December 16, 2014

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Editor's Analysis & Top Industry News


It’s That Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

This is the final Fleet Management Weekly newsletter of 2014. We will return on January 6, 2015 with new features and articles.

Our website FleetManagementWeekly.com will be updated with fresh content every day during the holidays, so check in with us often.

We wish you and your families a wonderful holiday season and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Janice Sutton
Executive Editor

 


INDEX: Find All of the Fleet News and Information You Need on Newly Redesigned FleetManagementWeekly.com

All recent posts from the newsletter can be found on our newly redesigned web site, FleetManagementWeekly.com,

Browse these categories:

Association News — Find out what’s going on at associations of importance to the fleet community.
Fleet Trends & Issues – Check out articles about current fleet issues and trends
Fleet Safety – Read news about various aspects of fleet safety, including interviews of fleet safety leaders
Fleet Videos – Watch video clips of fleet newsmakers
Interviews – Read Fleet Management Weekly’s interviews with industry leaders.
Telematics — Learn about the latest in fleet telematics news

Read monthly columns: Fleet Marketing, Fleet Asset Management, The Mobile Employee, On Accident Management, The Fleet Customer Experience, and Fleet Safety.


frank-dan

VIDEO: The Evolution of Safety

Safety is more relevant than ever when it comes to fleets, for a variety of reasons — including liability costs that are bigger than ever, and an explosion of data that can be used against companies in court.



VIDEO: A Strong Global Alliance
cunningham-michele
  Global Fleet Solutions for Multinational Companies
 

The Element-Arval Global Alliance offers multinational fleets a powerful suite of global solutions.


Click here to watch video
VIDEO: The Power of Certification
vigneau-katherine
  Making CAFM a Household Word
 

NAFA’s CAFM and CAFS certifications are the only accredited programs in the fleet industry, and right now those programs are getting a lot of interest and a lot of traction.


Click here to read more



The Fleet Spot


education sign Register Now for NAFA Education Seminars

Watch the video clip of Katherine Vigneau, NAFA’s Professional Development Director for Education talking about the importance of the CAFM program

Are you new to fleet and want to learn the building blocks to help you run an efficient fleet? Or, are you a fleet professional with more than five years of experience who wants to be challenged in a series of practical exercises designed to work through common fleet situations? NAFA offers education for both groups of fleet professionals at the Marriott Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco in February.

READ MORE

John Boesel CAL START Presents Blue Sky Awards™

Blue Sky Awards presented to companies and organizations recognized for leadership in clean transportation

CAL START, North America’s leading advanced transportation technologies consortium – presented winners with its prestigious Blue Sky Award™ 2014. The awards recognize outstanding marketplace contributions to the clean transportation industry by companies, organizations and individuals. Members of CALSTART’s Board of Directors presented the awards.

READ MORE

green G2 with logo_121312 Azuga, Verizon Wireless to Provide Reliable Wireless M2M Services

Verizon Wireless will serve as the official wireless network provider for Azuga Fleet, providing reliable performance and real time updates to fleet managers from the field in order to further increase efficiencies in the fleet industry through machine-to-machine (M2M) technologies.

“We chose Verizon Wireless to make Azuga Fleet’s technology even more accessible, simpler and reliable for fleet managers to utilize,” said Vice President and General Manager of Azuga Fleet, Ananth Rani. “Azuga will be expanding its roadmap to encompass products related to IoT (‘Internet-of-Things’) 2015 and we look forward to working with Verizon as we develop these and bring them to market.”

READ MORE about this partnership.

Thibault Alleyn Fleet Logistics Offers Free Benchmarking for Large Global Fleets

Europe’s largest independent fleet management expert, Fleet Logistics, has launched a free of charge benchmarking and consultation facility for large international fleet operators for a limited period, aimed at optimizing their fleet spend. Called QuickScan, the new move is in response to requests from large fleet operators to discuss how their fleets compared with others of similar size and profile.

READ MORE

The Fleet Customer Experience

The Do-Fors are the centerpiece of an extraordinary customer experience

By Jeofrey Bean

The best companies in experiential marketing go beyond what their messages, people, technologies, products, and services do.

They go to what these parts of the customer experience continuum Do-For customers to connect, engage and deliver great experiences to them.

The Do-Fors are a sub-set of value propositions that are proven beyond a doubt to be desired. They will move people and organizations to pay money for them.

READ MORE

 
Industry Survey

GE Capital has just released a national survey of 409 executives at middle market companies (ranging from $10 million – <$1 billion in sales) who have responsibility for their company’s vehicle fleets.

The survey results provide an outlook on a variety of important economic, industry, and business-level issues, including growth expectations and financing needs.

Notably, the survey found that one in five fleets plans on increasing in size next year, with just 13 planning to decrease. Additional findings from the survey include:

READ MORE

 
Tracking Your Assets

Using a fleet tracking solution, like GPS Insight, to monitor expensive equipment and assets can help to prevent theft, extend equipment and asset lifecycles, monitor their current locations in real-time, and more. 

