by John Wolford, Associate Director of Network Services, CEI

In the fleet world, time is definitely money.  The longer a fleet vehicle is out of service because of an accident, the more it’s costing your organization in lost revenue and productivity or in rental fees for a temporary replacement.  That’s why keeping your fleet’s average repair cycle time under control should be a constant priority.

Which raises two questions: how long should collision repairs take, and what can a fleet manager do to make them as short as possible?  The answer to the first is, every repair is different, but the time it should take is roughly related to the estimated cost. The answer to the second lies in identifying the most common reasons repairs can take longer than they should or could.

READ MORE to learn how to manage the repair cycle time.

By Matthew Betz, Vice President Business Development, Fleet at Motus, LLC

“They say the universe is expanding. That should help with the traffic.” — Steven Wright

Let’s face it, very few people enjoy their daily commute to work. And I think it’s safe to say that nobody enjoys sitting in the bumper-to-bumper traffic that defines the daily commute in most of our large cities. But for the Modern Mobile Worker, there is another question; “Is my commute considered personal miles, or business miles?”

That’s a question that astute fleet professionals should be concerned about as well. Correctly categorizing mileage gives a much clearer picture of business and personal mileage patterns in your fleet. In large fleets, millions of dollars could be at stake, not to mention the risk of IRS audit.

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June is National Safety Month. The annual observance, led by the National Safety Council, aims to educate and influence behaviors around leading causes of preventable injuries and deaths. The theme this year is “What I Live For” and will focus on several important topics, including transportation safety, which is key for those in the fleet business, from managers and drivers to everyone in between.

In time for National Safety Month, Element Fleet Management has compiled seven tips to help reduce rear end collisions. For commercial truck fleets, one of the most frequently occurring accidents in vehicle operation is rear end collisions. In many cases these accidents are the result of tailgating where there was not enough stopping distance available. But it’s not always the fault of the fleet driver. Often times, another vehicle or motorcycle will try to slip in front of the truck without realizing the distance needed for the truck to stop.

READ MORE and get the tips.

Led by Toyota, which first offered wireless charging in the 2013 Toyota Avalon, American auto giants Fiat-Chrysler and General Motors currently include wireless charging as an option in more than a dozen vehicle models. Audi will launch its first car with wireless charging, the Q7 SUV, in Europe this summer.

In an interview with Forbes.com, Jim Buczkowski, Ford’s director of electrical and electronics research, said America’s number two automaker has decided on a wireless charging strategy as well, though he declined to provide specific details. Ford has said previously that the technology was not ready.

Ford wanted to be as “agnostic” as possible regarding competing wireless charging standards, but Buczowski indicated that the company would support a standard promoted by an industry group known as the Alliance for Wireless Power or the A4WP.

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Electric, compressed natural gas, flex fuel and hybrid vehicles are all in contention as the US Postal Service replaces its 25-year-old fleet with 180,000 new vehicles for an estimated $5-$6 billion as it seeks to cut emissions in half and adapt the fleet to the shifting delivery market.

Earlier this month, the agency announced the 15 vehicle makers pre-qualified to bid on a prototype for testing as it plans to upgrade its fleet over three years, with the first deliveries expected in 2018.

The candidates include giant car makers like Ford, Fiat Chrysler, and Nissan as well as Humvee manufacturer AM General and heavy-duty truck maker Freightliner.

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Georgia Power Co. is adding 32 electric vehicles to the company’s fleet.

The Georgia Power-branded Chevrolet Volts will be driven throughout the state by the company’s energy efficiency workers as they conduct energy audits at homes and businesses, the company said in a prepared statement.

In 2014, Georgia Power launched an electric transportation initiative to advance Georgia as an exceptionally EV-friendly state. The program includes an ongoing public education campaign, EV charger rebates for business and residential customers and special rates and charging options for EV customers.

The number of deaths attributable to the faulty ignition switches in the 2.6 million vehicles recalled by General Motors has hit 100.

According to the latest update from Kenneth Feinberg, the administrator the $550 million victims fund established by the automaker, the number of death claims rose this week by three. There are 37 applications still to be considered after 227 have been denied. The automaker said it has repaired between 70 and 75% of the vehicles.

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ARI just announced the launch of ARI SustainableWorks, a consulting service designed to help organizations configure best-in-class fleets supported by clean, efficient and cost-effective fleet solutions.

The new service is designed to help clients develop and implement forward-thinking sustainable strategies that are tailored to each fleet’s unique objectives, needs and operating characteristics. A team of industry-leading consultants is at the core of this new service, which is dedicated to helping fleets to optimize operations by reducing total cost of ownership and enhancing environmental performance.

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Strategic and organizational factors are what separate successful big-company innovators from the rest of the field.

It’s no secret: innovation is difficult for well-established companies. By and large, they are better executors than innovators, and most succeed less through game-changing creativity than by optimizing their existing businesses.

Yet hard as it is for such organizations to innovate, large ones as diverse as Alcoa, the Discovery Group, and NASA’s Ames Research Center are actually doing so. What can other companies learn from their approaches and attributes?

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Self-driving cars are the subject of more hype than even true artificial intelligence, perhaps because they already exist and a number of big companies are committed to making them a marketable reality. So it’s worth listening when a top executive of one of these companies says self-driving vehicles are a long way off.

“The technology will be held back by the ultimate moral question on who’s responsible,” said Ian Robertson, head of sales for BMW in Munich.

Figuring this out isn’t as easy as simply changing insurance rules. Imagine you’re driving along a narrow mountain road at high speed, and a child jumps in front of your car. If you swerve to avoid hitting him, you’ll crash into a cliff or plunge into an abyss. In both cases, it means certain death for you.

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