FleetManagementWeekly AmeriFleet
August 1, 2017

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Editor's Analysis & Top Industry News


Questions & Answers

In Fleet Marketing this week, Ed Pierce winds up his three-part series on marketing scams with some tactics that offer dubious value. Fish in a Barrel and Question That Award Sponsorship (or Entry) are classics ploys to separate you from your marketing dollars.

If you’re wondering how the new FASB lease accounting rules will affect your fleet, you’ll find answers in our Q&A with David Dahm, CFO at LeasePlan USA. But what about interest rates, you say? Dave has some thoughts on that.

Tesla has made a big splash with the Model 3, but we wonder about the paucity of charging stations and how quickly Tesla will address this. Here in Silicon Valley, we see Teslas lined up waiting for a charge. This sharply contrasts with Norway where we saw EV charging stations nearly everywhere.

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.

Fleet Spectator — A 360 view of the fleet industry.

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


VIDEO: Complete Supply Chain Management for Fleet Vehicles

ARI offers a full suite of services that encompass all areas of the supply chain process.



VIDEO: Smart Vehicle Relocation

  Real-Time Updates on Vehicle Condition
 

PARS’ mobile app provides real-time updates on vehicle condition, saving time and making vehicle relocation easier.


VIDEO: Driver Safety
  How to Uniformly Enforce Driver Safety Policy
 

It can be difficult to uniformly enforce driver safety policy throughout an organization, but specially configured software from SambaSafety makes it a whole lot easier.





The Fleet Spot


TÜV SÜD Group Reorganizes Its Fleet Consultancy Business

Fleet Logistics’ owner, TÜV SÜD Group, is reorganizing its fleet consultancy division by absorbing the legal entities behind the TCOPlus and FleetVision brands into the Fleet Logistics Group.

The former owners, Hans Damen and Bart Vanham, will take a step back from day-to-day activities and formally leave the business by mutual agreement by October 1st 2017. They remain, however, committed to ensuring business continuity for TCOPlus and FleetVision customers.

READ MORE

NAFA’s Next Webinar: Electrifying Your Fleet How the Latest Technologies Can Significantly Reduce the Infrastructure and Operating Costs of Driving on Electricity – Register Now!

Date: 08/16/2017
When:Wednesday, August 16, 2017 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST

Learn about the considerations and costs associated with installing charging infrastructure and how new technologies such as energy management can provide significant cost advantages and future-proof your fleet.

The webinar will help participants determine whether EVs are right for their fleet and create a plan for driving on electricity.

READ MORE

Governor McAuliffe Announces Transitioning Government Vehicles to Alternative Fuels

NBC29

Governor Terry McAuliffe today announced that 319 state and local government vehicles have been transitioned to alternative fuel in the Commonwealth.

Governor McAuliffe also awarded Chesterfield County with the Governor’s Green Fleet Award for its leadership in the alternative fuels transition by implementing 50 vehicles and five advanced fueling stations that allow state and local vehicles to visit and refuel.

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WIFM at AFLA Conference: Kathleen Nalty — ‘Outsmart Your Unconscious Bias’

AFLA is excited to announce Women In Fleet Management (WIFM), will once again hold their annual session and reception at this year’s Annual Corporate Fleet Conference (AFLA 2017), on Sunday, September 17th, at the M Resort in Las Vegas, NV.

Kathleen Nalty will be the keynote speaker at WIFM’s session: ‘Outsmart Your Unconscious Bias.’ Despite our best intentions, research shows we all have it – unconscious, unintentional bias.

READ MORE

Fleet Marketing

By Ed Pierce, Fleet Industry Marketer

Throughout this “marketing scam” series of columns, I focused on generally-accepted marketing tactics that waste the limited dollars of the marketing budget and that deliver few sales opportunities.

This final segment is devoted to two final activities that offer questionable value: Fish in a Barrel, where “exclusive” executive events are offered for a limited number of sales representatives to attend, and Question That Award Sponsorship (or Entry), where dubious award companies bestow “awards” for a steep price.

READ MORE

 
FASB Rules

By Janice Sutton

David Dahm is Chief Financial Officer at LeasePlan USA. A 35-year veteran of the automotive fleet management industry, 29 of those years with LeasePlan USA, he is clearly an expert on financial matters affecting our industry.

We were happy to have had the opportunity to talk with Dahm about the newest Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) lease accounting rule changes and what fleet managers need to know in 2017.

We also asked him to consult his crystal ball and give us his thoughts on where interest rates may be headed. The short answer? Up. So, what do we do now?

READ MORE

 
In-Car Advertising

MediaPost

Following mobile as the third screen, the car of the future is poised to become yet another screen where publishers and advertisers compete for attention.

