Best of LinkedIn: Commercial Fleet Insights CW 38/ 39

00:00:00: Provided by Thomas Allgaier and Freeness, based on the most relevant LinkedIn posts about commercial fleets in calendar weeks thirty-eight and thirty nine.

00:00:08: Freenes is a B to B market research company that supports automotive suppliers with building feature by future competitive intelligence that shows exactly how their product stacks up against the competition.

00:00:18: you can find more info.

00:00:21: Welcome to this custom deep dive designed specifically for you, the next gen vehicles and mobility professional.

00:00:26: Today's mission is well.

00:00:28: it really cut through noise and extract top commercial fleet trends circulating across LinkedIn right now.

00:00:33: Yeah keeping smart focused absolutely free of fluff

00:00:37: Exactly.

00:00:38: And we've got a lot of ground to cover today.

00:00:40: We are going to explore the hard realities of fleet electrification, the evolution of telematics into AI and the complex market in public sector forces driving the industry forward.

00:00:51: It's a huge shift.

00:00:52: it really is.

00:00:53: so starting off with our first theme The conversation around Fleet Electrification has officially shifted.

00:01:00: We're way past just setting flashy commitments right?

00:01:03: Now we're dealing with the gritty reality of execution and full system transformation.

00:01:08: Oh, completely!

00:01:09: Hoda Atayi brought up a great point about this.

00:01:12: she argues that electrification fails when you treat it just as vehicle procurement

00:01:17: Like its swapping a diesel engine for battery.

00:01:19: Right exactly It's actually about stabilizing your operating costs against the wild volatility of diesel.

00:01:25: And Tony Nissen backed us out noting electric fleets can cut per mile energy cost by like sixty five to ninety-five percent.

00:01:32: Wow,

00:01:33: ninety-five percent?

00:01:34: Yeah.

00:01:34: and furthermore a NACFE report that Brian Marshall shared shows seventy six percent of fleets using electric terminal tractors are reporting major operating costs savings.

00:01:44: Okay let's unpack this for second because cost saving sound great on paper but practically speaking Isn't this sort of like buying a massive industrial appliance for your house and then realizing you're electrical panel can handle it?

00:01:57: That is the exact bottleneck.

00:01:59: Emma Chetwin-Jarvis laid that out perfectly, she says charging design requires balancing power needs grid capacity and human behavior.

00:02:07: The human element is always the wild card.

00:02:10: Oh!

00:02:10: Always.

00:02:11: And speaking of Wild Cards Joseph Birniak added demand.

00:02:14: charges are the hidden killer here.

00:02:16: Oh, the utility bills.

00:02:17: Right!

00:02:17: You absolutely need smart charging timing so fleets aren't just crushed by premium utility fees when everything plugs in at the exact same time

00:02:24: Which makes sense.

00:02:26: Stacey Noblett was stressing how crucial early utility engagement is because of that.

00:02:31: you can't just surprise them.

00:02:32: no definitely not.

00:02:33: but there's also the operational side.

00:02:35: NC Ilkay Ucar points out a massive flaw and current business cases.

00:02:39: they all focus on hardware payback But nobody has pricing in the cost-of charger downtime.

00:02:45: Right, the hidden costs.

00:02:46: Exactly!

00:02:47: Like what if a charger goes down?

00:02:49: A driver's route gets cut short they lose pay and then that driver quits.

00:02:53: you have to price it in.

00:02:54: That is huge liability.

00:02:56: And Justin Kowitzia took even further warning.

00:02:59: fleets are now managing these fifteen million dollar electrochemical portfolios.

00:03:03: Electrochemical portfolio

00:03:05: That great way of phrasing.

00:03:07: To protect battery value.

00:03:08: he says one hertz continuous telemetry.

00:03:11: You can't rely on legacy.

00:03:12: five minute polling anymore.

00:03:14: Five minutes is an eternity for battery temps.

00:03:17: But, you know despite all these hurdles the real-world data's pretty positive when you get it right.

00:03:23: Chris Davis observed a municipal Kia Niro EV getting three hundred and sixteen miles of range in city duty cycles.

00:03:29: Wait really?

