By Mark Boada, Executive Editor

In 2015, John Dmochowsky, CAFM was named the first global fleet manager for snack-food giant Mondelez International, with sales in some 160 countries. Last year, he was named the Automotive Fleet Leasing Association’s Fleet Professional of Year after reducing Mondelez’s worldwide fleet costs by 21%. Mr. Dmochowsky was a featured speaker at last month’s NAFA Institute and Expo, at a session entitled Be Great at Global Fleet Management. Below is an edited transcript of his remarks:

Getting Started

Back in 2015, I was running Mondelez’s U.S. fleet when I received an email from my vice president indicating that there were six international directors of procurement who wanted to meet me in Paris to have a discussion about a shift to a global fleet RFP.

READ MORE

By Art Liggio, President and CEO, Driving Dynamics

Spring has finally sprung, bringing budding trees and flowers, the sounds and smells of nature, and with warmer weather also comes the vroom, vroom heard as motorcycle enthusiasts eagerly emerge onto roadways in growing numbers to enjoy a much anticipated riding season.

Unfortunately this carefree happy scene can quickly turn deadly: motorcyclists are 26 more times likely to die in a crash and five times more likely to be injured than drivers of other vehicles, but with conscious effort we can help reduce these statistics.

According to the International Transport Forum on safety, motorcycle related fatalities continue to rise in many countries and the problem demands urgent attention. More than 100 safety experts from 21 countries agree that responsible behavior and awareness by motorcycle riders and the drivers with whom they share the road will play a key role in reducing the risk of motorcycle crashes.

READ MORE

The New York Times

More than two dozen people have been killed, and dozens of others have been injured by carbon monoxide nationwide since 2006 after a keyless-ignition vehicle was inadvertently left running in a garage.

Instead of turning and removing a physical key to shut the newer, quieter vehicles off, drivers can mistakenly leave the motor running using the new keyless-ignition fob technology.

Seven years ago the Society of Automotive Engineers called for features like a series of beeps to alert drivers that cars were still running without the key fob in or near the car, and in some cases to shut the engine off automatically. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed a federal regulation based on that idea, a software change that it said could be accomplished for pennies per vehicle. In the face of auto industry opposition, the agency let the plan languish, though it says a rule is still under consideration.

Read the article at The New York Times.

The Detroit News

Fatal highway crashes have increased in the past three years to around 40,000 annually, with phone use being the second-highest reason as the cause.

Research by the American Psychological Association determined that multitasking in or out of the car has been shown in many psychological experiments to divide attention and limit working memory — both essential to safe driving.

“But phone use on the road centers around more than just having verbal conversations. Notifications from apps such as fake news, social media bias confirmation bubbles and inflammatory messaging add to the problem.”

Read the article at The Detroit News.

Los Angeles Times

When auto executives asked Trump to prod California and the rest of the country toward looser fuel economy rules, they did not expect what they got – a veritable declaration of war against the state, threatening to destabilize the industry, tarnish its public image and leave the companies tangled in years of litigation.

The car companies suggested to the president that an assault on California’s long-standing authority to set its own emissions rules is actually not something that helps them.

The car companies “opened up a Pandora’s box when they asked for these fuel economy standards to be loosened around the edges,” said Ann Carlson, an environmental law professor at UCLA. “What they did instead is unleash this anti-regulatory monster, and a process that has been driven entirely by antipathy toward regulations.”

Read the article at Los Angeles Times.

The Washington Post

At a meeting on Friday with automaker executives, the Trump administration discussed their proposal to freeze auto-efficiency standards beginning in 2021, rather than continuing to strengthen them as originally outlined by the Obama administration.

The rollback has caused concern in the auto industry, and after the meeting, a statement was released by the auto industry suggesting the possibility of some form of negotiation with California.

“My hope is that they’re going to try gently to push back today, but it’s unclear that the White House is going to listen and they’re going to change the proposal,” said Margo Oge, a former EPA regulator who, at the agency’s office of transportation and air quality, helped create the standards that may now be rolled back.

Read the article at The Washington Post.

Wired

Although Tesla’s Autopilot has been involved in two fatal crashes in the US, Tesla spokespeople have continued to say that The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has found the technology to reduce crash rates by 40 percent.

Now NHTSA says that’s not exactly right—and there’s no clear evidence for how safe the pseudo-self-driving feature actually is.

Tesla hasn’t been transparent with its own numbers. “You would need a rigorous statistical analysis with clear data indicating what vehicle has it and what vehicle doesn’t and whether it’s enabled or whether it isn’t,” says David Friedman, a former NHTSA official who now directs car policy at Consumers Union.

Read the article at Wired.

The Detroit Bureau

The success and customization of autonomous vehicles will depend on the needs of the user – the first things that will be deleted are the steering wheel and other controls to allow for more room and more configurations – the sky is the limit.

The price of self-driving cars is predicted to come down enough for it to make sense for someone in a rural area buying a vehicle to make it easier to get around, such as seniors or those who may be physically challenged.

“Ride sharing business is expected to drive down the cost of self-driving cars in the future,” Mike Abelson, GM vice president of global strategy said. GM and others have suggested for some time now that the relationship between automakers producing self-driving cars and ride-sharing companies would be symbiotic.

Read the article at The Detroit Bureau.

The Verge

UPS and UK technology company Arrival have partnered to develop a fleet of 35 modular electric delivery vehicles for trial in London and Paris, and are expected to be on the roads before the end of 2018.

The battery range is over 150 miles, and is currently higher than other EVs used in logistics service. The vehicles also have zero tailpipe emissions, an advanced vehicle display, and feature Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) that aids driver safety and helps lower fatigue.

“UPS is working with Arrival here in the UK because their smart electric vehicles are helping to reduce dependency on fossil fuel. This is a pioneering collaboration that helps UPS develop new ways to reduce our emissions,” said Luke Wake, international director for automotive engineering at UPS.

Read the article at The Verge.

Wired

Dependent upon FAA approval, Uber proposes a service that will depart from drone ports set atop tall buildings, flying customers across cities, starting in Los Angeles and Dallas Fort-Worth by the end of 2023.

Using batteries, motors, and multiple small propellers for lift, Uber wants to build a network of new vehicles with vertical takeoff and landing that should be quieter, cheaper, and easier to fly than helicopters.

“The pace of technological advancement in this industry is faster than anything we’ve had to deal with,” said the acting administrator of the FAA, Dan Elwell. “When you put passengers on autonomous vehicles, as opposed to delivering a package, you introduce a much, much higher bar you need to get over.” To get past that, Uber is proposing having on-board pilots at first, before eventually making them autonomous (hopefully).

Read the article at Wired.