FleetManagementWeekly AmeriFleet
January 24, 2017

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Editor's Analysis & Top Industry News


Heading Our Way: The Driverless Car

Much of the technology for the driverless car is in place today and a great deal more is in development. We feature a number of articles from various sources about the long drive to autonomous vehicles, and the dominant theme is safety.

Columnist Jeff Schlesinger’s article The Race for the Driverless Car Accelerates’ gives us an excellent review of where we are today. He says, “Fleet managers should embrace this fast-approaching technology. With safety as one of the top, if not the top, priority for all fleet managers, and the increased press of driverless vehicles, questions will surely arise as to the short- and long-term plans for the company’s fleet policy to adopt this technology.”

We are a media sponsor for the International Fleet Meeting: Outstanding speakers and excellent networking for people who work with multinational fleets. March 8th in Geneva, Switzerland. What a venue!

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 Fleet Driver 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.

Guidance for the Multinational Fleet — An expert’s view on the global 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.


VIDEO: Finding the Best (and Safest) Drivers

Finding the best drivers starts with safety – of course. But it also encompasses other important things – like no tobacco usage, and knowing how to use a smart phone.



VIDEO: Driver Training

  Why Driver Training Often Fails
 

Like any sort of behavior modification, successful driver training comes slowly and incrementally. But it the positive changes it teaches can last forever.


VIDEO: Fleet Remarketing
  Kontos Kommentary – December 2016 Edition
 

In the latest Kontos Kommentary, Tom Kontos, Chief Economist at KAR Auction Services, provides his insight and updates regarding used vehicle market conditions. To read the entire Kontos Kommentary for December 2016, visit https://www.adesa.com/kontos-kommentary.





The Fleet Spot


FLEXY Awards: Celebrating Exceptional Individuals

Submission deadline for 2017 Fleet Excellence Awards extended to February 3rd!

NAFA welcomes individuals and teams to submit an entry for the 2017 Fleet Excellence Awards. Three finalists for each award will be chosen for both public fleets and corporate fleets. In addition, one award will be presented in the area of fleet leadership. Click here to learn more about the awards and the submission process.

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Outgoing NHTSA Exec Fears Auto Safety Slide

The Detroit News

The outgoing head of the government agency charged with keeping highways safe is worried that auto safety won’t be a priority for the incoming Trump administration.

Rosekind, a Ph.D. sleep expert drafted from investigating airplane crashes and other mishaps, said the agency has come a long way from the days when it failed to connect clues about faulty General Motors ignition switches, and was too accepting of Takata’s explanations for lethal exploding air bags.

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A Math Lesson in Service

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

Ready for some math? You may not think math has anything to do with customer service and continuous improvement, but it certainly does!

Before you groan over a math lesson, give me a chance to explain. It starts with my dog, Fred. Fred is a Shepherd / Labrador mix that loves to go on walks with me. It was during one of these walks that I discovered a podcast from Tom Ziglar (son of Zig). During one of his episodes, he shared a simple formula that resonated with me and that I continue to apply:

  • Attitude x Effort x Skill = Results
  • Each attribute is given a rating from 0 to 3
  • The optimal result would be a great Attitude (3) x unwavering Effort (3) x expertise in your Skill (3) would give you a Result of a 27
  • Anything less, is well, less.

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Save the Date: International Fleet Meeting

If you oversee an international fleet, Geneva, Switzerland will be the place to be on March 8, 2017!

Held on the second press day of the Geneva International Motor Show, the International Fleet Meeting features speakers Markus A. Falk, CFE, VP and Head of Global Procurement Organization SAP SE; and Jürgen Freitag, Head of Global Commodity Fleet, Siemans AG, and Harald van Meel, Head of International Key Account Management FS-AG. They will be followed by a panel discussion.

This is an outstanding opportunity to network with global fleet professionals!

Guidance for the Multinational Fleet

By Jeff Schlesinger

Imagine sitting in the back of the car, reviewing a presentation, while an invisible chauffeur drives you to your meetings.

The advancements in the self- driving vehicle in the last year have been nothing short of extraordinary, and I have enthusiastically read and watched as each article offers additional information to this ever-changing, complex innovation.

As I researched the technology for this long-term vision, it became apparent that the transition from today’s driver-enhanced vehicle to the true driverless car of the future is filled with exciting safety developments.

Fleet managers should embrace this fast-approaching technology. With safety as one of the top, if not the top, priority for all fleet managers, and the increased press of driverless vehicles, questions will surely arise as to the short- and long-term plans for the company’s fleet policy to adopt this technology.

READ MORE

 
The Fleet CX Toolkit

When customers don’t understand your terminology or topics, they can’t appreciate your product.

By Wendy Eichenbaum

I was listening to the podcast Code Switch, which examines race and culture in America. During the episode, the panel pondered how much context to provide when exploring topics. The speakers discussed the dilemma of including this context: adding explanations might water down the experience, but refraining from explanations could confuse listeners who did not have the background.

