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October 18, 2016

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Editor's Analysis & Top Industry News


Customer Driven: ‘Just One More Thing’

We are excited about our newest monthly column “Customer Driven” which debuts this week. Authored by Laura Jozwiak, Senior Vice President of Sales and Client Relations at Wheels, Inc., her opening article is titled “Just One More – The Difference Between Average and Exceptional.”

Laura says, “What you do above and beyond the norm is what creates customer loyalty, trust and superior service. Some of the best service organizations understand this and engage their culture accordingly. Many of us are continuously looking for ways to impress and dedicate themselves to the client experience. It often can be just that one more thing that takes us from average to exceptional.”

After I read Laura’s column, I thought about the “one more thing” I could do, and I did it!

Janice Sutton
Editor in Chief


Thought Leadership

Fleet Marketing – Guiding principles for fleet providers to improve marketing and increase sales.

Fleet Asset Management – Best practices for work truck management.

On Accident Management Learn ways to save money on your fleet’s collision repair costs.

Safety & Risk — Impactful driver safety and risk management tools and techniques.

The Fleet CX Toolbox – Solid steps to implementing and improving fleet customer experience.

The Sustainable Fleet – Strategic approaches to bring about a smarter, cleaner fleet.

BIG Data. BIG Results. BIG Future– Harnessing big data to achieve big results using cutting edge technology.

Customer Driven — Engage your organization to create customer loyalty, trust and superior service.

Talent Management – Smart guidelines to help you manage the talent in your workplace.


jozwiak-laura

VIDEO: Delivering Clients the Results They Need

Clients need results – now more than ever. And Wheels is in the business of proactively providing the strategic direction and insights to deliver the results their clients need.



VIDEO: Negligent Entrustment
martines-robert
  Negligent Entrustment: A Bigger Problem Than Most Fleet Managers Realize
 

There are too many people behind the wheel of company vehicles who absolutely should not be — and that’s a recipe for disaster. Not to mention lawsuits.


VIDEO: Fleet Remarketing
kontos-september
  Kontos Commentary from ADESA – September 2016 Edition
 

In the latest Kontos Kommentary, Tom Kontos, Executive Vice President, Customer Strategies and Analytics at ADESA, provides his insight and updates regarding used vehicle market conditions. To read the entire Kontos Kommentary for September 2016, visit https://www.adesa.com/kontos-kommentary.





The Fleet Spot


edriving-fico eDriving and Consumer Scoring Pioneer FICO Announce Strategic Partnership and New Driver Safety Score

eDriving has partnered with leading analytics software firm FICO to launch new scoring algorithms to capture driving behavior and develop a transformational risk predictor — the FICO® Safe Driving Score.

Just as the FICO® Score is the standard measure of consumer credit risk, used by all players in the credit ecosystem, the FICO Safe Driving Score will provide a measure that facilitates consistency and fairness in driver safety assessment.

The strategic partnership between eDriving and FICO will be one of the centerpieces of a new “closed loop” driver training and improvement offering by eDriving, called Mentor™. The Mentor offering will initially serve two key marketplace segments: the fleet market and the teen/novice market, with expected launch dates in Q4 2016 and Q1 2017, respectively.

READ MORE

ARI Logo ARI Earns Spot on Inaugural Analytics 50 Ranking with Fuel Cost Reduction Program

The ARI Fuel Cost Reduction Program, which has helped companies better understand, manage and reduce their annual fuel costs by improving driver behavior and identifying less expensive gas stations, has earned the company a place on the first-ever Analytics 50 ranking.

“Fuel is one of the biggest expenses for a fleet and our customers have asked us to help them proactively examine and reduce their fuel costs,” said Steve Haindl, executive vice president of technology and innovation. “Our program analyzes the data a fleet returns to help manage miles per gallon and cost per gallon, easily the two metrics that impact the cost of fuel the most.”

READ MORE

cunningham-michele Michele Cunningham Named Innovator of the Year by Baltimore’s Daily Record

Element Fleet Management announced that Michele Cunningham, senior vice president, Products & Services, is an honoree of The Daily Record’s 2016 Innovator of the Year Awards..

