FleetManagementWeekly AmeriFleet
July 11, 2017

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Editor's Analysis & Top Industry News


Get Smart About Negligent Entrustment

Fleets are so vulnerable to negligent entrustment lawsuits. In ‘On Fleet Driver Management’, CEI’s Kevin Reilly presents the third installment of a compelling four-part series on this critical issue. In this segment, Kevin talks to the importance of investing in newer vehicle technology to avert liability exposure.

Hat’s off to Kate Vigneau, CAFM®, NAFA’s indefatigable director of professional development, and its CEO and visionary Phil Russo as the dynamic organization continues to expand its gold-standard fleet education and training to organizations such as the National Property Management Association.

Enjoy the issue and check our website FleetManagementWeekly.com for daily updates on the latest news of interest to the fleet industry.

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.

Globally Speaking — Perspectives on the Multinational Fleets

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

On Fleet Driver Management Solutions to improve your fleet’s accident rate and cut costs on collision repairs

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

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

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

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


VIDEO: Driver Training -- One More Second Teaches Drivers to Be Safe on the Road

One More Second is composed of 2.5 hours of key training across 8 modules — teaching drivers how be safe and stay safe on the road.



VIDEO: The AFLA Conference

  Getting Excited for AFLA in Las Vegas
 

This year’s AFLA conference is at the M Resort in Las Vegas, and offers a fantastic lineup of topics and speakers, plus plenty of time built in for networking. Don’t miss it!


VIDEO: Insurance and Multinational Fleets
  Helping Multinational Fleets Choose the Right Insurance
 

Fleet Insurance Plus helps multinational fleets understand how effectively and economically structured their insurance programs are – as well as how their insurance can be improved.





The Fleet Spot


NAFA Instructs Asset Management Execs on Supplier Relations, Fleet Challenges and Sustainable Options

NAFA Fleet Management Association (NAFA) has accepted an invitation from the National Property Management Association (NPMA) to speak to hundreds of asset management executives at NPMA’s 2017 National Education Seminar (NES) in Phoenix later this month.

Recognizing NAFA’s best-in-class, standard-setting education and training, NPMA has scheduled NAFA to teach its conference attendees about fleet supplier relations, current challenges in the fleet sector, and creating sustainable fleet options.

READ MORE

Manheim Reports Used Vehicle Prices for Q2 End on High Note

The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index hit a record high for the second consecutive month as wholesale used vehicle prices (on a mix-, mileage- and seasonally adjusted basis) rose 1.1 percent month-over-month in June.

The increase brought the Index reading to 129.3, which also represented a 2.5 percent increase from a year ago.

“The volume of transactions is up more dramatically than supply thanks to real demand from dealers and, in turn, consumers,” said Jonathan Smoke, chief economist for Cox Automotive.

READ MORE

Time to Convert to Fixed-Rate Leases? Talk to Your Finance Department

By Mark Boada, Senior Editor

With short-term interest rates rising, fleets have a critical decision to make: whether to exercise the one-time option of converting their floating-rate leases to a fixed rate.

The upside to a conversion is the avoidance of a possible stream of higher expenses, potentially to the point where short-term, floating rates are higher than fixed rates. The downside is an increase in interest expenses for the remaining life of the lease.

READ MORE

10 Best Practices to Reduce Fleet Risk

Are you aware of the benefits of benchmarking? The best methods of communicating policies and procedures with employees? Ways to reinforce defensive driving techniques?

The Best of the Best

Having worked with some of the world’s most successful fleets for over 20 years, eDriving has garnered 10 best practices to help ALL fleets better manage risk. Refresh your knowledge of essential risk management practices and discover additional opportunities to enhance existing road safety policies.

The eDriving Fleet Driver Risk Management guide will help fleets of all sizes and experience levels.

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE GUIDE NOW

On Fleet Driver Management

Part three of a four-part series on negligent entrustment: Invest in new technologies to avert liability exposure.

By Kevin Reilly, Editorial Communications Manager, The CEI Group, Inc.

Part one of my negligent entrustment series summarized the main grounds for a fleet-related negligent entrustment case. Part two addressed how a fleet manager could build a transparent, fair, and enforceable safety policy to help safeguard the fleet from exposure to this form of liability. Part three walks through technologies unrelated to the vehicle. I will outline the importance of investing in these newer technologies to ward off liability exposure.

READ MORE

 
Fleet Asset Management

By: Elise Hardy, Regional Vice President, Material Handling Equipment Sales, Element Fleet Management

Fleet safety – for all asset types – is something every organization strives to improve. Safe use of material handling equipment allows for a more productive warehouse working environment.

In case you missed it National Forklift Safety Day was last month and here are some tips to help you spread the word on material handling equipment safety:

1. Ensure proper training. Each operator should be well-trained and qualified to operate the equipment. Element offers a variety of different training programs to ensure your operators are OSHA compliant. We offer individual operator training and a train-the-trainer program, all customized to meet your specific needs.

