Fleet Sentiment Survey reveals impact of driver shortage on equipment purchases
The Q2 2014 Fleet Sentiment Report survey conducted in April by CK Commercial Vehicle Research (CKCVR) revealed how widespread the driver shortage is and how it is likely to impact future vehicle purchases. In answer to multiple questions regarding the current environment at trucking fleets, many and varied types of operations reported that the inability
Catching up with equipment buying trends
A few weeks back, a Fleet Equipment Advisory Board member asked me if I had any recent information on fleet buying trends. While I didn’t have those figures, I knew who to ask: Chris Kemmer, owner of CK Marketing and Communications. The tool she used in doing this research for us is the Fleet Sentiment
Supply constraints lead ACT Research to cut forecasts
According to ACT Research’s recently released Transportation Digest, North America’s commercial vehicle industry is experiencing material capacity constraints that are dictating the speed at which the industry can produce for the rest of this year and next. The report, which combines proprietary ACT data and analysis from a wide variety of sources, paints a comprehensive
How data can influence your best drivers to stick around
Every morning you grab your cup of coffee and scroll through your telematics dashboards, soaking up the fresh data and deciding how to put it to use today. Here’s something to consider: Every bit of data you have on your fleet can be relevant to driver retention and recruitment. Your drivers are concerned about the
Taking the first electric truck step together with Volvo Trucks
Volvo Trucks North America knows that it takes more than an OEM, a customer or a supplier
to make electric trucks a reality. It takes everyone.
Drowning in data: How a dedicated dashboard can help
With hundreds, even thousands of trucks to manage on the road, and real-time updates coming in from each of these trucks, a fleet manager may feel like he or she is drowning in data. A well-designed telematics dashboard can serve as a fleet manager’s lifeboat when it comes to managing all this information.
Counterpoint: The full truth about biodiesel
As a scientist, I think it’s important to have as many facts as possible about a topic before drawing a conclusion. That’s why I feel compelled to respond to a column about biodiesel published in September’s Fleet Equipment. (Editor’s note: You can read the column here). Full disclosure: I work for Renewable Energy Group
Visualizing the value of in-cab video
“There was a truck driver who was involved in a horrific accident.” Drew Schimelpfenig’s voice lowered to a grave tone as he recalled the story. “It was a situation in which the driver was unable to drive the truck away from the accident and he was second guessing if he had done everything he could
Coming together: Daimler’s Elite Support program pushes for consistency in service experience
“Any bad experience has more impact than the three great experience the customer had before. That’s why we are going to raise the bar in our dealer network,” said Friedrich Baumann, senior vice president of Daimler’s aftermarket division. It’s a sentiment that the OE is taking seriously, as it gathered dealers, customers and editors together
Trending truck equipment: Tracking the hottest industry trends
Last month, the Fleet Equipment team set off on a whirlwind trade show schedule that put us at three different shows in four weeks—the NTEA Work Truck Show in Indianapolis, Ind., the TMC Annual Meeting in Nashville and finally, the big one, the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky. Spend even a couple minutes walking