00:03:30: Yeah compared to its two hundred thirty nine mile EPA estimate just because of that low speed regenerative braking

00:03:37: That's awesome.

00:03:37: And Jared Ho celebrated POS Malaysia's EV fleet hitting thirty million kilometers, they are delivering three in ten parcels with EVs now.

00:03:45: That's

00:03:46: real scale!

00:03:47: It is.

00:03:47: Duncan McIntyre also highlighted how highland electric fleets grew from a single school bus project into massive nationwide electrification operation

00:03:56: But getting the actual vehicles still tough for smaller guys.

00:04:00: Tyler Philpott highlighted Juno's paper use model deploying one hundred and ten Scania semis just to absorb that up front risk.

00:04:07: That takes the pressure off balance sheet.

00:04:09: And Jamie Sands discussed how fifteen U.S.

00:04:12: Shippers are pooling their demand to buy twenty-five hundred Tesla trucks

00:04:16: Just buying and bulk together.

00:04:17: Exactly!

00:04:19: He suggested that UK SMEs should use their existing pallet networks To pull buying power in same way.

00:04:24: That's smart.

00:04:26: Honestly, infrastructure doesn't always have to wait for big trucks.

00:04:29: Simon Smith points out that Existing electric van demand can make EHGV depot charging commercially viable from day one.

00:04:36: Let the vans pay for the chargers while you wait for the semis.

00:04:39: Exactly,

00:04:40: and Antony Okorabido adds that mobile EV charging services allow fleets to deploy before permanent infrastructure is even ready.

00:04:48: To unify all this Sallie Fouts shared that The Climate Pledge launched SuperEV an app in India connecting fleets over twenty thousand chargers and financing.

00:04:56: Wow!

00:04:57: That's massive.

00:04:58: Capital is definitely flowing.

00:04:59: Will Madden shared that toggle energy just raised eight hundred and fifty thousand pounds to tackle fleet-energy challenges.

00:05:06: But the timeline is still a bit of battleground.

00:05:09: on the OEM side, Marcus Hain at Bosch states integration is key And he expects one in three new EU battery electric trucks will use Bosch tech by twenty twenty six.

00:05:18: But there's pushback on the regulations, right?

00:05:20: Yeah.

00:05:21: Philippe van Gaal questions the whole idea of delaying the EU truck CO-II targets to twenty thirty three.

00:05:26: he warns it might just give Chinese competitors like BYD way more time to build scale in Europe especially since BYD just launched a forty four ton truck over their

00:05:35: which is wild.

00:05:36: so managing these highly complex electrochemical assets The chinese competition the dynamic charging schedules It's impossible without next level intelligence.

00:05:46: Which brings us to our second theme, the evolution of telematics into AI.

00:05:51: Smooth transition!

00:05:52: Thanks.

00:05:53: I mean Hillair Tenen and John Hearn noted that telematix is rapidly moving away from just being a dot on a map toward intelligent thinking systems.

00:06:02: Right Hashim Alfateri applies this to Saudi fleets saying The shift is moving From knowing what happened yesterday To AI actually deciding What should happen next.

00:06:10: Proactive instead of reactive

00:06:12: Exactly.

00:06:14: And hey, if you are finding these insights on the future of mobility valuable make sure you hit subscribe.

00:06:18: so don't miss our upcoming deep dives.

00:06:21: Definitely do that!

00:06:22: Getting back to tech... The ROI is really proving out.

00:06:25: Tonya Pereira-Rodriguez shared GeoTab reports showing over fifty percent of European fleets see telematics ROI within a single year.

00:06:34: That's incredibly fast

00:06:36: It IS!

00:06:37: Steven White notes AI powered intelligence reduces downtime and improves safety with live driver coaching.

00:06:42: Mateo Carboni even highlights how IMS telematics architecture could lift auto insurance portfolio profitability by up to eight points.

00:06:50: Just by predicting risk better?

00:06:52: Yeah, and John Stafford notes that live connected data makes ESG reporting actually useful for securing real capital in electrification decisions not just checking a compliance box.

00:07:02: Okay i have to push back a bit here though.

00:07:05: Aren't we just throwing more dashboards at fleet managers who are already completely drowning in data like?

