Photo: Michael Quimby, COO of Kooner Fleet Management Solutions
By Fleet Management Weekly Staff
June 25, 2025
The fleet industry is now more complex than ever, driven by a combination of cutting-edge technology and a critical shortage of skilled technicians. Advanced telematics services offer fleets invaluable data that can significantly enhance efficiency and reduce ownership costs, but success hinges on the ability to analyze this data effectively.
At the same time, the technician shortage poses a serious challenge for maintaining preventative measures and securing reliable technicians promptly during breakdowns. The industry must address these issues head-on to thrive in the modern landscape. In both cases, a trusted fleet management company can help fleets stay up and running while providing the data and insights they need to operate more efficiently.
Operating across 26 US States and Canada, Kooner Fleet Management Solutions connects fleets with reliable technicians offering roadside assistance, onsite maintenance, and 24/7 support. They also utilize a proprietary technology to collect and analyze fleet data, pinpointing areas for improvement and providing fleets with transparency into their operations.
We spoke with Michael Quimby, COO of Kooner Fleet Management Solutions, to discuss what Kooner offers fleets and how to best prepare for the challenges currently facing fleets.
Could you please tell me about your background in the fleet management space and your current role at Kooner Fleet Management?
I’ve been in the fleet management industry since I joined Ryder right out of college. I worked for them for 16 years, then General Electric for ten years, and Element for six. Then I went into TFS, which shares most of the same fundamentals of on-road fleet management, but in the material handling supply chain space. Today I’m with Kooner Fleet Management Solutions, and I’m super excited to be here. The company is relatively new, having been in operation for approximately nine years, and is on a highly rapid growth trajectory. It’s revolutionizing the industry.
Tell me about Kooner Fleet Management Solutions. What kinds of fleets do you serve?
Kooner Fleet Management Solutions started nine years ago with one truck and one person: our founder, Gary Kooner. We now have hundreds of vehicles across 26 states in the US, and we also operate in Canada. We serve transportation and logistics companies, focusing on fleets with light-, medium-, and heavy-duty equipment. That includes both onsite technicians and road service for those companies.
We aim to help our clients become more efficient and reduce their total cost of ownership. We achieve this with the use of our powerful proprietary cloud-based technology, which provides us with a complete line of sight and transparency into our clients’ fleets. We’re also transparent with our clients, providing them with the data they need and helping them run their fleets more efficiently.
What sort of fleets are your sweet spot?
We work with fleets ranging from the minimum 50-count to the massive Fortune 500 fleets that we service today. We serve a broad spectrum of clients, but even with a diversified client portfolio, we still give each one the same level of attention they need. We are highly customer-centric.
How do you think the current and upcoming tariffs will affect the logistics, trucking, and fleet maintenance space?
Tariffs are a challenge right now. Things are murky and volatile, and it’s difficult to get transparency into what’s happening with the tariffs. However, the first thing I think will happen within the space is that the cost of parts and equipment will increase, as many of the parts are sourced from China. That will have a significant impact. However, most of the parts we source come from Canada and Mexico, so our business will at least see some relief. We are working diligently to finalize pricing with suppliers, negotiate, and pre-purchase so that we have the necessary equipment and parts on hand for our clients. However, in the end, the higher cost of parts and equipment will be a reality.
I’m also reviewing the operating costs for the carriers we support. We all know that carriers already work on pretty thin margins, so we’re working with them to drive efficiency in their fleet to withstand and prosper through this period. The tariffs will also cause supply chain disruptions, so we’re working with our suppliers to ensure the supply chain our company relies on remains efficient and effective.
Our clients will demand more efficient fleet operating costs, and that’s what we do. We’ll help them reduce costs in their business. The increase in the price of parts is likely inevitable, given the significant impact of the steel tariffs on the supply chain. That’s why we need to help our clients run more efficiently. For example, one thing we focus on with our clients is not to defer maintenance. You don’t want to defer standard maintenance on your equipment due to the increased expense, as that will only lead to things breaking down and your costs increasing dramatically. We want to help our clients be proactive and maintain their properties to keep their overall costs down.
What can fleets do to be best prepared for these tariffs?
My advice would be a six-point plan. The first is to strengthen relationships with suppliers, which is what we’re doing. We’re in constant communication with our suppliers. The second is, as I mentioned earlier, to maintain consistency with preventative maintenance. You want to avoid on-road breakdowns, which will hurt the company in the long run. The third thing we’re doing is optimizing our inventory to weather the storm around the tariffs. We have stocked our inventory with the most highly utilized parts to support our clients.
The fourth thing is for fleets to embrace telematics. Most fleets have some telematics solution, which helps them run more efficiently. The fifth is for fleets to reevaluate their asset strategy. For example, you may want to invest more capital in your fleet to refresh it and extend the life of the assets; work with your fleet management professionals to run the analysis and see if it makes sense to extend the asset’s life or if it’s time to dispose of it. Lastly, fleets should monitor the regulatory changes. Things are changing constantly right now, and it’s essential to stay informed. My best guess is that, in around 12 months, we’ll have this behind us. We’ll have learned a lot, and our companies will be stronger from going through it.
What other concerns do your clients currently have? What are some of the ways that Kooner Fleet Management is helping them out?
Private fleets that rely on in-house maintenance often rely on technicians as the lifeblood of the fleet. Technicians keep fleets running and operational, but a labor shortage currently exists. We don’t have as many people graduating from technical colleges, so that resource is becoming increasingly scarce. Our company certainly helps with that by providing technicians for them. We have great relationships with technology and trade schools, from which we recruit. We put them into a training program to shadow experienced technicians, and once they graduate from tech school, they’re learning real-life business with us. I think that’s a significant way we’re being proactive in the space.
Most fleets are also concerned about cost control and budgetary predictability. It’s essential to have a predictable expense to manage, so we provide that. Ultimately, fleets seek transparency and visibility into their expenses and the associated data. We have a proprietary technology that breaks down all of the costs. It takes the staggering volume of data and distills it down into a few actionable insights. Then we interface directly with clients, allowing them to view the health and expense of their fleet and make informed, data-driven decisions with us by their side.
Sustainability is also essential to fleets, which is why we (Kooner Fleet Management Solutions) also help them hit their carbon goals to become greener in their operations. Lastly, we help them avoid unscheduled downtime. Breakdowns and service delays disrupt our clients and keep them up at night. We help them stay away from that by encouraging them to engage in proactive preventative maintenance.
