Merchants Fleet Earns 2021 Great Place to Work Certification™
Merchants Fleet is proud to be Certified™ by Great Place to Work® for the sixth year in a row.
Great Place to Work® is the global authority on workplace culture, employee experience, and the leadership behaviors proven to deliver market-leading revenue, employee retention and increased innovation.
“This year’s Certification is especially significant for our team, who worked incredibly hard to keep our wonderful corporate culture alive despite a year of distancing and uncertainty in the world,” said Alicia Hart, VP of Human Resources at Merchants Fleet.
Workhorse Sues USPS Over $6 Billion Oshkosh Mail Truck Deal
In February, the U.S. Postal Service awarded a deal for up to 165,000 new mail trucks worth up to $6 billion to defense contractor Oshkosh. The search for new delivery vehicles took the USPS around seven years, and once the Internet learned what the quirky new van would look like, much merriment ensued. Not everyone was happy, though.
This week, Workhorse sued the postal service over the terms of the deal, especially whether or not the mail carrier ever seriously considered Workhorse's electric vehicles as suitable replacements for the Grumman "Long Life Vehicles" that are commonly seen delivering mail today.
Workhorse's lawsuit is vague, as the company said that revealing all of the contract information would release details about its bid for the contract and the company's EVs that would be helpful to competitors.
Read the article at MSN.
Ford Aquires Electriphi as it Prepares to Woo EV Fleet Customers
Ford has two electric vehicles in the pipeline — the E-Transit cargo van and F-150 Lighting Pro —aimed at commercial customers. Now, the automaker is rounding out its future EV commercial business with the acquisition of battery management and fleet monitoring software startup Electriphi.
Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed. Ford is betting that the software developed by the three-year-old San Francisco startup will help it capture more than $1 billion in revenue just from charging by 2030.
“As commercial customers add electric vehicles to their fleets, they want depot charging options to make sure they’re powered up and ready to go to work every day,” said Ford Pro CEO Ted Cannis.
“With Electriphi’s existing advanced technology IP in the Ford Pro electric vehicles and services portfolio, we will enhance the experience for commercial customers and be a single-source solution for fleet-depot charging.”
Read the article at TechCrunch.
Donlen Launches RemarketingAdvantage™ Program
Donlen announces the launch of RemarketingAdvantage™. This new vehicle remarketing program offers customers the opportunity to sell fleet vehicles quickly and efficiently to Donlen.
With traditional remarketing auction channels, vehicle sales take an average of 28 – 30 days to sell in addition to a turn-around time for sales proceeds. By choosing RemarketingAdvantage™, customers have cash in hand within a week with the added benefit of immediate billing credits. Because Donlen takes care of the titling and transportation, the process is completely hassle free.
Khalid Latif, Donlen’s Senior Vice President of Operation and Supply Chain, said, “This past year has been a tough economic year for organizations across the world and we’re pleased to offer a program that provides cash flow to our customers.” Anna Stanke, Donlen’s Vehicle Remarketing Process Manager, adds, “Donlen assumes the risk with each vehicle sale, which makes the process even more valuable to our customers.”
Voters Overwhelmingly Passed a ‘Right to Repair’ Law in Massachusetts. Carmakers Are Fighting Back
A trade group representing at least 22 automakers and other original equipment providers are still fighting against Massachusetts' recently passed right to repair referendum. That law not only reaffirmed and updated a 2013 right-to-repair law, but it also added a common method of accessing over-the-air telematics data. Now, the car companies are pushing back.
On Monday, the group began its testimony in front of a federal judge in an attempt to block the referendum. Its argument states permitting consumers and independent repair shops to wirelessly access telematics data from their vehicles would conflict with federal laws pertaining to emissions regulations.
The right to repair property that you purchased is something everyone deserves. To close the doors on valuable data is helpful only to those who have the key, and in this case, it certainly isn't the consumer.
Read the article at The Drive.
