By Randy Shadley, CAFM

Did you know that 20% of a fleet’s vehicles will be involved in a crash each year?

That’s the number that most often appears when you do an Internet search on “average crash rate for fleet vehicles.” So, how do your numbers compare? Unless you are far below that average (think 10% or less), you know you could make a huge improvement for your organization. If only your management would let you spend a little money you could save a lot (of money, productivity, even lives!). But how do you get them to loosen the purse strings? Today’s column focuses on just that.

A frustrating reality of the fleet safety industry is that it can be difficult to determine how many lives were saved, injuries were prevented, or budgets were spared as a direct result of your actions. I mean, how can you prove that a crash did not happen just because of the policies and procedures you implemented? Sound impossible?

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The following article comes from LeasePlan’s Global Fleet Insights Blog by Mathijs van der Goot, Consultant, LeasePlan International B.V. on January 15, 2015.

On January 6, 2015, the average oil price slipped below $50 per barrel for the first time since 2009. The oil price has dropped by 49 percent in one year. This large change in the price of oil has a promising effect on the fuel prices. Approximately 20 percent of the Total Cost of Ownership of a fleet is fuel costs; hence this topic deserves better understanding.

Why is the oil price falling, and what is the effect on the fuel costs of your fleet?

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Those who aspire to get the absolute best deal on a new car or truck need to look beyond the transaction price and consider how much each individual element of ownership will cost over time, relative to competing makes and models.

A buyer who chooses a particular vehicle primarily to save a few dollars up front might actually lose money over time if his or her choice depreciates more quickly over time than a competing vehicle and/or costs more to finance, insure, maintain, repair and keep the gas tank filled.

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Donlen officially launched Donlen Dealer Direct, a new and unique remarketing channel designed to improve returns for customers.

Donlen Dealer Direct allows Donlen to access a broad buyer base of fleet-focused dealers throughout the country. With over 100 dedicated sales people promoting Donlen vehicles to these dealers directly, all sales bypass the auction channel. As a result, the returns to our customers are higher.

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Azuga launched the industry’s first-ever awards program this month. Azuga Safe Driving Awards is designed to motivate and incentivize both fleet managers and drivers to practice safer, more efficient driving.

The quarterly program, initiated and funded by Azuga, will help fleet managers increase overall ROI and, ultimately increase safety in the communities where they live and work.

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Since hitting the mass market about five years ago, electric vehicles have failed to take off, largely, experts say, because a robust network of public charging stations has not been built.

Car companies, retail chains and members of an infant charger industry have announced partnership after partnership to build the stations, but their number still falls well short of what is needed to nudge millions of drivers into making the switch, analysts say.

But now, if major electric utilities have their way, that could change.

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A U.S. senator is urging the Justice Department to investigate insurance companies and auto repairs done at their ‘preferred’ repair shops across the country, because of safety concerns for consumers that were identified in a recent CNN exclusive investigation.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, on Thursday called on the Department of Justice to begin an investigation into auto repairs being done nationwide, because the repairs may often be done by using recycled, remanufactured, re-used, or after market parts, which he says could lead to unsafe vehicles.

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By CEI

No matter how safe our roads, vehicles and drivers become, traffic accidents are still going to happen, and fleets are going to spend money –lots of it – fixing those vehicles. Fleets spend on average four percent of their overall operating budget on collision repairs, and are always under pressure to reduce expenses.

By following these eight steps for each and every accident, fleets can save up to 10% or more on their annual accident repair bill:

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Ford Motor Co.’s roots run so deep in Michigan, America’s automotive heartland, that it’s hard to imagine one without the other.

But when the 111-year-old automaker started to ponder a future of self-driving cars plugged in to the Internet, its executives realized they needed to be someplace else: Silicon Valley.

Ford last month opened a Palo Alto research center where 125 engineers and scientists will develop new technologies for the automaker while forging alliances within the valley’s tech industry.

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We hear a lot about the dangers of distracted driving, but having a phone conversation while driving on a rural freeway is clearly less of a problem than dialing a colleague while turning left onto a busy six-lane avenue. What if your car could limit distractions when road conditions were genuinely demanding? This is the idea behind workload management, an area of intense research among most automakers.

It starts with determining when the driver’s workload is piling up. One way is to measure the driver’s heart rate and respiration using sensors on the steering wheel and seatbelt. Although accurately measuring these parameters is difficult, Steven Feit, chief engineer for infotainment research at Honda R&D Americas, says, “We can capitalize on the knowledge that the amount and speed of respiration is different for cognitive load and anxiety.”

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