00:07:10: does anyone Actually read this stuff?

00:07:12: You're not wrong to ask that.

00:07:14: Andre Gaikalo actually observed most crane fleet operational data goes completely unread, which just wastes a major competitive advantage.

00:07:22: It's noise on the server?

00:07:23: Exactly!

00:07:24: Ray Miller echoes this noting that Fleet leadership is fundamentally shifting away from vehicle maintenance into business strategy visibility and profitability.

00:07:32: you need people who can read

00:07:35: And Angela Gregorowich made a really good point that AI only delivers value when you ask it the right strategic questions.

00:07:42: If you asked bad questions, You get bad strategy.

00:07:46: That's so true.

00:07:47: Drake Bauer also argues that AI and repair approvals needs very clear boundaries.

00:07:52: like It has to hand off conflicting or high-cost decisions back to humans?

00:07:56: It needs adult supervision

00:07:58: Right.

00:07:59: As a side note, Colin Knudson recently distributed a pre-release book on this very topic of AI and fleet management at the EFLA event.

00:08:06: Varad Mandelbaum Yosef also emphasized that the AI summit for fleets is balancing human judgment with AI scale.

00:08:14: You can't forget the human element especially in the cab.

00:08:18: Steve Lockington spoke to truck drivers And found safety tech must engage them not just monitor it.

00:08:24: It has to feel fair or they'll quit

00:08:26: Totally.

00:08:28: Christina Chernicova mentioned Ontario is even updating commercial driver training to reflect all this new tech.

00:08:34: On the back end of that tech, Paul Miller advises fleets really rethink things before they just auto renew their legacy.

00:08:40: Telematics contracts The landscape moving too fast.

00:08:44: Yeah Sergei Leichenka shared a great example of flexibility.

00:08:48: Telematic's insights added MNIFI to route SMS commands directly to IoT devices.

00:08:54: It's THAT kind of redundancy you need.

00:08:56: Exactly.

00:08:57: So connecting the dots here, acquiring all this AI tech and funding these massive electrification projects.

00:09:04: It relies heavily on macro market dynamics right?

00:09:07: The corporate consolidation at a very rigid realities of public sector procurement which is our third theme.

00:09:13: Oh, the public sector.

00:09:15: Liam Hansen shared an absolute horror story about this... Oh

00:09:18: no!

00:09:18: Yeah a municipal committee padded themselves on their back for saving one hundred thirty thousand dollars by cutting electric tarps from twenty-seven new dump trucks.

00:09:26: Sounds like lean budgeting

00:09:27: Right until winter hits.

00:09:29: That decision cost them one hundred eighty thousand dollars in winter overtime because drivers were outside wrestling frozen can visit four AM.

00:09:36: Oh man.

00:09:37: But Hanson also share to win didn't he?

00:09:39: where a dealership rep saved the three hundred fifty thousand dollar municipal deal just by doing twenty minutes of math to create twelve quote variations, to appease their strict council accounting.

00:09:50: Purocracy at its finest!

00:09:52: Nathan Schaefer actually questions whole structure in municipal fleets over stuff like this asking if they should even report through public works it all?

00:09:59: It's fair question But public fleets are still moving fast.

00:10:03: Corey Riegenberg shared how Flagstass fleet techs maintain remote water pumps at ten thousand feet elevation, that's no joke!

00:10:10: No it is not….

00:10:11: Ross Jackson talked about matching hybrid police interceptors to idle heavy duty cycles instead of just buying traditional Tahos.

00:10:17: And Michael Bombrato celebrated Enterprise Fleet Management ranking first in Sourcewell's fleet leasing RFP.

00:10:25: Meanwhile, Bren and James notes BC municipalities are pushing hard for zero-emission fleets despite all the capital barriers we talked about.

00:10:33: There's a lot of movement but there is also consolidation.

00:10:36: Ron Sullivan warns that fleet supply concentrating into just few players poses a real ecosystem risk.

00:10:43: We saw with TVN Ready announcing Apption acquisition to Fleetgo And Jamie Hull noted CalSTART in fourth emerging into catalyst mobility.

