Automotive Fleet, January 2021

JANUARY 2021 I AUTOMOTIVE FLEET 33the order of importance and in the order of time constraints He was able to integrate this tool with other internal business units as well as the companys accident management company Again gaining buy in from leadership and the surrounding business units was critical toward implementation of the tool He also noted the addition of a new internal dashboard that was created to house all the submitted claims Connor of FedEx Office also touched on safety during the presentation particularly the addition of new accident prevention devices The new devices included a high mount pulsing brake light to the rear of vans which helps draw attention to the drivers behind the vehicle when they are coming to a stop engine disablement device which can remotely shut off a van in the event it is stolen and a vehicle even data recorder which records activities such as distracted driving hard braking and acceleration if theyre speeding So what we use that for is we help to coach the couriers on driver behavior Connor said A lot of things that theyve not thought of before as being distracted driving with these cameras now we can work with them and notify them when we observe distracted driving tendencies and kind of coach them into having better driving behavior and with that decrease their incidents Additionally Beaulieu of Genentech spoke to how safety was equally as important as the companys sustainability initiatives We partnered with our environmental health and safety partners to complete a risk assessment as to why drivers were getting into accidents with the goal to reduce our accident rate Beaulieu said The results supported adding more safety technology features to our vehicles as standard during the ordering process So now these features are considered standard for any new vehicles order The standardized safety features included backup camera with cross traffic alert blind spot detection forward collision warning and lane departure warning Wilson of KLJ also discussed how safety plays a factor in fleet decisions around vehicle cycling By shortening our cycle time we have created new opportunities for newer technology and increased the reliability of our fleet which pretty much equals increased safety across the board Wilson noted AF Complications he mentioned included proper vehicle mileage not being tracked delays of repair facility invoices user input errors when filling out inspection forms etc Lets say your vehicle has averaged a certain amount of miles for years and years and all of a sudden that pattern changes drastically Farber said Your fleet management company might be utilizing a certain algorithm or time threshold that is now inaccurately stating the vehicles need service or being due at that time So this compounds with the earlier problems mentioned To solve this issue Farber said his fleet implemented and is mastering a back to basics strategy which they were able to secure through buy in from leadership and the companys different business units This strategy included localizing vehicle maintenance tracking at the facility level updating the fleets internal tracking sheets and improving its receipt capturing processes Ever since implementing this process earlier this year weve seen a 43 reduction in overdue vehicles and a 97 reduction in vehicles over 10000 miles since their last PM events Farber said SAFETY Farber expanded on Dishs improved PM program by elaborating on how it improved the fleets vision of safety So not only did our new preventative maintenance process help with OEM compliance and downtime it was also helpful in finding bald tires faulty brakes and other safety items Farber said And just being able to get the vehicle in more frequently and having more frequent inspections getting the tires off things like that it gives us the opportunity to catch more of those safety items prior to failure In other areas of fleet safety Farber also said that Dish implemented a collision avoidance system back in 2014 which through 2020 was implemented in roughly 80 of the company fleet Dish also implemented a collision reporting application tool for its drivers to improve tracking data that is reported in the event of an accident This solution walks the driver through the process of gathering the right information in This allowed us to transition to a newer fleet model that allowed us to rely upon the five year 100000 mile powertrain warranties that were being introduced by the manufacturers to help insulate us from major repair costs and also retire the vehicles at a point where theres still some residual value and maintenance costs that have not yet materialized Wilson said MAINTENANCE Continuing on fleet maintenance Connor of FedEx Office spoke to how she implemented several enhancements to her maintenance program particularly to overcoming challenges of operating a decentralized fleet She manages a fleet of 950 Class 2 vehicles with FedEx Office In an effort to better service our fleet we brought on mobile maintenance vendors to help with that need Connor said What that is is they can do maintenance whether it be an oil change tires serpentine belts brakes almost anything theyll come on site and complete maintenance repairs without the vehicle having to be taken into a brick and mortar shop This created flexibility to when to schedule maintenance appointments which she said helped with reduction of vehicle downtime for her fleet Her fleet also launched a mobile carwash program for consistent vehicle cleanliness To implement this new program Connor worked with ensuring that drivers were aware of the new program and how the vendors operated Her drivers were introduced to the services via an online webinar so they could be introduced to the services before the vendor would dispatch technicians Our drivers are taking these changes very well it helps keep them on the road Connor said They come in before their shifts get their service done and then they are on the road So they dont have to get their vehicle serviced during their lunch hours Farber of Dish also commented on new strategies his fleet has implemented to better manage maintenance particularly with overcoming challenges of non compliance of its preventative maintenance program due to challenges in 2020 Dish has a fleet of 3665 vehicles CONNOR FEDEX FARBER DISH