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June 5, 2018

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Editor's Analysis & Top Industry News


A Foundation of Excellence

We are excited about the robust resurgence of the NAFA Foundation. One of its missions is to promote education and research projects, and this week we publish an excerpt of the Foundation’s compelling white paper: Creating a More Productive Relationship Between Procurement and Fleet. With a great many fleet managers working closely with Procurement, the release of this paper could not be more timely.

The Trump administration is roiling the auto industry with heavy tariffs and a rollback of Obama-era fuel efficiency standards. Critical of Trump’s pullout from the Paris Accord, California Governor Jerry Brown says that the fallout is “far more serious than anyone is saying.” Kudos to our fleet industry for remaining steadfastly committed to improving sustainability.

Janice Sutton
Editor in Chief


Thought Leadership

Customer Driven — Engage your organization to create customer loyalty, trust, and superior service

Fleet Asset Management – Best practices for work truck management

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

Fleet Spectator A 360 view of the fleet industry

Globally Speaking — Perspectives on the multinational fleet

In the Public Interest — Successfully managing the government fleet

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

Think, Execute, Win!Leadership tips from NBA Star and motivational speaker Walter Bond


VIDEO: LeasePlan USA’s Focus on the Future

LeasePlan USA’s transformation continues to evolve, with some new high-tech partnerships and an unyielding focus on the future.



VIDEO: Fleet and Telematics


 The Power of Telematics Plus Optimized Engine Calibrations
 

By blending telematics and optimized engine calibrations, Derive Systems delivers powerful solutions for fleets, including advanced safety features and guaranteed fuel savings.


VIDEO: NAFA and the NAFA Foundation

 New Bonding Between NAFA and the NAFA Foundation
 

Recent changes to bylaws and more have bonded NAFA and the NAFA Foundation closer together – and that has benefits for the fleet industry overall.





The Fleet Spot


WEX to Issue, Operate Shell Commercial Fleet Cards

New Corporate Payment Solution to Deliver Innovative Features to Shell Commercial Fleet Customers

As the new provider for Shell’s commercial fleet cards, WEX will provide Shell’s commercial fleet customers with the full range of features, functionality and solutions needed to meet the everyday demands of a modern fleet.

READ MORE

The Hybrid Road to Zero Emission Fleets

By Clay Siegert, Chief Operating Officer, XL

If you were asked to rank the following green fleet vehicles in order of their net CO2 emissions savings over standard, gas-powered vehicles, from highest reducing to least reducing, how would you order them?

  1. Plug-in Hybrid Electric Truck (PHEV)
  2. Hybrid Electric Truck (HEV)
  3. Battery Electric Sedan (BEV)

(Hint: If you guessed the order above, you’d be right.)

Surprising? Not when you look at the full picture of relative net CO2 emissions.

READ MORE

Behind Ford’s Rollout of the 2019 Transit Connect Cargo Van

In May, Ford announced that it was eliminating most of the sedans from its product lineup next year, leaving it to focus more on its commercial truck business, where it is the U.S. market leader.

The announcement put Fleet Management Weekly’s interview at the Work Truck Show in Indianapolis, Indiana in March with John Ruppert, Ford’s general manager for commercial sales and marketing, in a different perspective.

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Advance Your Networking at AFLA 2018

AFLA is excited to once again offer best-in-class networking options at the 2018 Annual Corporate Fleet Conference Catch That Magic Moment Right Now, to take place October 1 – October 3, 2018 at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, FL.

Hurry: Register by Friday, June 8th, to take advantage of early-bird rates! See you in sunny Orlando!

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Fleet and Procurement


Following is an excerpt of the NAFA Foundation’s newest paper. To download a free copy of the full paper, please visit this link.

Driven by increasing demands from executive management to control costs, over the past decade procurement professionals have assumed a position of increasing influence over automotive fleet management. This ranges from simply being granted a more assertive role in selecting vehicles and suppliers, to the absorption of fleet into the procurement domain.

Faced with entirely new paradigms for fleet management, it’s vital that all players with significant roles in running the fleets of tomorrow — both those whose background is in fleet and those who come from the world of procurement — form a strategic partnership based on expanded knowledge of each other’s discipline.

READ MORE

 

Fleet Marketing


By Ed Pierce, Fleet Industry Marketer

Business leaders are hearing much more about “disruption” than ever.

Certainly, marketers must not only adapt to the concept to remain viable. But they must also promote the concept to their employers and customers.

Here are 10 trends marketers should be talking about, excerpted from the book, “Disruptive Marketing: What Growth Hackers, Data Punks and Other Hybrid Thinkers Can Teach Us About Navigating the New Normal” by Geoffrey Colon

READ MORE

     

    Think, Execute, Win!


    By Walter Bond, Hall of Fame Business Speaker & Former Big Ten & NBA Basketball Player

    As we enter another month and another season, I want to ask you some questions.

    What is your WHY? Why do you do what you do? Why did you choose your career? Why did you choose your company? Why do you wake up each day and put your time into work?

