Automotive Fleet, August 2018
AUTOMOTIVE FLEET I AUGUST 2018 26to the fleet manager to manage their total traveled miles Its very similar to how fuel cards are managed when an employee buys fuel at a gas station The fuel purchase is tracked within the LeasePlan servers that a fleet manager can access Instead of a fuel card its a Lyft card under the MyLeasePlan app The fleet manager can see the spend when an employee is traveling using a ride hailing service AF You also recently introduced another new partnership with MileIQ Can you describe its function SMOLKA MileIQ is a Microsoft subsidiary that offers a very unique app that automatically understands when a vehicle trip starts and ends Within an amazing plethora of features the app allows drivers to categorize and submit their trips at the end of a period to a cloud system where we can aggregate this information at a company level and provide information and insight to the fleet The product is geared for employees who dont have a company vehicle and instead use their own vehicles to do their job and get reimbursed for the expense This is a very strategic partnership that gives LeasePlan the ability to consolidate and aggregate information about business miles driven It tracks miles driven in a private car with the capability to categorize those trips as either personal or business related trips We can then consolidate this information and offer reporting and analytics to provide actionable insights for fleet managers to better control the cost of reimbursing employees SCHLESINGER For employees who drive personal vehicles for work purposes tracking mileage for reimbursement has always been a major headache They go through their calendars and see what trips they need to expense Using MileIQ every route is captured automatically without having to manually start or stop the app At the end of every day users open the app on their smartphone and see that MileIQ has captured each individual trip Then all is needed is a simple swipe to the left for personal drives or AF On average fleet management companies interact with 10 to 20 of a clients employee base who are eligible to receive a company provided vehicle Does this partnership with Lyft extend LeasePlans reach to the other 80 of employees who have transportation needs that dont require a company vehicle SMOLKA Our partnership with Lyft is a great solution for both groups and we look forward to continuing to create a more seamless transportation experience for as many people as possible With people who are eligible for company vehicles these employees are travelers who need other mobility options when they travel to other cities or when their vehicle is being serviced in addition to being company drivers How do you manage these mobility options so a fleet manager can manage the total traveled miles instead of only driven miles This involves extending corporate policy and expense management to total traveled miles We have a mobile app for drivers called MyLeasePlan In the app users can tap Book a Lyft to assure the clients business account is translated into the Lyft app From there the user goes through the normal steps to hail a Lyft driver SCHLESINGER Connecting to the Lyft app using MyLeasePlan gives a line of sight to electric vehicles by 2021 Our CEO Tex Gunning has announced wed like to have our entire global portfolio of vehicles be net zero emissions by 2030 AF Thats a very ambitious goal especially since you are looking to accomplish it within three to four purchasing cycles SCHLESINGER We know its an ambitious target but at the same time climate change is a key challenge that we must all work to address AF You recently made another significant announcement of your partnership with Lyft Business How will this partnership work SMOLKA This is a very big step for us in terms of fleet and how we partner with mobility companies Its about having better visibility of the total cost of ownership and giving drivers and employees options while they are out on the road This is a first of a kind A year ago LeasePlan partnered with Uber in Europe to assist Uber drivers in acquiring vehicles The U S relationship with Lyft is different With our Lyft partnership were helping our customers to have an extension into traveled miles by their employees instead of just driven miles This is a big paradigm shift and an incredible step in the right direction PROGRESS REPORT Today LeasePlan is undergoing a transformation that aims to put us at the forefront of the three key megatrends said Jeff Schlesinger president and CEO of LeasePlan USA We now have relationships with high tech companies such as eDriving Uber Lyft MapAnything and MileIQ These relationships didnt exist when I joined a year ago Today theyre our strategic partners Stay tuned because more are going to be announced
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