FLD’s Q2 White Metal Market Report — A Quarterly Look at the Wholesale Medium Duty Truck Market
By Bill Bishop, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, FLD
Over the last five years, FLD’s quarterly White Metal Market Report has prided itself on keeping our finger on the pulse of what’s driving the used medium duty vehicle space.
And during that time, we’ve been able to get a solid beat on how the industry was faring based on a bevy of economic indicators like the unemployment rate, the strength of the US dollar and housing starts.
My how things have changed!
As the global pandemic slows – at least here in America – many industries are moving back towards what we’d like to think of as “normal.” And while that may be possible for some sectors, the medium duty truck market – and the entire fleet space for that matter – is having a hard time finding its footing.
At this point, many of the traditional indicators we follow seem to be falling into more of a rhythm, but it’s not a good one.
Uber Sees Gradual Return of U.S. Drivers, Modest Decrease in Wait Times
Reuters
Uber Technologies Inc. said on Tuesday drivers were gradually returning to its ride-hailing platform, allowing for a modest decrease in passenger wait times as the company seeks to take advantage of a post-pandemic return in travel demand.
Uber said the week of May 17th marked a new record for drivers returning to the road since the start of 2021, with active driver hours increasing 4.4% from the previous week.
"With the economy bouncing back, drivers are returning to Uber in force to take advantage of higher earnings opportunities from our driver stimulus while they are still available," said Carrol Chang, Uber's head of U.S. and Canada driver operations, in a statement.
Read the article at Reuters
NAFA Webinar: How to Create a Successful Spec’ing Process
Event Date: June 9, 2021 -- 12:00 - 1:00 PM EDT
Spec’ing for success requires a balance between your company’s goals and the right vehicle tailored to accomplish the job at hand.
There are many variables that come into play when considering how to fully optimize your vehicle specifications. Setting the priorities is the first step in this unique balancing act. Learn the approach that should be taken when setting spec’ing parameters.
This supplier webinar is presented by Wheels, Inc. REGISTER HERE
Why Hands-Free Phone Use is Still a Danger
It’s important to be on guard against the Triple Threat of Speeding, Distraction and Fatigue. Speaking of Distraction, hands-free phone use still presents significant dangers.
Using Data to Improve Driver Safety
By Adam Danielson, Director of Sales, SuperVision
Safety is one of the fleet industry’s most critical issues as it seeks to reduce crashes and improve safety standards.
The benefits of creating a robust fleet safety culture go far beyond reducing crashes, it can also improve the entire organization while mitigating risk. Organizations have an ever-increasing flow of data that they can use to make their fleets safer.
Acquiring the data is only the first step — if the business does not act on what the data is showing, safety improvements are left on the table and the organization opens itself to liability risks.