The award recognizes Element’s next-generation fleet management platform, an undertaking overseen by Cunningham. The database management system – used by leading consumer brands including Netflix, Spotify and Apple – is designed as a foundation for advanced analytics, intuitive designs and mobile apps that make fleet management smarter and more productive, while also keeping drivers safer.

“I am thrilled to accept this award on behalf of Element and the Information Technology and Products & Services team members who worked tirelessly to make this central hub for fleet data a reality,” said Cunningham.

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midway-specialty-vehicles Wheels Recognizes Midway Specialty Vehicles as First Upfit Supplier of the Year

Wheels, Inc. has recognized Midway Specialty Vehicles as the recipient of its inaugural Upfit Supplier of the Year Award for superior performance, exemplary service and innovation.

The award was presented to Midway’s executive team: Mike Violi, President; Gary Mathers, Chief Financial Officer; Russ Gilpin, Vice President of Sales; Brad Brubaker, Director Engineering; and Kathy Franklin, Executive Administration on October 4th, 2016 at the Midway facility in Elkhart, IN.

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Customer Driven

By Laura Jozwiak, Senior Vice President of Sales and Client Relations, Wheels, Inc.

What an honor it is to be asked to contribute to Fleet Management Weekly, especially regarding a topic I am passionate about – customer service!

My mission with this column is to engage with the extensive and varied experiences of the fleet industry on this important topic. I invite you all to take part in the conversation that will, hopefully, inspire each of us to strive for more — more positive results, more exceptional experiences, and more trusted relationships.

It often can be just that one more thing that takes us from average to exceptional. Actually, the difference between average customer service and exceptional customer service is relatively small. I think about the ‘one degree’ rule. At 211 degrees Fahrenheit, water is hot. At 212 degrees, water starts boiling and turns to steam. Steam can power locomotives, factories and ships. Hot water can’t.

What you do above and beyond the norm is what creates customer loyalty, trust and superior service.

READ MORE

 
Safety & Risk

By Art Liggio, President, Driving Dynamics

Boom! Bang! Crunch! Ouch!

No— this is not the beginning of a 60s Batman TV episode. However, it may just be the beginning of a real-life nightmare: One that every employer and driver hope never to experience. I am referring to an avoidable crash created as a result of an employee operating a vehicle for company business who has poor to no qualifications to do so safely. Unfortunately, this scenario plays out every day.

You would think that the loss of property, the harm done to those involved in a crash, lost productivity, and rated insurance premiums would be a severe enough blow for any business to deal with but, sadly, it may just be the tip of the iceberg if your employees’ qualifications to operate vehicles are subpar. Employees not properly screened and trained to perform driving duties create a severe liability exposure for employers known as negligent entrustment.”

We’ll take a look at the issue of negligent entrustment; describe what it entails, potential exposure, and methods you can employ to avoid this potentially, devastating liability nightmare.

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The Whistleblower Program

By John E. Anderson, Sr.

The success of the auto industry is dependent in large part upon on safety, and the Federal Government has taken action to ensure that safety remains priority.

In December 2015, President Obama signed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, better known as the FAST Act, to begin long-term efforts to improve the state of ground transportation in the United States. All automotive companies—from the original equipment manufacturer, to the parts supplier, and the dealer will have to abide by a new set of regulations.

Under the FAST Act, a new automotive industry safety initiative took effect— the Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Program (MVSWP). The MVSWP is designed to incentivize potential whistleblowers to report companies for attempting to cover up defects or failing to comply with reporting requirements for defects that are “likely to cause unreasonable risk of death or serious physical injury.”

READ MORE








Fleet Trends & Issues


4 Best Practices for Remarketing Your Fleet Vehicles

Navigating Fleet Remarketing

All fleet managers, regardless of the size or purpose of their fleet,have to remarket their vehicles at some point. With multiple remarketing channels, an ever-changing market and constantly evolving technology in the fleet industry, selling your vehicle can seem like a challenging task. But it doesn’t have to be.

In a new whitepaper, Donlen has compiled a list of detailed best practices to implement throughout the remarketing process. No matter what type of vehicle you are trying to sell, you’re likely to gain better returns. Download the whitepaper and learn how you can get the most bang for your buck when remarketing your fleet vehicles.