I realized that they were debating the very same issue that I discussed in my article on the knowledge gap. The sum of a user’s knowledge is the current knowledge point. The amount of knowledge a user needs to complete a task is the target knowledge point. When there is a gap between the two points, an interface does not feel intuitive to a user.

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Autonomous Yes, But Safe?

Scientific American

Automakers ask drivers to trust and share the nation’s roadways with autonomous vehicles, but there is no easy answer as to when they will be considered ”safe”

Tech giants and carmakers have poured massive amounts of money and effort into developing cars that can drive themselves.

“Sometimes I hear [the] industry talk about autonomous vehicles as though they’re about to put the safest driver on the road,” says Nidhi Kalra, senior information scientist at the nonprofit RAND Corp.

“The reality is it’s more like putting a teenage driver on the road.” But she still thinks artificially intelligent autos should be able to improve their driving and decision-making skills very quickly—without having to be grounded.

But before Google, Tesla, Uber and others can persuade humans to share their streets with bots, they have to prove this technology—although definitely still learning and maturing—doesn’t amount to flooding the nation’s roadways with dangerously adolescent robot drivers.

READ MORE








Fleet Trends & Issues


New Auto Tech Gives Way to More Safety, Comfort

The Detroit News

Companies crafting the vehicles of the future say the machines will be safer, more comfortable and infinitely more useful once they’re programmed to drive themselves, which is leading some to drastically change interior layouts.

New technology is being deployed inside mock “cockpits,” and companies are developing prototypes and concepts with tactile surfaces, digital displays, biological sensors in seats, retractable screens and trays, augmented-reality screens and advanced alert systems all aimed at making a driver safer and more comfortable.

READ MORE

Only One In Four Americans Trust Autonomous Vehicles Right Now

Jalopnik

The auto shows this month may have been nothing short of a driverless-tech wonderland, but carmakers have to participate in trust falls with consumers, or some sort of icebreaker, if they’re serious about bringing about an autonomous revolution.

The findings from a new Deloitte study suggest nearly 75 percent of the U.S. doesn’t believe self-driving cars will be safe. Damn.

The study surveyed 22,000 consumers from 17 countries on self-driving cars, powertrain systems and their willingness to spend for the high-tech gadgetry, but the biggest takeaway was the level of trust in AV technology.

READ MORE

Is Amazon Moving into the Autonomous Vehicle Industry?

Road Show by Cnet

A newly granted patent may give us some hints as to what the service giant has up its sleeve.

Amazon has a whole bunch of ideas up its sleeve, some of which are a bit more… interesting than others. One of its latest patents tackles a problem that could affect a wide swath of future self-driving cars.

The US Patent and Trademark Office just granted Amazon a patent for a system that deals with self-driving cars and reversible lanes. After all, how would a self-driving car handle a lane that could hold oncoming traffic at seemingly arbitrary times?

READ MORE

Trump Threats Could Inadvertently Encourage More Mexican Auto Investments

NBC News

President-elect Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on Mexican auto imports has collapsed the peso — which has ironically made Mexico a more inviting location for American manufacturers.

Trump has repeatedly warned automakers they could be hit with a 35 percent tariff on imports, but some observers believe such threats could actually make it more attractive to invest south of the border.

Several high-level auto industry officials told NBC News that a sharp slump in the price of the peso could more than offset any import tariffs, leading them to consider new Mexican manufacturing options.

READ MORE

Moral Dilemmas

The Chicago Tribune

Imagine you’re behind the wheel when your brakes fail. As you speed toward a crowded crosswalk, you’re confronted with an impossible choice: veer right and mow down a large group of elderly people or veer left into a woman pushing a stroller.

Now imagine you’re riding in the back of a self-driving car. How would it decide?

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are asking people worldwide how they think a robot car should handle such life-or-death decisions.

READ MORE

 
Safety & Risk

By Art Liggio, President, Driving Dynamics

While vehicle types, traffic conditions and behavioral issues have greatly changed since the first driver education course in 1934, just how well have we kept up with preparing people to drive safely—especially those who spend hours each week behind-the-wheel for work?

As a fleet operator (non-CDL), do you think, based on an average of only six hours of formal behind-the-wheel training, the drivers in your fleet have come to you with an optimum level skill to operate a vehicle safely? Are these great drivers?

READ MORE

 
Fuel Cell Vehicles

The Detroit Bureau

Fuel-cell vehicles will take longer to popularize than other recent green car technologies, such as hybrids, the chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. said during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The Japanese automaker has been an active proponent of hydrogen power, last year launching in the U.S. its first retail fuel-cell vehicle, the Toyota Mirai. There are now two other FCVs on the market, including the Honda Clarity and a version of the Hyundai Tucson, with several other automakers expected to bring their own models to market over the next several years.

But while public acceptance of the original hybrid-electric vehicle, the Toyota Prius, was “much faster than we had anticipated,” Takeshi Uchiyamada told a reporter for Bloomberg news, that’s not likely to happen with vehicles like the Mirai, the chairman said, because “the infrastructure needs to be prepared before it becomes major in the market.”

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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