FleetManagementWeekly AmeriFleet
November 18, 2015

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Editor's Analysis & Top Industry News


Safety is Mission-Critical

According to an informative white paper we’re featuring from Driving Dynamics, “research has shown that 90% of all traffic accidents can be avoided when the driver has just one more second to react and knows what to do with that additional one second.” Don’t you want your drivers to have that one extra second?

We’ve also got a video from Wheels’ Michele Zeiler on how to change organizational cultures around safety, which is key if your goal is to effect lasting change.

Also featured in this issue, a Q&A with Kathryn Schifferle, CEO of Work Truck Solutions, which is the first online commercial vehicle inventory solution that enables commercial dealerships to display and search truck inventory by chassis and body type, and another fantastic column from Jeof Bean on how to Create a Customer Experience Advisory Board to Improve Your Fleet Services.

Enjoy!

Ted Roberts
COO

 


Thought Leadership

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

Fleet Asset Management – Best practices around managing material handling equipment.

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

The Fleet Customer Experience – Identifying the practices that define the best customer experience.

Think Global. Plan Local. – Navigating the management of the world-class fleet.

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.

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

All posts from the newsletter reside on our web site, FleetManagementWeekly.com


zeiler-michele

VIDEO: Changing Organizational Cultures Around Safety

If you want to build or improve organizational cultures around safety, one of the first key steps is figuring out what is going to speak to the organization.



VIDEO: What's New from AFLA?
elliott-bill
  Great New Initiatives at AFLA
 

AFLA is working on some initiatives that are sure to be helpful for fleet managers, including better communications with other departments, and exploring what it truly means to go global.


VIDEO: The VW Recall Scandal
foyil-sean
  How VW TDI Recall Scandal Could Affect Resale Values
 

The mar­ket will be look­ing at per­for­mance met­rics includ­ing mpg, along with how the vehi­cles get fixed as part of the recall process.





The Fleet Spot


dd-whitepaper White Paper: Why Advanced Performance, Driver Safety Training?

Research has shown that 90% of all traffic accidents can be avoided when the driver has just one more second to react and knows what to do with that additional one second

Fleet operators today face the daunting task of mitigating risk in a tough economic environment. Budgetary constraints, expense cutting measures, perhaps even the very survival of the company depend upon corporate decisions made underneath a dark cloud of uncertainty. Fortunately, experience and statistics can provide the fleet operator with predictable outcomes if they are prepared to be proactive instead of reactive.

READ THE WHITE PAPER

2016 Mazda3 Mazda3 Wins ‘Most Loved’ Vehicle In Its Class Award

The 2016 Mazda3 has been awarded “Most Loved Vehicle” in the small car segment by analysis organization Strategic Vision’s Customer Love Index Report.

“Our enthusiasm for the Mazda3 matches that of our customers, and we’re thrilled it continues to deliver on what drivers are passionate about for a vehicle,” said Jim O’Sullivan, president and CEO, Mazda North American Operations (MNAO). “Customer feedback helps us create the vehicles that drivers want to drive, and continued excitement for the Mazda3 is our motivation for enhancing the performance and design of the vehicle year after year.”

READ MORE

Predictive Forward Collision Warning system uses a sensor in the front of the vehicle to analyze the speed and distance to the vehicle directly ahead, as well as a vehicle traveling in front of that one. Nissan Harnesses Radar Sensor To See Around Cars With Refreshed Altima

Forbes

Think back to the days of your childhood and playing hide and seek. The game would have been much easier if you could actually see through and around the trees, rocks and walls that obscured your friends.

For all the advances that have been made in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) over the past 20 years, seeing through the other cars to find out what is happening further down the road is still a problem. However, it’s a problem that Nissan is trying to fix with predictive forward collision warning that is coming to the updated Altima sedan for 2016.

READ MORE

NAFA I&E 2016 NAFA I&E — Register Before November 30 and Save $$

Registration is now open for the NAFA 2016 Institute & Expo — Austin, Texas – April 19 – 22, 2016.

Early bird rates may provide savings up to $180.00, but register by November 30, 2015 for the full conference (4 day option) and save an additional $50.00 off the early bird rate. Just use the promotion code NOV50 when registering. This offer expires November 30th, so act now!

Why attend 2016 I&E?

The Fleet Customer Experience

By Jeofrey Bean

Tap the insights and experience of successful customer experience professionals to improve your fleet services.

A board of directors advises the company about its overall business strategy. A customer experience advisory board is similar, but is specific to the topic of customer experience. If your company is serious about improving its customer experience, a key step is to create an advisory board dedicated to that end.

The job of a customer experience advisory board is to identify where the existing customer experience can be improved and to recommend when a new customer experience should be created.

READ MORE

 
Mobile Technology and Gamification

Mobile technology, gamification, and the evolution of how we communicate with mobile workforces to achieve greater safety, productivity and compliance.

By Tim Taylor, Chief Client Success Officer, Telogis

Today’s utility fleets all have a powerful tool at their disposal – and it’s one of the most basic tools we all carry with us: our mobile phone or tablet. New applications tied into existing fleet management and work order management solutions can significantly improve how mobile workers perform their day-to-day work – and it can all be unlocked through the mobile device they’re already using. This article will look at some of the most effective ways today’s utility fleets are leveraging these solutions to coach and improve worker performance in real time, and why today’s utility fleet manager should consider engaging with these technologies today.

