January is designated as National Mentoring Month, with the purpose of bringing together and growing the mentoring movement, acknowledging the impact of relationships and the significance of mentorship. Regardless of what field you are in or how successful you have been in your career; it is important to recognize the value of having some type of mentor. Not only can you gain from their guidance, but you can also make a positive impact on someone else's journey by being a mentor yourself.
Topics: Fleet Safety, Fleet Management, Truck Fleet Operations
We all need to take greater care at highway-rail grade crossings. A highway-rail grade crossing is an intersection where a roadway crosses railroad tracks at the same level or grade. Such crossings may be encountered on both public and private roads. There are more than 250,000 such crossings in the U.S. Although the highway safety picture has improved considerably over the last decade, still too many people are killed and injured every year at grade crossings. Of all the highway-rail grade crossing incidents annually, around 500 involve trucks or tractor-trailers. This translates to an average of about 10 per week.
Topics: Fleet Safety, Fleet Management, Truck Fleet Operations
Today, many companies are involved in Corporate Social Responsibility efforts to take responsibility for the social and environmental impacts of their daily operations. For example, Dell initiated a 2020 Legacy of Good Plan that addresses community challenges by using their technical expertise where it can have an impact for people and the planet. Specifically, they are partnering with Camera Education to help train teachers in Ethiopia on how to provide computer knowledge to their classroom.
This example of a global initiative is great, but seldom in life can a company provide a product or service that contributes to all of humanity. I feel fortunate to be associated with a company that does exactly that, and on this Earth Day I would like to express my appreciation for the forward-thinkers who recognize that the changes they are making not only save their companies money, but to also acknowledge them for doing the right thing for society and the planet.
Finance and Operations Not On The Same Page Regarding Focus Of Fleet Cost Management and Procurement
Where Is the Lack of Communication?
The online survey shows private fleet management personnel highlighting several obstacles when trying to communicate fleet operational needs with finance departments. Signifying this lack of communication, 37.5% of fleet executives cited the inability of their finance departments to clearly communicate the company’s financial metrics and goals to the operations department as the largest communications struggle. An additional 34.4% said finance doesn't understand the benefit of investing in newer equipment; and 31.3% said finance doesn't understand various operating costs associated with the fleet.
Topics: Lease vs Buy, Fleet Management, Truck Fleet Operations
Fleet Advantage was founded in 2008 on a number of principles formulated around information technology. It was also founded upon the necessity to help organizations improve their tractor fleets’ productivity and to reduce operating costs by improving their fuel efficiency from 6.0 MPG to 10.0 MPG. One of the cornerstones was the Greenhouse Gas Mandate that took effect in 2011 with its requirement to reduce CO2 emissions, which can only be accomplished by improving fuel economy/MPG. The technology and supporting data analytics have arrived, and we are now seeing the results we knew were there - tracking a goal of 10.0 MPG.
A recent success program called “Run on Less”, organized by the Carbon War Room and the North American Council for Freight Efficiency, proved that 10 MPG is possible using technology that are available on the market today. The results exceeded the original 9 MPG goal set by CWR and NACFE.
Topics: Data Analytics, Fleet Management, Fleet Optimization, GHG, Fuel Economy, NACFE