2. Complete a thorough inspection. Conduct a pre-shift inspection of the forklift, including brakes, steering, warning devices, safety devices, mast, tires and controls. Note any issues and do not use damaged equipment until it is fixed or repaired.

READ MORE

 
Talent Management

By Mike Cieri

The ultimate purpose of performance coaching is the systematic and specific identification of a subordinate’s developmental needs.

Coaching involves three main processes: communicating, influencing, and helping. When communicating, the manager listens, initiates and responds, and gives feedback. We talked about effective communicating in a previous column.

When influencing, the manager persuades the subordinate to move in a particular direction by positively reinforcing desirable behavior.

When helping, the manager expresses concern and empathy for the subordinate, establishes the mutuality of the relationship, and assists the subordinate in identifying his or her developmental needs.

READ MORE









Fleet Trends & Issues


Vehicles as Weapons of Terror: U.S. Cities on Alert as Attacks hit the West

The Washington Post

Last month, attackers using a vehicle and knives killed eight people and wounded dozens more on London Bridge.

A few weeks later in an incident nearby, a man drove into people leaving mosques after Ramadan services, killing one and injuring 10.

And in May, a man driving in New York’s Times Square plowed into a crowd during lunchtime, killing one person and injuring 22. While authorities said the incident was not terrorism, the Islamic State, inspired by the crash, used it to warn that more attacks on the nation’s largest city and popular tourist destinations would follow.

READ MORE

Data Driven: One Day Your Car Will Know All Your Habits

The Detroit News

Picture this: You’re checking your friends’ Facebook updates on the windshield display screen while your car drives you to the other side of town.

Suddenly, a coupon for a special deal at the Applebee’s a mile ahead pops up because the car remembers you stopped there two months ago. It asks if you’d like to pre-order your two-for-one special so it’s ready when you arrive. Then it sniffs out the spot closest to the front door and parks you.

It’s a scene that could play out in the not-so-distant future.

READ MORE

Cars are Full of Tech That Gets Outdated Fast — So People are Leasing, not Buying

Los Angeles Times

Buy a smartphone, use it for a couple of years, then ditch it for something new and improved.

It’s a life cycle that has become the norm for cellphones. Now, that same short-term relationship is applying to what traditionally has been a long-term commitment: cars.

Instead of buying a vehicle, more Americans are shifting to leasing, which allows drivers to utilize a new or used car for a limited amount of time, typically three years.

READ MORE

Driverless Car Battle Lines Get Blurry

The Detroit News

In the earliest years of the push to bring driverless and electric cars to the American masses, the narrative came easily: It was Silicon Valley and its high-tech wizardry squaring off against the old-school manufacturing power of Detroit.

The question of who will lead the development and manufacturing of autonomous and electric cars remains, carrying the weight of who will benefit from the jobs and revenues they create. An April 3 posting on Wired told readers “Detroit is Stomping Silicon Valley.” Two days later, Robotics Trends declared “No, Detroit Isn’t Beating Silicon Valley.”

The answer may lie somewhere in between.

READ MORE

The Dangers of Road Rage

Philly.com

David Desper regularly kept a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson semiautomatic handgun in the center console of his red Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, according to a friend.

Desper owned other weapons and sometimes went to the Targetmaster shooting range in Chadds Ford, said the friend, Greg Parker, who had worked with Desper for three years.

But Parker is convinced that Desper never used that gun outside of a shooting range before about 5:30 p.m. on June 28. That’s when, investigators allege, the 28-year-old Trainer man shot and killed Bianca Roberson, 18, as the two were jockeying for position at 60 mph on a stretch of Route 100 in West Goshen Township where two lanes narrow to one.

READ MORE

 
Fleet Marketing

If you force your email content on anyone too early, you risk preemptively losing their trust and their future business.

By Ed Pierce, Fleet Industry Marketer

Last month, I wrote about one of the more expensive marketing scams – vanity trade magazine offers by unknown industry publishers that promote glossy publications that none of your target market will ever see (unless you hand them one of your own copies).

This month, let’s review another common pitch that sounds good at first blush, but turns out to be “too good to be true.”

READ MORE

 
Banning Gas-Powered Cars?

Fortune

France this week announced a bold plan to ban the sale of all fully-gasoline and diesel fuel vehicles by 2040.

Other countries, like India and Norway have expressed interest in similar plans. But could, or should, the United States implement such a policy?

The answer, experts say, is complicated. One problem is the country’s mixed attitude towards climate change. Some early adopters of electric vehicles are buying the cars to be more eco-friendly. But that motivation wouldn’t drive the 52% of Americans who don’t believe human activity is changing the climate.

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 78 years. Wheels helps you build tomorrow’s fleet today.



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