By Greg Neuman, Senior Manager of Quality Control, CEI

The word “used” has taken on a negative connotation in the automotive world, which is why dealers nowadays talk about selling “pre-owned” instead of “used” cars.

But as we all know, it can make sense to buy a pre-owned car, especially one that’s certified by the maker, because you can pay a lot less for a fine set of wheels than a brand-new one.

The same principle applies to collision repair: used parts can save fleets a tidy sum, as long as you can be sure the parts are in good shape. And that’s where you have to trust somebody who has your best interests in mind and knows what they’re doing.

READ MORE to learn how much you can save and the considerations involved.

By Mike Cieri, MSIR, Vice President of Mardac Consultants

One of the key functions of success for organization is to formulate strategies that will allow an organization to accomplish its mission and achieve its goals. One of the best techniques for accomplishing this is to use a SWOT analysis.

This strategy begins with analyzing the forces inside and outside of the organization that affect its ability to meet its goals now and in the future.

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, & Threats. Strengths & Weaknesses focus on the internal business environment, while Opportunities & Threats focus on the external business environment. Looking at both the internal & external environments gives you the ability to identified the potential threats that might harm the company and produce opportunities that you might take advantage of.

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By Kelly Frey, Vice President Product Marketing, Telogis

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) passed a new rule in December 2015 regarding the use of Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) in commercial motor vehicles in which drivers are mandated to record their Hours of Service (HOS).

While new mandates are generally met with a collective sigh and an eye roll, there are significant operational benefits that can come along with the new technology. And as more OEMs build in mobile enterprise management (MEM) systems into their vehicles at the factory, implementation will become even easier.

Service and technology providers are working to make it as simple as possible to implement, and equally as simple for the driver to interact with, the technology. Telogis, for instance, currently provides MEM platform solutions to many of the major commercial vehicle OEMs. In these cases, the necessary ELD hardware will be pre-installed in new vehicles, helping to lower the new hardware costs associated with compliance.

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Car Connection

Over the past several years, we’ve spilled a fair amount of virtual ink on the subject of distracted driving and its effect on the nation’s traffic fatality rate. What we haven’t discussed very often is the subject of distracted walking, which many blame for an uptick in pedestrian fatalities.

But distracted walking may finally have its moment in the sun. A member of the New Jersey Assembly is sponsoring legislation that would make it a crime to text while walking.

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The Detroit Bureau

Conventional wisdom suggests that Millennials are all moving to urban centers, buying bikes and giving up their drivers’ licenses. But, like so many other popular perceptions, that’s not quite on target.

If anything, studies suggest that as Gen-Y ages, members of this tech-savvy generation are heading back to the suburbs, starting families and, yes, even buying cars. Indeed, new research by Bankrate.com finds Millennials more likely to buy a car than any other age group over the coming year.

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Forbes

Last week, Americans paid an average $2.08 a gallon to fill up their cars and trucks at the gas pump.  That’s a far cry from the $3.52 a gallon paid this time in 2014, or the $3.87 a gallon paid back in 2012.

The drop in prices has largely been good news for American consumers, pumping an extra $95 billion into their pockets in 2015 compared to 2014. To put that in context, the 2011 payroll tax cut netted consumers a total of about $109 billion.

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The New York Times

Dr. Keith Tao, a radiologist in Danville, Calif., owns three late-model Mercedeses, each equipped with a fuel-saving technology called start-stop.

The system saves fuel and reduces emissions by cutting the engine when the car comes to a full stop and restarting when the foot is taken off the brake.

One of the first things Dr. Tao does after starting the engine: He turns off the feature.

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glassBytes

As automakers and technology companies move full steam ahead to produce fully autonomous vehicles in the near future, a big question is whether or not consumers are ready for self-driving vehicles?

New study results from AAA indicate consumers may not be ready. Three-quarters of Americans are “afraid” to ride in a self-driving vehicle, according to the research.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), a precursor to autonomous vehicles, has potential to change the way the AGRR industry does business. Why? Because these systems include cameras, which are often connected to the windshield.

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By Brian Matuszewski, Manager, Sustainable Strategies, ARI

As fleets have become more complex, the challenges fleet managers are facing on a day-to-day basis have also become more complex.

More often than not these days, companies and organizations are often multidimensional, multinational entities, crossing borders and oceans, incorporating multiple languages as a routine course of business, and requiring the adherence to a variety of laws, regulations and rules from different governments and authorities.

And, just as organizations have evolved, fleet management decision-making has evolved right along with it. Fleet management has grown from being a situation where most commonly a single person – the fleet manager – was the decision maker to one where many different stakeholders may have an interest in how decisions are made. From risk to human resources to finance to the c-suite – everyone seems to want to weigh in on fleet. One stakeholder who is likely to have a particularly strong interest is – you guessed it – the sustainability manager.

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The Washington Post

Driving at night is one of the most dangerous activities you can do in a car.

Research from the federal government has shown that you’re three times more likely to die in a nighttime car crash than in a daytime accident.

That figure is no doubt heightened by the effects of drunken and drowsy driving — but poor night vision can also play a role.

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