Shell Telematics Aims to Boost Efficiency, Safety & Sustainability
Shell Telematics brings in fuel and maintenance data, along with telematics data - giving fleets a full bundle of tools to help them save money, and to be more efficient and more sustainable.
Chip Shortage Hitting Auto, Fleet Industries
By Bill Bishop, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, FLD Remarketing
Auto assembly lines shuttering from Kansas City to Beijing.
Luxury car models like Mercedes Benz hoarding parts for their most expensive models, while simultaneously halting production on cheaper offerings.
And some manufacturers – like France’s Peugeot – looking for ways to drop modern touches like digital speedometers in favor of previously obsolete analog models – something previously unthinkable.
At a time when global demand for new vehicles may be at an all-time high, what in the world is causing such strange behavior from the world’s most powerful vehicle manufacturers?
In a word – and a short one at that – chips.
Ford F-150 Lightning Name Will Return for Electric Pickup
Ford's upcoming electric pickup truck will be called the F-150 Lightning. The electric version of its best selling pickup will revive a legendary nameplate from V-8–powered street trucks.
They expect the F-150 Lightning's battery pack to provide more than 300 miles of range since the longest-range Mustang Mach-E is EPA-rated at 305 miles of driving range. Ford also patented a removal range extender that could go in the truck's bed.
Ford hasn't released many details on the F-150 Lightning's powertrain, but it will have a dual-motor setup providing all-wheel drive. Ford says the electric F-150 will provide more horsepower and torque and the fastest acceleration of any F-150 currently on the market. The electric Ford F-150 Lightning will go on sale in the middle of next year.
Read the article at Car and Driver.
The Triple Threat
Speeding. Distraction. Fatigue. Ed Dubens asks: Can Fleets Vaccinate Against the ‘Triple Threat’ to Drivers? The situation is dire: the NSC estimates that in 2020 -- the year dominated by Covid -- there was a 24 percent increase in highway deaths over 2019!
Joe Poznick recently joined Agile Fleet and we are delighted to publish our first interview with him on a subject near to our hearts: Client Success.
Did you know that FMW has a department devoted to topics involving fleet utilization, vehicle sharing, and motor pools? You can learn more about how these actions can work for your organization, dig into the details concerning right-sizing, fleet policy, selling new concepts to your upper management, getting buy-in from your stakeholders, and more. Click here to learn more.
Drive Safety!
Janice Sutton
Editor in Chief
Lawmakers Unveil $25 Billion Legislation to Convert US School Buses to Electric
Last week, Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation that would invest $25 billion to convert the entire US fleet of ICE school buses to electric vehicles. The bill would authorize federal grant money over the course of 10 years, and 40% of the funds would be specifically devoted to replacing school buses operating in mostly nonwhite, poorer communities.
In the US alone, school buses account for 90% of the total buses on roads and regularly transport about 25 million children per day. Studies have found that toxic emissions from gasoline and diesel engines inhaled by children during their commutes to and from school may contribute to respiratory illnesses.
Furthermore, these emissions have been linked to poor academic performance. Senator Alex Padilla, D-Calif explains: Transitioning our school bus fleet to zero-emission vehicles is an essential aspect of building equitable, sustainable infrastructure and is a wise investment in our children, our environment and our future.
Read the article at Electrek.
