs Americans $124 Billion a Year, Report Says

Population growth, GDP growth, decline in fuel prices, and an increase in car ownership. These are the main factors that, according to a report released today by Seattle-based INRIX and the Centre for Economics and Business Research will lead, in the next sixteen years, to a 50 percent rise in gridlock costs in the U.S. In short, this means that if, in 2013 traffic congestion cost Americans $124 billion in direct and indirect losses, this number will rise to $186 billion in 2030.

Data about delays caused by congestions were based on the INRIX index: the company -- whose mission is simply ‘solve traffic worldwide’ (no less) -- collects data from more than 180 million vehicles and devices out on the road every day, in a number of ways: from satellite navigation systems, GPS in cars and trucks, information gathered by cellular carriers, and also through a devoted smartphone application.”

New Content, New Website

You've probably noticed some of the new, original content in this e-newsletter lately, and maybe you've even taken a few minutes to check out our new site at FleetManagementWeekly.com?

This new, original content is geared to be an engaging and informative read, and (perhaps most importantly) help fleet managers do their jobs better. Some of what's now on offer includes the following industry experts sharing their hard-won knowledge and know-how:

Ed Pierce on Fleet Marketing
Jeof Bean on The Fleet Customer Experience
Matt Betz on The Mobile Employee
Randy Shadley on Fleet Safety

For our readers, the new site will mean regular daily updates of the fleet news & trends you need. For our advertisers, the new site means new opportunities for advertising and content marketing. And for us, it means a website that’s easy to build and populate with more engaging content. If you have any ideas on how to make the e-newsletter and/or the website better, I'd love to hear them: [email protected].

Finally, Have You Registered for NAFA’s International Fleet Academy?

You don’t want to miss this conference if your job responsibilities have expanded outside of North America … this event offers unparalleled global fleet education! Register today!

Ted Roberts
COO and Chief Content Officer

8 Ways to Lower the Odds of Getting a Traffic Ticket

Police officers have discretion on whether they write a ticket and for what. As we know, an officer COULD decide to throw the book at you and write you up for all kinds of stuff. Or, decide to let you go with a warning.

Anything you can do to make the officer's job easier will help nudge the officer in the direction of being lenient. Instead of reckless driving, perhaps you'll be written for careless. Instead of 20 over, maybe 10.

READ MORE to learn how to deal with it.