FleetManagementWeekly AmeriFleet
July 7, 2015

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Editor's Analysis & Top Industry News


Explosions of Data Everywhere

In today’s world, we are all having to navigate our way through mountains of data, constantly. In this issue’s Fleet Marketing column from Ed Pierce, he points to a recent study of 1,700 CMOs – finding that 59% have been unable to implement planned digital marketing strategies; and that 82% felt unable to deal with the explosion of data being thrown at them. But the biggest problem uncovered in the study is that CMOs are saying that they are now being judged on the revenue their marketing activities generate, NOT on the leads they find. It’s a thoughtful, informative read.

In today’s Fleet Asset Management column, Element’s Keith Trumbull talks about the benefits of “brand independent” management, which is one of the newest and most popular ways to organize and operate assets. Find out why fleet managers are increasingly turning to brand independent providers.

Enjoy this week’s issue, and be sure to check in with FleetManagementWeekly.com for daily updates.

Ted Roberts
Chief Content Officer


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

All 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, Think Global Plan Local, The Fleet CX Toolbox, and Fleet Safety.


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VIDEO: Making Sure Vehicles are Turnkey-Ready

Vehicle delivery and relocation from AmeriFleet is handled meticulously – every step of the way – so that vehicles are completely ready to go once they reach their end users.



VIDEO: The Power of Social Telematics
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  Creating Better Driving Habits
 

This CEO is very pleased with what GPS fleet tracking from Azuga has done to create better driving habits among his drivers.


VIDEO: Understanding Vehicle Downtime
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  Strategically Managing Vehicle Downtime
 

Managing vehicle downtime should be done efficiently, of course, but it also needs to be done strategically – and that includes figuring out why the vehicle is down.





The Fleet Spot


martin-sheryl NAFA Welcomes Sheryl Martin As New Chief Operations Officer

NAFA Fleet Management Association has named Sheryl Martin as the Association’s new Chief Operations Officer. Martin is an accomplished tactician at both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, most recently with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. She spent approximately 12 years with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and was the Director of Firm Practice Management for that organization approximately six years. She is a CPA and has a strong background in process management.

READ MORE

Claude Masters NAFA Past President Claude Masters, CAFM, Retires from FPL

Claude Masters, CAFM, whose two-year term as NAFA President ended just this past April, retired from Florida Power & Light on July 3, NAFA reports.

Prior to joining FPL, he worked for Houston Lighting & Power/Center Point Energy. Claude has been recognized by the National Biodiesel Board and the U.S. Department of Energy as a user expert and has served as a member of the Edison Electric Institute Electrification Committee. Claude was instrumental in the expansion of FPL’s Electrification Fleet in both in passenger and large trucks. In addition, his contributions to the research, development and construction of FPL’s emergency Mobile Command Center vehicle significantly impacted its recent deployment.

Claude has returned to his home state of Texas where his immediate family resides.

Roston Willis Roston Willis Appointed VP of Sales, National Accounts at LeasePlan USA

Roston Willis has been named Vice President of Sales, National Accounts at LeasePlan USA.

Willis has seven years of experience in fleet management sales and demonstrated previous high-performance results at Ryder Transportation. At LeasePlan, Willis analyzes prospective clients’ fleet operations to identify areas of savings and efficiencies. “I am excited to work for a company with two great priorities: providing the best service to its clients and encouraging employee engagement and growth,” Willis said.

Lisa Carter LeasePlan USA Names Lisa Carter VP of Client Relations, Regional Accounts

LeasePlan USA has appointed Lisa Carter to the position of Vice President of Client Relations, Regional Accounts.

Carter, who gained 11 years of experience in the fleet management industry at Merchants Fleet Management, now provides a high level of service to her clients at LeasePlan USA. Carter works to help clients reduce total cost of ownership and offer new solutions to create efficiencies. “I believe in providing world-class service and consultation to my clients in all areas of fleet management,” Carter said.

Fleet Marketing

Michael Surkan, Group Manager for Better Marketing with Analytics, recently pointed to a study of 1,700 chief marketing officers that found 59% of them have been unable to implement their planned digital marketing strategies and that 82% of CMOs felt unable to deal with the explosion of data that is being thrown at them.

The real problem uncovered in the study, however, is that CMOs are saying that they are now being judged on the revenue their marketing activities generate, NOT on the leads they find.

During my marketing career, a lead was marketing’s goal, and it was the job of sales to convert that lead into revenue. Remember the quote from Glengarry Glen Ross?

“These are the new leads. And to you they’re gold, and you don’t get them. Why? Because to give them to you would be throwing them away. They’re for closers.”

READ MORE

 
Now is a Good Time for Alt Fuels

We asked Amy Blaine, vice president of Strategic Consulting, Analytics and Sustainability at Donlen, to talk with us about the state of alternative fuel implementation by fleets that have recently enjoyed a respite from escalating fuel prices.

Blaine says, “My advice for fleets that are considering alternative fuels is that it still makes a lot of sense to continue your pilots, to continue your long term planning and put yourself in a good position for when fuel prices ultimately rise. You will be ahead of your competition and ready for the future.”

