Arduous Undertaking, Or Inspired Adventure? Opportunities For Innovation In Fleet Management

Are you a "glass-half-full" or "glass-half-empty" person? When faced with a challenge, or even just a change in plans, do you approach the situation with the attitude that it is an arduous undertaking or an inspired adventure?  

I ask because I firmly believe that your perspective on a situation – choosing to look at something either in a positive or negative light – has a significant impact on the outcome of that situation. Approach something with a positive attitude and you’re more likely to be positive about the outcome, regardless of what it is. Approach something with a negative attitude, and it’s likely you’ll be disappointed with the outcome, regardless of what that outcome is.

The past few years in the fleet profession have given many, if not all of us, opportunities to challenge ourselves to be positive or negative about changes in our industry. Sadly, some have taken a "duck and cover" mentality, hoping the changes would pass them by. In the end, many of these individuals have become casualties of change. Others have grabbed the proverbial bull by the horns and made the best of the many challenges we’ve faced. The next several years will bring more of the same, I am certain.  

The speed with which the fleet industry is moving and changing is astounding. The future is not some far off, distant dream. The future is here, and it will continually change and evolve, and you need to continually change and evolve in order to survive. And to survive, you need to innovate, create, and execute solutions that bring value.

So, what does it mean to "innovate"? In the most basic sense, it means to make changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods, new ideas, or new products. So, we’re talking about non-traditional solutions to problems or opportunities.   

For example, back around 3500 BC, the only way to get around was to walk. And the only way to move something from one place to another was to carry it on your back. Then, one day, some genius was looking at their potter’s wheel – you know, the round, spinning device used to shape clay pots – and thought, "Hey, why can’t we put that thing on its edge and use it for something other than spinning clay?" This non-traditional solution – this unique perspective on a very common item – transformed the world.  

Today, we need to look at fleet management with that same sense of vision, curiosity, and perspective. We need to innovate those types of non-traditional solutions to our opportunities. If we don’t, we will be casualties of those changes, rather than survivors.

What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear from you.

P.S. I recently jotted down a short list of what I consider to be some significant game-changers for the fleet industry. You can look at this list with an eye toward gloom-and-doom, or you can choose to look at them as opportunities for innovation. It will be up to us – NAFA, our partners, the fleet managers of today and tomorrow, and our valued business associates -- to create and execute strategies that can take advantage of these opportunities.

1. Mobility Management. At its inception, fleet management was asset management and was primarily about managing the vehicles drivers used. Today, with new generational wants and needs, autonomous vehicles, new vehicle technologies, and rideshare services – to name just a few disrupters – this is changing. Today, and even more so in the future, fleet management is not as much about asset management as it is about mobility management.

2. Safety. Coupled with the new vehicle technology mentioned above, driver safety has – rightly so – become a dominant issue. Strict distracted driving policies, compliance with federal regulations, and a push to get to zero traffic deaths will all impact how you manage your fleet and the related liability that goes with crashes.

3. Big data and the connection with TCO. Every aspect of your vehicle operations can be monitored every second of every day, but what do you do with all of that data? Innovators will use the information for predictive analytics, finding ways to reduce their total cost of operations/ownership. The result?  Tomorrow’s fleet managers will be more data analysts than asset managers.

4. Redefined role of fleet managers. In addition to being more data analyst than asset manager, tomorrow’s fleet manager – and already many of today’s fleet managers – won’t only being wearing a fleet manager’s hat. They’ll be doing travel, relocation, human resources, or a number of other tasks in addition to fleet. And, at least in the corporate world, they’ll be reporting up to someone in procurement or sourcing.