By Ed Pierce, Principal, ITA Fleet Communications

Last month, I promised to address customer engagement. Of course, engagement begins with communication. And, true communication is two-way, give-and-take. Still, most marketing plans focus on the outbound design, the message, and the cost of running an ad, distributing a press release, or sending out an e-mail blast. Management wants to know cost and return.

Lost in the marketing-management discussion is the customer!

How do we know that the message will be effective with our prospect customers? How will we determine what went wrong if a mailer or e-mail blast has a zero response rate? How do we determine whether our market position and our branding messages are being received, understood and changing or opening minds? Feedback, of course!

READ MORE to learn about integrating “feedback feelers” in a comprehensive marketing program.

For a fleet business, insurance can be one of your biggest overhead costs, so it is important to only pay what is necessary. One of the best ways that a fleet can save on insurance costs is to invest in vehicle telematics. GPS Insight is a vehicle tracking telematics solution that helps fleets save costs in many ways, including insurance.

READ MORE

We sat down with Doug Peters, Analytics Product and CEO Leader at GE Capital Fleet Services to talk with him about predictive analytics and were fascinated. Doug says, "Predictive analytics is all about trying to help our customers move from being reactive to proactive using the information that is available to us from fleets. We use a rich data set from a variety of sources including telematics, fuel cards, and maintenance. In the past we would help a customer look at a quarter’s worth of historical data or maybe even a year's worth of historical data and could tell them where they have been.

“‘What our customers are really asking us to do now is to look out into the future. How do we move from rear window viewing to forward looking with our fleet? Where are we going with our fleet? What are our expenses going to look like? ”

READ MORE

One in three drivers of the Subaru WRX has a recent traffic violation, according to a study by Insurance.com, the car insurance comparison-shopping website, putting the turbocharged, all-wheel-drive sport-compact atop its ranking of cars that get the most tickets.

"Cars don't get tickets, drivers do - but those drivers like the WRX," said Insurance.com Managing Editor Des Toups.� The top-20 list contains other sporty cars, such as the Scion FR-S and Mitsubishi 3000 GT, but also includes the hybrid Toyota Prius C, three sport-utility vehicles and the long-defunct Mercury Topaz.

"It's not about horsepower," Toups said. "The Chevrolet Corvette, Dodge Viper and Nissan GT-R rank well below average for tickets even though they can easily double the highest speed limits. But those cars are also costly, so their buyers tend to be older and take fewer risks."

READ MORE

Setting speed limits has traditionally been the responsibility of states, except for the period of 1973-1994. During that time, the federal government enacted mandatory speed limit ceilings on interstate highways and similar limited access roads through a National Maximum Speed Limit.

In 1995, the federal government�repealed the 55 miles per hour National Maximum Speed Limit allowing states to to set their own speed limits. Since then,�34 states have raised speed limits to 70 mph or higher�on some portion of their roadway systems, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA).

READ MORE to get the details

Since your car can be almost your home away from home while traveling, you will want to take some precautions to protect it and the things inside it. Ideally, you wouldn’t leave anything valuable at all in your car, but the reality of travel is that your car is going to serve as much like a safe deposit box or luggage storage closet as transportation — especially during the day when you’re between hotels.

Remember that as a traveler or tourist, you are a mark. (For example, a Florida law requiring rental cars to display a special sticker was repealed a few years ago after it became clear that criminals were targeting tourists in rental vehicles.) Making the time and effort to take a few precautions with your vehicular home away from home can help ensure that you and all your stuff return home intact.

READ MORE�to help protect your car and everything in it

A significant number of drivers in downtown Burlington, Vermont �had phone calls to take or make and messages to check Wednesday, October 1st -- even though a new law bans the use of hand-held electronics while driving.

The fine for a first offense, including fees, is $162. A ban on texting while driving already is in effect in Vermont.

The prevalence of cellular phones, new research, and publicized crashes has started many debates related to the role cell phones play in driver distraction.

READ MORE to get the details.

NAFA Fleet Management Association and CALSTART have reached a significant milestone in development of the Sustainable Fleet Standard Program tool, with the conclusion of first-wave beta testing and delivery of data from Charter Members. 40 Charter Member organizations have recognized the benefits of what a truly sustainable fleet can be, and are helping to create a solution that guides conscientious organizations to the process for replicating it.

The resulting Sustainable Fleet Standard tool, tentatively projected to be released in the first quarter of 2015, will signify a revolutionary step in how fleets define and adhere to sustainable practices.

READ MORE

Sergio Rego Monteiro Filho*

The Brazilian fleet management market has features which make it unique when compared to the European and North-American markets. Not only because Brazil is the largest country in South America and most transport is done by road, but also because there are significant regional gaps in economic terms with companies showing different maturity and professional levels.

Currently, sustainability - from an environmental point of view - is among the greatest concerns for the Brazilian fleet manager, but the possibility of large scale use of ethanol is the Brazilian superstar.

READ MORE

Helps fleets reduce costs through improved driver safety

Donlen and INRIX�, Inc. have collaborated to provide customers of Donlen's DriverPoint� Telematics platform with added capabilities for analyzing fleet performance to reduce costs and liability from unsafe driver behavior.

INRIX Driver Analytics is a web-based service that integrates with Donlen's DriverPoint Telematics platform to provide fleets with enhanced visibility into driver behavior and safety. INRIX Driver Analytics allows visibility into driver performance compared to posted speed limits, road class, and road conditions throughout the day.

READ MORE