GPS tracking devices can track any type of asset, no matter its geographical location.

READ MORE to learn about the best devices for your needs.








Fleet Trends & Issues


IRS Announces 2015 Standard Mileage Rates

It will cost you less at the pump to fill your car next year. The U.S. Department of Energy has issued its predictions for the price of gasoline for 2015 and the numbers are the lowest full-year average since 2009. Gas prices are expected to drop 35 cents to $2.60 a gallon.

The national average price for regular unleaded gasoline could bottom out at $2.50 by Christmas. Average costs across the country are dropping from week to week: as of today, they are just $2.67 per gallon, the least expensive since February 23, 2010.

Despite those tumbles, the standard mileage rate for federal income taxes is going up for business miles.

READ MORE for the rate information

Drivers Want More High-Tech Safety Features in Vehicles

Driver assistance technology, which is found on more and more new vehicles, can help prevent accidents, but drivers should be aware that the new safety features have limitations, according to a new study by AAA.

The testing revealed that blind-spot monitoring systems had difficulty detecting fast-moving vehicles – such as when merging onto a busy highway. Alerts were often provided too late for evasive action, AAA said.

READ MORE about the study results

Iowa May be the First State to Offer Digital Driver’s Licenses on Smartphones

The smartphone has become a central component of daily life. It’s where we go to make calls, send texts, keep up with endless Facebook feeds, and store frequent-shopper cards.

In Iowa, it will soon be where motorists keep their driver’s licenses, too. According to the Des Moines Register, the Iowa Department of Transportation is building an app that motorists will be able to use in lieu of a conventional driver’s license. The app is slated to launch next year, and it will be free to all users.

READ MORE

Ford Unveils Less-Distracting Sync Digital System

Ford Motor unveiled the third generation of its Sync in-car connectivity system Thursday with a promise that it will be simpler and have a more natural voice-command interface.

It is a whole new system that drops past partner Microsoft for Canada’s QNX software from Blackberry. And it drops the MyFordTouch and MyLincolnTouch names for Sync 3.

READ MORE about the new system.

The Mobile Employee

By Matthew Betz, Vice President Business Development, Fleet at Motus, LLC

“I follow three rules: Do the right thing, do the best you can, and always show people you care.” — Lou Holtz

Most people recognize Lou Holtz for his long and distinguished football career, but as it turns out, he has a life philosophy that we can all use in our personal and professional lives. Whether you are a mobile employee, or a fleet professional, Lou’s philosophy fits the need for IRS compliance particularly well. All drivers should do the right thing by keeping an IRS-compliant mileage log, fleet managers can do their best to help drivers understand the rules and to be compliant, and we can show drivers that we care by showing them how to avoid IRS audits.

Let’s take a closer look: READ MORE

 
It's Time to Buy

If you’ve been thinking about buying a used or certified pre-owned car, now could be a great time to buy. CarGurus reports that used car prices have dropped 5.4 percent on average since May, and prices could fall an additional 2 percent by the end of January.

“For used car shoppers, it really is the most wonderful time of the year to find a great deal,” says Dave Galvin, director of data analytics at CarGurus in a press release. “If a car purchase is on your radar, don’t wait. Getting your search underway now could save you hundreds of dollars.”

READ MORE

 
Fleet Asset Management

Each month, Fleet Management Weekly will feature material handling equipment guidance from Keith Trumbull, Vice President of Material Handling Equipment at Element Fleet Management.

As fleet managers, each day you work to ensure your fleet is cost effective and efficient. You likely have a plan in place to manage your cars and trucks. But do you have a similar strategy for other assets in your organization, such as forklifts, pickers, pallet jacks and other material handling equipment?

Often overlooked, these items are just as important to manage as your fleet of vehicles. Whether you’re just stepping into the fleet manager role or have years of experience, here are the top three questions to consider regarding asset management, not just vehicle management.

READ MORE







Fleet Management Resources 
AmeriFleet
Offering a nationwide vehicle delivery and relocation service; serving the corporate and commercial fleet industry.
GPS Insight
GPS Insight offers GPS tracking solutions to meet your organization's unique requirements and challenges.
PARS
PARS' mission is to provide you with high-quality service at competitive prices for all of your transportation needs.
ARI
Driven fleet professionals. Driving results.
LeasePlan
LeasePlan is the world's leading high-touch service provider for vehicle leasing and fleet management.
The CEI Group Inc.
North America's largest accident management and fleet driver safety company.
Element
Customizing global fleet management to achieve your goals.
NAFA
NAFA is the association for the diverse vehicle fleet management profession regardless of organizational type, geographic location, or fleet composition.
Verizon Networkfleet
Verizon Networkfleet offers GPS fleet management solutions to help small to medium-sized businesses, enterprises, and government agencies better manage vehicles and assets. For a demo visit www.networkfleet.com/demo.