Starting with reliable, high-quality data is the first step for successful reporting. This gives your organization a full view of what’s going on within, share reports with full confidence and make smarter, data-backed business decisions. To get to this point, however, data quality starts with unified data streams, error-free information and appropriate storage.

Sustainability is interwoven into futureproofing for many reasons. At its core, the idea and goal of sustainability is to carry out our actions and meet our needs without jeopardizing the ability of future generations doing the same. This is essentially the same goal as futureproofing, no?

Recently, in partnership with Consumer’s Energy, we ran a survey to learn more about how fleets are changing their take-home policies (if at all), especially as we exit a pandemic and move into a new year.

High quality data can be tricky to recognize as valuable at first glance. It isn’t a tangible asset that goes out to job sites on a daily basis. It is, however, one of the most impactful tools a fleet manager can have when it comes to spotting opportunities and tracking progress toward goals.

There are two ways someone can gain the status of a true fleet data analyst. By spending years in the fleet industry garnering deep domain expertise, or by utilizing business intelligence as your secret weapon.

A data analyst with fleet cred is an invaluable addition to a fleet management team. “Fleet cred” is the deep domain knowledge of the world of fleet.

Manually reporting fleet data carries the implication of hidden costs that are aggregated throughout the reporting process. Inefficient, legacy systems can lead to wasted time, erroneous data and an unreliable dataset.

Managers spend over 70 percent of their time simply trying to consolidate their data into something comprehensible, leaving barely any time for drawing actionable insights from this data, in addition to carrying out all their other duties.

Business intelligence seems to be one of those buzzwords that companies throw around when talking strategy and futureproofing solutions, but many find it hard to actually define. Is it a system? A service? A strategic approach? In some ways, it is all of the above.

“They don’t have time to research it and study it. That creates a challenge for adoption. And so for what we do, and knowing lithium-ion, our goal is to make this not so scary. Make the transition simple for our customers, simple for the users. And that’s what we focus on.”

For those of us that like internal combustion engine vehicles, or perhaps we really need them, whether it’s your personal vehicle or perhaps you operate or run a fleet that simply cannot electrify due to lack of vehicle option availability, it doesn’t suit your region or type of work, et cetera, how can we make them to be more sustainable?

The question is, is a reduction of nearly 85% of internal combustion engine emissions worth the initial higher price of this new fuel? Some may say they’re not ready to make the switch.

This is a time for implementing and communicating new standards, and an opportunity to create some lasting changes. Perhaps you could consider right-sizing your fleet so that you can have spare vehicles as customers require while identifying and disposing of under-utilized equipment.

We all know that understanding your fleet’s data is vital. Especially so as new technologies emerge, and you’re looking to either improve cost efficiencies or implement new programs of acquisition and adoption.

“If you have the data you need in order to be able to report back on it to your user base, then a visualization through a dashboard or a scheduled PDF is a great way to facilitate that behavioral change.”

Range anxiety is a huge issue for fleet operators, drivers, manager and directors – especially when it comes to a new battery technology that has primarily relied on more anecdotal data than real world examples. But, can you blame them?

We’re breaking down sustainability from a new angle – focusing on what exactly makes this new technology sustainable, and whether or not the hunt for materials used to create batteries is as sustainable as you might think.

Electric vehicles can be a surprisingly polarizing topic – you have those with valid concerns, and those who can’t help but sing their praise. But then you also have a group that are simply keen to learn more – about the benefits, the downsides and everything in-between.

Leasing fleets assets rather than a large purchase can be beneficial to fleets for a variety of reasons. For some, it may be that more real-world data is required before they fully take the plunge and spend a large portion of their operating budget on upgraded assets.

The Monthly Hotlist will air during the last week of every month, making sure you’re caught up on top stories, new technology launches and new initiatives that’ll surely have people talking.

As with any new technology, you have some that are excited, some on the fence and some caught up in concerns. Fleets around the world have suggested that when the technology becomes available, that they’ll electrify. But for those that haven’t yet, what might their concerns be?

Understanding your data is a crucial aspect to fleet management. It’s true when you’re growing your fleet, looking to expand, fine-tune your operations and nearly every facet of the management process. Fleet managers know that as their fleets get larger, the data they have grows exponentially – both in quantity and importance. But where does that leave them?

This week on the Fleet FYIs Podcast I’m joined again by the Executive Vice President of Operations for Quanta Services, INC., Dave Meisel, and this week, we’re taking a look at what we can look forward to in fleet this year.

If you ask any fleet manager today, they’ll tell you that the electrification of fleets is no longer simply on the horizon – it’s here. Fleets nationwide are showing an interest in electric vehicles – more than ever before. But are they really suitable for all regions of operation?

There are a lot of pros and cons to weigh out – whether or not it works for the type of work your fleet does on a daily basis, if your region is suited to hosting an electric fleet (with its current infrastructure) and whether or not your organization is willing to do a deep dive into it’s data to ensure the return on their investment is worth it.

A dashboard connects all of your data streams and sources but spares you the headache of connecting each source of data yourself.

Your data can tell a story – but it’s not just that it can tell one, it’s how one tells it. In larger organizations, it’s critical to be able to explain data to management at every level from multiple angles.

From the days of ‘software on a shelf’ to the new, streamlined automatic updates of today – we’re covering what’s on the minds of project managers today.

It’s easy to keep the truck idling, but should you? Utilimarc wondered if it was time for you to kill the engine to save some coin.

The light duty service truck is a reliable workhorse for many fleets with its service body and GVWR less than 20,000. So, how productive do they remain and for how long?

With its fairly compact size, compartments and capabilities, it has made operating in the field extremely convenient and efficient. Utilimarc wondered if the truck is still performing strong, or if its prowess is starting to slow down.

Because of its massive importance, we’ve delved into a couple ways that leaders in the fleet industry can network to make themselves more effective and better connected.

The operating cost for the Transit Connect in year two was $117 per 1,000 miles, while in year five it was $278 per 1,000 miles, an increase of $161 per 1,000 miles over the five years.

The operating costs for 4×2 in year one was $75 per 1,000 miles, while in year nine it was $265 per 1,000 miles, an increase of $190 over the nine years.

With today’s upper-management expectation of real-time analytics, data driven decisions, and reduced support staff, the fleet industry needed a drastic change in the consulting approach.