NSC Unveils Fleet Driver Training Series to Combat Mounting Road Fatalities
By Dave Bean, Content Editor, FMW
The National Safety Council (NSC) has responded to a massive training inequity for those who drive fleet vehicles by introducing an online curriculum, designed specifically for those whose employment has them behind-the-wheel as part of their jobs.
"Many assume fleet drivers are well-trained, but unfortunately, that's not always the case," said Mark Chung, executive vice president of roadway practice at NSC.
The NSC believes its new online training program, Fleet Essentials, might be just the elixir that all employee drivers need to ensure they have the knowledge and skills to, literally, survive the workday. The program is comprised of numerous online-based modules.
When tallying work-related fatalities every year, the main culprit is traffic accidents. Over 2000 people lost their lives in work-related vehicle crashes in 2022, according to data compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That figure represents nearly 40% of all deaths that can be attributed to occurring on-the-job.
Long Dormant Public Fleet Vehicles Endured Depreciation and Vandalism
An NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit found that 95 decommissioned VTA paratransit vehicles sat for more than four years in the agency’s South Bay lots, eventually becoming a target of catalytic converter thieves.
On top of standard vehicle depreciation, multiple sources told NBC Bay Area thieves targeted the decommissioned fleet for their catalytic converters in 2022.
“Usually what happens after the vehicles get decommissioned, the vehicles get put on an auction, or they get resold for other uses,” said Circella. “Something went wrong with the process of retiring them from active duty,” said Giovanni Circella, Ph.D., UC Davis transportation expert.
Kia’s Electric Vans Can Quick-Swap Bodies to Take on Any Job
While electric passenger cars get most of the hype, electrified commercial vehicles will soon form the invisible backbone of our everyday life. Kia is preparing its own electric vans complete with highly customizable, swappable bodies and their own dedicated software and business ecosystem.
Announced at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show, Kia's "Platform Beyond Vehicle" scheme is built on an upcoming lineup of reconfigurable electric vans of varying sizes. Basically, they'll be chassis cabs that attach to a variety of upper bodies using a combination of mechanical and electromagnetic anchors. In theory, this lets users quick-swap between delivery vans, passenger shuttles, and even recreational vehicles.
Unlocking the Potential: Embedded Vehicle Data for Enhanced Fleet Management by OEMs and TSPs
By Sumit Chauhan, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, CerebrumX
The transition from traditional open telematics platforms to embedded data marks a pivotal step forward in the evolution of fleet management.
Traditionally, fleet operators have relied heavily on data derived from hardware dongles, a practice that was entirely justified when the number of vehicles on the road was fewer, and data volumes remained manageable.
Modern vehicles by design can now collect data indigenously, rendering external hardware devices obsolete. This evolution paves the way for a new and more efficient approach to data collection.
Manheim Index: Used-Vehicle Values Now Down 21% from All-Time High Reached in 2021
Following a downward trend that began in the second half of the year, 2023 ended with the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index down 0.5% in December from November.
The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index (MUVVI) dropped to 204.0, down 7.0% from the previous year, a larger decline than originally expected. Compared to the index peak in December 2021, used-vehicle values are down nearly 21%.
“We ended 2023 with about half of the used-vehicle value decline we saw in 2022, but still more than we’d see in a typical year,” said Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke.