‘An Incredible Failure of Leadership’: Apple’s Car Project Seems Wracked With Internal Strife

Business Insider

Apple’s ambitious car project is in danger of being cut, as hundreds of members of the team working on it have left or been reassigned, Mark Gurman and Alex Webb reported Monday at Bloomberg.

The key to the report is that Apple’s car team has been rudderless and has had issues with direction and internal strife.

“It was an incredible failure of leadership,” a source told Bloomberg.

In fact, the division, codenamed “Project Titan,” has reportedly been given a deadline in late 2017 under its new leadership before the company decides whether the project is working or worth pursuing further, though the company could decide to revisit building its own car if it gets mothballed.

READ MORE

Teen Driver Safety Week October 16-22, 2016

AAA

National Teen Driver Safety Week takes place from October 16-22, 2016.

AAA surveyed driving instructors to compile a list of the top mistakes teen drivers make when learning to drive:

  • Poor Visual Scanning: Driving with tunnel vision and not properly scanning the road for risks or hazards.
  • Speeding: Traveling over posted speed limits.
  • Distraction: Interacting with a cell phone, talking with passengers or looking at other objects in the vehicle.

READ MORE

Will Car Users Share Their Personal Data?

McKinsey & Co.

Surveyed consumers in China, Germany, and the United States say yes, if they see value in return.

Advanced data analytics comes with a significant set of challenges, such as determining data quality, rendering data in functional form, and creating sophisticated algorithms to achieve practical insight.

But one of the first problems to solve is whether the data can be viewed at all.

This can be especially sensitive when companies seek personal information from private individuals. Will people share the data they have? And if so, what kind?

READ MORE

Collecting and Analyzing Data

Forbes

Companies have historically managed assets such as property, plants, equipment, inventory, cash, and intellectual property. In today’s digital world, a new type of asset is emerging: data.

Companies are reporting, collecting, and analyzing data in vast volumes. It’s becoming a key measure of whether a company will remain relevant through the digital revolution as we enter the era of cognitive computing.

Data originates from many new sources and is increasingly becoming easier to collect and analyze.

READ MORE

 
The Internet of Everything

The New York Times

When Bruce Wayne rolled up to his Bat Cave, a roadblock dropped automatically, the camouflaged garage door swung open, the lights flickered on and Alfred was already standing by.

It has been 50 years since that vision of Batman in his tricked-out Lincoln Futura appeared on TV. But now automakers, communications companies and technology companies want to turn every car into an interconnected Batmobile.

The car is going to become another node in the internet of things,” said Kamyar Moinzadeh, chief executive of Airbiquity, a Seattle software and engineering company specializing in vehicle tracking and telematics.

READ MORE

 
Catching Up with Technology

The Washington Post

How long will it be, do you think, until companies such as Amazon start delivering packages to you by drone?

If that prospect seems fantastical to you, you’re not alone. According to a survey published Tuesday by the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General, 57 percent of people are either neutral about it or think it’s a bad idea. Seventy-five percent of people think drone delivery is five years away at best; the rest think it will take even longer, if it happens at all.

There are some good reasons to think this timeline is accurate, which we will get into below. But the survey also reveals something else: Our skepticism of the technology may be a factor. That finding, which has been expressed in policy as a relatively slow approach to drone testing, helps shed important light on how technology adoption works more broadly. Here’s how.

READ MORE








Fleet Management Resources
 
AFLA – Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association
Providing the advanced forum for corporate fleet professionals to network with industry leaders.
The CEI Group Inc.
CEI is North America’s largest provider of fully integrated fleet accident management, driver safety and risk management services.
NAFA Fleet Management Association
NAFA is the association for the diverse vehicle fleet management profession regardless of organizational type, geographic location, or fleet composition.
AmeriFleet
Offering a nationwide vehicle delivery and relocation service; serving the corporate and commercial fleet industry.
Donlen
Since 1965, Donlen has been the fleet management industry’s leading provider of comprehensive, integrated financing and asset management solutions — and that spirit of innovation continues today.
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.
Driving Dynamics
Driving Dynamics was established to help corporate fleet drivers develop expert, safe driving skills using proven, advanced driving techniques.
Wheels, Inc.
First in fleet for 76 years. Wheels helps you build tomorrow’s fleet today.



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