    Consider this: Do you go to work just to pay the bills or pay your mortgage or do you go to work because you want to make an impact?

    READ MORE









    Fleet Trends & Issues


    Waymo’s Ride-Hailing Services to Add 62,000 Chrysler Minivans

    The New York Times

    Waymo has agreed to purchase as many as 62,000 minivans from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles for use in a ride-hailing service to start later this year in Phoenix, then expand to the San Francisco area and to other cities across the country.

    Both the Chrysler Pacifica minivans and the Jaguar cars will be equipped with the radars, cameras and sensors that Waymo has developed to enable the vehicles to drive themselves on public roads.

    “F.C.A. is committed to bringing self-driving technology to our customers in a manner that is safe, efficient and realistic,” Sergio Marchionne, Fiat Chrysler’s chief executive, said in a statement. “Strategic partnerships, such as the one we have with Waymo, will help to drive innovative technology to the forefront.”

    Read the article at The New York Times.

    FCA Plans to Keep Jeep, Ram, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati

    MSN

    Sergio Marchionne has rolled out his third five-year plan for FCA, naming the planned vehicles for the market by 2022.

    With the threat of trade wars and the complicated supply lines of the world’s most globalized industry, FCA, like other automakers, is facing one of the most challenging business environments in decades.

    Marchionne made it clear FCA’s product push over the next five years will center around four key brands: Jeep, Ram, Maserati and Alpha Romeo. “These four are our global brands,” he said bluntly. “They account for about 80 percent of earning.”

    Read the article at MSN.

    SoftBank Invests $2 Billion Into GM’s Cruise

    Recode

    On Thursday, SoftBank invested $2 billion into Cruise, GM’s self-driving subsidiary, bringing about many questions involving the Silicon Valley self-driving vehicle technology race.

    The deal, on its face, is simple: SoftBank’s Vision Fund will eventually acquire about a 20 percent equity position in Cruise, which GM bought in 2016, for $2.25 billion over two payments. GM is also putting about another $1 billion into the division.

    “This whole space, as you well know, is a complex set of relationships,” GM president Dan Ammann told Recode. ”As we navigate through that, we have taken a lot of precautions.”

    Read the article at Recode.

    California Ready for Fight Over Rollback of Fuel Efficiency Standards

    The Washington Post

    The Trump administration’s rollback of the Obama administration’s fuel efficiency standards for automobiles took another step when the Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent a proposal to the Office of Management and Budget.

    The draft of the overhauled standard would eliminate automakers’ obligation to boost fuel efficiency after 2021 and would set up a clash with California by challenging its ability to set its own stricter standards, a power granted to the state by the Clean Air Act.

    Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Campaign, said that once the OMB begins the comment period and makes the proposal public, “then let the lawsuits begin.”

    Read the article at The Washington Post.

    Trade War?


    Governor Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council is warning that the Trump administration’s decision of levy the tariffs on steel and aluminum made in Mexico, Canada and the European Union will damage the U.S. auto industry.

    Trump’s theory that the danger of a trade war is “easy to win,” will be put to the test as key trading partners are now moving to inflict maximum pain on parts of the American economy.

    “Mexico deeply regrets and condemns the decision of the United States to impose these tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from Mexico from June 1, at the discretion of national security,” the government said in a statement. “Mexico has indicated repeatedly that such measures under the criteria of national security are not adequate nor justified.”

    Read the article at The Detroit Bureau.

     

    AmeriFleet is Now ACERTUS


    New Brand Identity Creating First-to-Market Vehicle Lifecycle Solutions Company

    MetroGistics, through acquisitions of McNutt, AmeriFleet and Metro Title Services, has rebranded as a new entity called ACERTUS. The new name reflects the companies’ coming together to form a one-stop shop offering world-class vehicle lifecycle solutions to all its combined customers including OEMs, dealers and fleet management companies.

    “The complementary nature of our service capabilities creates the platform for delivering a market-leading suite of services for the commercial fleet, OEM, dealer and rental-car markets, as well as local DMVs,” stated John Norris, executive vice president, client services.

    READ MORE

     

    The Paris Accord


    Los Angeles Times

    A year after President Trump pulled out of the landmark Paris accord on climate change, Governor Jerry Brown said the world is only just beginning to feel the environmental harm inflicted by the Trump administration.

    Some activists are optimistic that they can wait this administration out and are preparing reports to unveil at the global climate summit Brown is hosting in California in September, when new benchmarks will be proposed for getting the nation back on track for meeting its Paris commitments.

    “He has set in motion initiatives that will cause damage,” Governor Jerry Brown said, comparing the planet under Trump’s climate policies to a person who has just fallen from the top of the Empire State Building. “You are falling down four stories, but have 80 to go,” he said. “Maybe you are not damaged yet, but it is certain you will die.”

    Read the article at Los Angeles Times.








    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 79 years. Wheels helps you build tomorrow’s fleet today.



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