READ MORE

 
Online Commercial Vehicle Inventory

We interview Kathryn Schifferle, CEO of Work Truck Solutions, the first online commercial vehicle inventory solution that enables commercial dealerships to display and search truck inventory by chassis and body type.

This creates a simplified process for finding, quoting and floor planning work trucks. Kathryn says, “…when a fleet buyer comes to the dealer’s website, they can actually look through images and spec information and see what is available, so they are better prepared and educated when they walk through the dealership’s doors. There are spec sheets attached, there are video walk-throughs — buyers can reach out directly and have a conversation with the dealer. Electronically they can even indicate the stock number, so the dealer will know the specific inventory with which the buyer is interested. It is really a time saver.”

READ MORE







Fleet Trends & Issues


Consumers Demanding New Safety and Autonomous Driving Features

The Detroit Bureau

While traditional attributes, like good fuel economy, remain important to American auto shoppers, the focus is shifting. Buyers are putting more and more emphasis on high-tech safety features and looking forward to a wave of new autonomous technologies coming to market in the near future, according to a new study.

But a second study says it’s a new entrant to the automotive world, tech giant Google, that has taken the lead in self-driving technology.

READ MORE

Sofico Sees Growing Market Convergence Between Fleet and Retail

The boundaries between pure fleet and pure retail sales in the European automotive leasing market are blurring as the two markets increasingly converge.

The new developments require flexible, smart systems to help manage the convergence, says leading global automotive finance, leasing and fleet software provider, Sofico.

Sofico, whose systems now manage more than 1m vehicles around the world, has witnessed an increasing convergence trend in the way that fleet and retail markets operate across Europe, as suppliers identify new strategies to try and maximize their market share.

READ MORE

Ford Faces Trial on MPG Estimates as Judge Refuses to Toss Suit

Bloomberg News

Ford Motor Co. will have to face trial over claims that it exaggerated fuel-efficiency estimates for its Fusion and C-Max hybrids after a federal judge in New York on Nov. 12 denied the company’s request to throw the case out.

Ford buyers sued in 2013 questioning claims that the vehicles could get 47 miles per gallon. “Ford implicitly recognized that its advertising campaign was misleading,” U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas said in a ruling dismissing the carmaker’s request to toss the suit.

READ MORE

Flat Lining: One Third of 2015 Vehicles Missing Spare Tire

AAA NewsRoom

Automakers’ decision to eliminate the spare tire may leave more than 30 million drivers vulnerable at the roadside, according to new research from AAA.

Tire inflator kits, a high-cost alternative for consumers, have replaced the spare tire in millions of vehicles over the last 10 model years and, due to their limited functionality, cannot provide even a temporary fix for many common tire-related problems. AAA calls on automakers to put consumer interests first and halt the elimination of the spare tire.

“Flat tires are not a disappearing problem, but spare tires are,” said John Nielsen, AAA’s managing director of Automotive Engineering and Repair. “AAA responds to more than four million calls for flat tire assistance annually and, despite advances in vehicle technology, we have not seen a decline in tire-related calls over the last five years.”

READ MORE

Diesel Car Prices Tumble

Kathleen Pender/ SF Chronicle 

Prices for used Volkswagen diesel cars have hit the skids since an emissions scandal broke, but prices for gasoline-powered VWs appear to be relatively unscathed, according to auto industry sources.

On Sept. 18, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board notified Volkswagen that certain of its 2.0-liter 4-cylinder TDI diesel vehicles did not comply with clean-air standards. Volkswagen has admitted that it tampered with those cars to pass emissions testing.

The average auction price for those VW models has dropped nearly $2,100, or 16.1 percent, since the announcement, according to Kelley Blue Book.

READ MORE

 
On Accident Management

By John Wolford, CEI associate director of network services and loss recovery

When thinking about collision repairs, you may well envision just one provider: the body shop. But there are many times when there are more players who need to be involved, because further repair expertise is required. And, just as with any other project, the more players involved the greater the chance for delays.

Since time is money – in this case, more money spent on temporary replacement vehicles, drivers who are sidelined, and sales that don’t happen – it’s imperative that repair delays be avoided or minimized. Fortunately, while delays can and will happen some of the time, there is a way to manage repair subcontractors. But first, you need to a review of why and when subcontractors are involved.

READ MORE

 
The Power of Content Marketing

Your Secret Weapon? Smart Content Marketing

You probably know that we’re all about fleet here at Fleet Management Weekly (FMW) — after all, our audience is comprised of nothing but professionals who focus on fleet. But did you know that we are also all about Content Marketing?

In fact, we see time and time again that Content Marketing (via articles and video) is the best way to get our readers fully engaged with our clients’ messaging.

Learn the key benefits to content marketing in Fleet Management Weekly.








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.
PARS
PARS' mission is to provide you with high-quality service at competitive prices for all of your transportation needs.
AmeriFleet
Offering a nationwide vehicle delivery and relocation service; serving the corporate and commercial fleet industry.
LeasePlan
LeasePlan is the world's leading high-touch service provider for vehicle leasing and fleet management.
Wheels, Inc.
First in fleet for 76 years. Wheels helps you build tomorrow’s fleet today.
ARI
Driven fleet professionals. Driving results.
NAFA Fleet Management Association
NAFA is the association for the diverse vehicle fleet management profession regardless of organizational type, geographic location, or fleet composition.



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