A new report paints a picture of autonomous vehicles becoming a new frontier aggressively used by brands to build deeper digital relationships with customers.

The study by Forrester suggests that autonomous vehicles will reshape the global economy, dramatically impacting six industries: media, automotive, shipping and logistics, insurance, government and data security and privacy.

Autonomous cars will drive an advertising renaissance, according to the study. “Texting, setting the navigation and playing with the infotainment system all contribute to accidents,” states the report. “But in a world where transport is autonomous, people will consider the physical act of driving the distraction.”

READ MORE









Fleet Trends & Issues


Electric Trucks and Vans Cut Pollution Faster Than Cars

BBC News

The clock may be ticking for petrol and diesel-powered cars, but it’s vans, trucks and buses that are driving the electric vehicle revolution on the world’s roads.

This week the UK government followed France in announcing it would ban the sale of such vehicles by 2040, while the mayors of Paris, Madrid, Mexico City and Athens plan to banish diesels from their city centers by 2025.

Almost all car makers now offer hybrid cars and many sell fully electric vehicles.

READ MORE

Ford to Repair Police Interceptor Versions of the Explorer SUV

The Detroit Bureau

Ford Motor Co. says it will repair police versions of the company’s popular Ford Explorer SUVs because of a problem that could make it possible for the deadly carbon monoxide to leak into the cabin.

The announcement comes as the city of Austin, Texas, decided to pull 400 Exporers from its police fleet because of the problem. Separately, federal regulators have upgraded to a probe into 1.33 million civilian versions of the Ford Explorer because of reports of exhaust odors entering the cabin. There have been at least three reported crashes involving carbon monoxide exposure.

“This is my family,” Austin’s interim police chief Brian Manley said when announcing the decision to idle the city’s police Explorer models.

READ MORE

Low-Quality Lidar Will Keep Self-Driving Cars in the Slow Lane

MIT Technology Review

The race to build mass-market autonomous cars is creating big demand for laser sensors that help vehicles map their surroundings.

But cheaper versions of the hardware currently used in experimental self-driving vehicles may not deliver the quality of data required for driving at highway speeds.

Most driverless cars make use of lidar sensors, which bounce laser beams off nearby objects to create 3-D maps of their surroundings. Lidar can provide better-quality data than radar and is superior to optical cameras because it is unaffected by variations in ambient light.

READ MORE

Cars Suck Up Data About You. Where Does It All Go?

The New York Times

Cars have become rolling listening posts. They can track phone calls and texts, log queries to websites, record what radio stations you listen to – even tell you when you are breaking the law by exceeding the speed limit.

Automakers, local governments, retailers, insurers and tech companies are eager to leverage this information, especially as cars transform from computers on wheels into something more like self-driving shuttles. And they want to tap into even more data, including what your car’s video cameras see as you travel down a street.

Who gets what information and for what purposes? Here is a primer.

READ MORE

Electric Vehicle Sales

Fortune

For all the excitement Tesla Inc. mustered by starting to deliver its cheaper Model 3, the tall order ahead for the sedan will be to pull off what no electric car has done to date — move the needle on the auto market.

Tesla’s sedan starting at $35,000 has landed as U.S. sales of EVs and other green autos, including hybrids, perk up for the first time in four years. The gains have been too modest to matter to an industry in decline during the first half of the year. Total car and truck deliveries probably shrank a seventh straight month in July.

A dearth of EVs offering both affordability and ample driving range has kept consumers from demanding them in large numbers thus far.

READ MORE

 
The Fleet CX Toolkit

By Wendy Eichenbaum

In July 2016, Pokémon Go exploded on the scene. Within 2 months, over 80 million people had downloaded the game. Businesses attracted customers using in-game features. And though augmented reality (AR) was invented in 1968, millions of people tried AR for the first time. AR is a technology that layers computer-generated elements on top of real world experiences. In the case of Pokémon, Pokémon characters moved around a real map or a camera screen.

A year later, what are the effects of the Pokémon craze? On the surface, it might not be easy to detect. Daily users have by dropped 80%. There is no string of “copy-cat” Pokémon games. And a majority of people do not know the difference between augmented reality and its counterpart virtual reality (VR). VR is a computer-generated simulation of real life that completely immerses users.

However, just below the surface, there has been a profound change. We no longer marvel at the benefits of AR; instead, we expect it.

READ MORE

 
Marchionne Speaks His Mind

Bloomberg

If all company bosses were as articulate and provocative as Sergio Marchionne, business journalism would be a cinch. Jargon-laden and gnomic pronouncements aren’t his style.

The Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV CEO served up his latest zinger on last week’s earnings call:

“From a valuation standpoint … I have never seen an industry which is as little loved as being an OEM today. For a period of time I thought that banking had reached the bottom but I think we have now surpassed them in terms of dislike.”

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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