By Ed Pierce, ITA Fleet Communications

I was planning to tackle the topic of marketing fads this month. Like the phrase “I HEART (city, thing or animal of your choice), repeated “ad nauseum” until the novelty wears off, fads fade away.

Annie Zelm of Kuno Kreative beat me to the punch; however, and I’d like to share some of her caveats, which are important considerations for your company’s own marketing strategy:

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By Keith Trumbull

Does your organization have equipment such as forklifts, pallet jacks and scissor lifts? Your goal should be to manage these assets as effectively as possible. Understanding associated costs is the first step toward greater productivity at lower cost. At Element, we’re focused on making capital work for clients. Our clients often tell us these direct and indirect costs can be difficult to capture. To better understand your organization’s asset costs, explore these seven factors:

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For decades, fleet managers watched events like the Academy Awards and wished they had an industry award of their own; one that recognized the most significant achievements, innovative ideas, and best practices of their colleagues. In 2013, that award was finally realized when NAFA introduced the Fleet Excellence Awards (FLEXY).

Open to everyone in fleet management, the FLEXYs are awarded in the fields of sustainability, safety, and overall fleet management achievement. The submission deadline is February 9, 2015.

Individuals may nominate themselves or someone else. Fleet suppliers are free to nominate their clients as well. Entries in multiple categories are also accepted. If additional information for a submission is required, the nominee will be notified to present further data. To submit an entry or to find out more information on the FLEXY Awards visit http://www.flexyawards.com.

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Drivers trying to calculate whether it’s practical to own an electric car are facing a new math.

U.S. gas prices have fallen more than $1 per gallon over the last 12 months, to a national average of $2.06, according to AAA. That makes electric cars — with their higher prices tags — a tougher sell.

“Fuel savings are not top of mind to many consumers right now,” says John Krafcik, president of the car shopping site TrueCar.com.

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Here’s one more incentive to practice safe driving techniques with a religious fervor. Filing a single claim of $2,000 or more will cause an average motorist’s car insurance premiums to skyrocket by 41 percent, according to a recent study conducted for the website InsuranceQuotes.com.

And that’s just the national average. The study found that residents of California are subject to the stiffest penalties for, well, taking advantage of coverage for which one already pays dearly, with a single claim triggering a budget-busting 86 percent average rate boost. Those living in Maryland tend to suffer the mildest financial hardship after filing a car insurance claim, with a typical jolt of 22 percent.

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Towing companies are a necessary evil when it comes to parking enforcement and property repossession. But in the Google Earth we now inhabit, tow trucks do more than just yank cars out of loading zones. They use license-plate readers (LPRs) to assemble a detailed profile of where your car will be and when. That’s an unnecessary evil.

Plate readers have long been a tool of law enforcement, and police officers swear by them for tracking stolen cars and apprehending dangerous criminals. But private companies, such as repo crews, also photograph millions of plates a day, with scanners mounted on tow trucks and even on purpose-built camera cars whose sole mission is to drive around and collect plate scans. READ MORE

For years, the majority of pick-up trucks sold in the United States have more or less been one flavor: full-size with a gasoline V8 engine—or a diesel V8 for more demanding commercial applications.

This best-selling segment is only getting hotter with recent introductions of all-new or significantly update models from each of the Big Three Detroit automakers. Most notable is the 2015 Ford F-150, whose all-aluminum body has caused a stir.

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By Kristofer Bush, Vice President, Marketing, LeasePlan USA

Seventy one percent of drivers say their driving behavior does not change when driving a company vehicle versus a personal vehicle. Are drivers focused on safety regardless of the vehicle? Or are companies not doing enough to promote safe driving?

This statistic came from a global LeasePlan Driver Survey, which surveyed 3,377 company car drivers in 20 countries. The first series of results provided to LeasePlan focused on driver safety and the driver’s feelings on their company’s approach to safety. I found the results to be very interesting and important to understand, especially when dealing with fleets.

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Oil prices have fallen by more than half since July. Just five years ago, such a plunge in fossil fuels would have put the renewable-energy industry on bankruptcy watch. Today: Meh.

Here are seven reasons why humanity’s transition to cleaner energy won’t be sidetracked by cheap oil.

1. The Sun Doesn’t Compete With Oil

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It may seem as if the only arguments against self-driving cars come from two kinds of people – those fearful of any scenario where they might have to forgo control behind the wheel and those who distrust all technology out of hand.

There has been little discussion about the potential downsides of a driverless future, but a new study has pointed out some potential flaws in this looming auto utopia.

The upsides seem pretty self-evident.

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