READ MORE

 
Fleet Asset Management

By Keith Trumbull, VP of Material Handling Equipment, Element Fleet Management

In order to make strategic decisions when it comes to asset management, it’s imperative to stay up-to-date on the latest trends. As a fleet manager, how do you manage your material handling equipment? Do you create partnerships with select manufacturers, work with warehouse managers at individual local branches, or do you employ a different method entirely?

The most common methods are partnering with a manufacturer or having individual warehouses oversee assets. However there are also challenges associated with these two approaches that should be considered when developing a material handling equipment strategy. Some fleet managers reference the lack of visibility into overall costs, inconsistent equipment capabilities, dependence on one manufacturer’s expertise and inconsistent policies as challenges for their organization. As company executives look for continuously higher levels of performance, they are exploring new ways to operate with fewer obstacles.

“Brand independent” management is one of the newest and most popular ways to organize and operate assets. Being brand independent simply means an organization is not aligned with a specific manufacturer or brand. So why are fleet managers increasingly turning to brand independent providers?

READ MORE







Fleet Trends & Issues


Donlen Updates Mobile Apps with new Productivity Enhancements to Benefit Fleets

Donlen has released new updates to its FleetWeb™ Mobile and DonlenDriver™ Mobile apps.

Fleet managers and drivers using the mobile apps will now have access to a new intelligent fuel station find feature that uses an advanced algorithm to locate the most economical fueling stations based on average fuel transaction price, vehicle mpg, driving distance and driver time.

The benefit will be reduced fuel spend as well as improved productivity. New customer-focused support enhancements also allow drivers and fleet managers to request assistance and approve maintenance purchase orders more efficiently.

READ MORE

Toyota, Nissan and Honda Team up to Create “Hydrogen Society”

In an unusual move, Japan’s three largest automakers have agreed to work tougher to help create what they’re calling a “hydrogen society.”

Toyota Motor Corp. has just launched its new Mirai fuel-cell vehicle, with Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. working up similar products. While proponents point out that these vehicles produce no harmful emissions, skeptics note that there are few places for potential buyers to fill their tanks with the lightweight fuel, so the three companies are promising to invest as much as 6 billion yen, or $50 million, to build and support a network of hydrogen filling stations in Japan.

READ MORE

Augusta, GA, Fleet Management Administrative Coordinator Accused Of Stealing Money

The Administrative Coordinator for Augusta’s Fleet Management Department has been arrested after being accused of stealing funds from the department.

On Tuesday, June 16th a Richmond County Sheriff’s Office investigator met with an Augusta Finance Department employee in reference to theft of money.

The Finance Department employee notified the investigator that for the past couple of months, her department, along with Fleet Management, have been looking into some missing money that was from sales of surplus items on GovDeals.com.

READ MORE

ARI Recognized as One of the 100 Best Workplaces for Millennials

ARI has been named one of the 100 Best Workplaces For Millennials in the United States by Fortune Magazine and the Great Place to Work® Institute. This is the inaugural year for this ranking, which was determined through anonymous surveys of nearly 90,000 millennial employees administered by the workplace culture experts at Great Place to Work.

“This is a tremendous honor,” said ARI President Chris Conroy. “Maintaining a culture where employees of all generations feel welcomed and have the opportunity to contribute, collaborate, learn and grow is incredibly important to us, and we’re proud to be recognized as a workplace where millennials are engaged and feel they can have a positive impact.”

READ MORE

Better Dashboards = More Informed Decisions

ARI has launched a suite of enhancements and new dashboards for its award-winning ARI insights® fleet management system. The fully-customizable dashboards are designed to improve analytic capabilities and usability by placing greater emphasis on data visualization.

“The underlying principle of our ARI insights system is to deliver the right information, to the right people, at the right time, allowing them to make the most informed decision possible,” said ARI Vice President of Product Development Tony Candeloro. “The latest system update leverages customizable widgets to improve data visualization. Key performance indicators, dynamic pie charts, trend lines and color-coded exception alerts help users quickly identify critical information about the real-time performance of their fleets.”

READ MORE

 
Positive Customer Experiences

Businesses today in nearly every industry are dealing with the changing expectations of millennials and other on-trend customers who are looking for a new style of customer experience and customer service.

For today, let’s see what lessons we can draw from an industry, automotive retail (car dealerships), that may not come to mind when you think of businesses with a model that appeals to a millennial mindset. In fact, the default at some old-school car dealerships can be exactly what millennials hate: slow, afraid of digital, nontransparent, and often patriarchal/condescending in how the dealership interacts with customers.

READ MORE and see the 5 Key Service Trends

 
Autonomous Vehicles and City Budgets

Self-driving cars and other emerging technologies are going to cut into municipal budgets nationwide, a panel of futurists says.

Imagine this brave new world:

• Autonomous cars that never speed, never run red lights — and owners who never get popped for drunken driving or pay a dime for traffic tickets.

• Robotic vehicles that deliver people and goods anywhere — and choke off income taxes from displaced taxi drivers and delivery-truck drivers.

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.