00:10:52: The big fish are eating the little fish.

00:10:55: Yeah, and then you have the regulatory side complicating things further.

00:11:00: Rustam Coacher noted a California bill requiring OEMs who receive incentives to transparently publish prices for zero-emission trucks.

00:11:08: And on the international side Bill Pierce mentioned Kia unveiled the PV seven electric van for Europe in Korea But there's no US launch plan mostly pointing to trade policy and tariffs.

00:11:20: Right And I must explicitly state here, just for our listeners.

00:11:24: We are not taking a political stance on U.S.

00:11:26: tariffs California bills or trade mandates.

00:11:28: we're simply reporting how regulatory environments undeniably dictate OEM product availability strictly according to the source material.

00:11:36: Absolutely

00:11:37: The global moves.

00:11:38: really interesting though.

00:11:39: In India Saira Bharohit contrasts Ashok Leyland's broad alternative fuel strategy with Volvo Eikers very premium play.

00:11:47: And Aditi Srivastava reports bounce is at a one hundred forty crore run rate, renting e-scooters to gig workers.

00:11:54: That's incredible volume and even the tire giants are shifting their models.

00:11:58: Maria Rotger shared that Michelin expanded its DHL Tire contract to forty five thousand vehicles in Germany.

00:12:04: It not just rubber anymore.

00:12:06: No Michelle Vincentelli showed how heavily Michelin pushed connected data and services at the IAA.

00:12:12: And Sophie Fouquet talked about hosting UK customers to celebrate thirty years of innovation.

00:12:17: Anacosta also noted that the Michelin Urban Customer Advisory Board met in Charlotte to refine fleet solutions, over a good year.

00:12:25: Enes Salim highlighted their high load index tire specifically engineered for heavy last mile EV delivery vans.

00:12:32: The strategic updates are just flying from everywhere.

00:12:35: Let's rapid fire if you.

00:12:37: Eve Alexandro Patine noted Freikin Spain delivered ninety ambulances in Madrid.

00:12:43: Emmerich Samongo shared that sender partnered with Klicks Group for a green EV delivery fleet.

00:12:48: Kevin

00:12:49: A. mentioned UNFI is advancing EV infrastructure at their California distribution centers,

00:12:54: and Chris Keiser actively mapping out EV fleet and charging operators right now.

00:12:59: Andy Olivera highlighted Miller Tree Service acquiring a custom.

00:13:02: twenty-twenty seven Mac MD.

00:13:04: Seven

00:13:05: John Jackson and the Vi Group reflected on decades of delivery vans as they took Delivery Of A New Life Echo.

00:13:10: And Dr.

00:13:11: Saranj Dave showcased Photon launching commercial EVs in Hong Kong.

00:13:15: The event momentum is just-as wild, Adam Orth spoke on scaling electric freight at Climate Week.

00:13:20: NYC.

00:13:21: Todd Parks announced Verizon Connect route for me in service up his Platinum sponsors for RTA Connect twenty twenty six.

00:13:28: Nim Koye showcased growing EV options that the EV fleet expo in Australia.

00:13:33: Greg Ritt details stagecoach launching a plan for fully zero-emission bus fleet by twenty

00:13:38: thirty five.

00:13:39: Leah Lye highlighted ready cycle, pushing heavy duty cargo tracks for zero emission zones

00:13:43: and Jolte said show the port of Prince Rupert piloting both hydrogen and battery electric trucks.

00:13:49: it's happening everywhere

00:13:50: It really is

00:13:52: I think.

00:13:52: to wrap this theme up Joanne Golden had a really grounded thought at Climate Week NYC.

00:13:58: She said fleet sustainability doesn't mean perfect electrification overnight.

00:14:03: Progress is a portfolio of solutions, hybrids for renewable diesel better tires right sizing the vehicles.

00:14:10: she says we need to take the shame out of partial progress.

00:14:13: I love that.

00:14:14: taking the shame Out-of-partial progress.

00:14:17: it's so pragmatic

00:14:18: It is.

00:14:19: but as we wrap up today i want to pivot To A final sort Of lingering thought to mull over building on all these business risks.

00:14:26: We've discussed

00:14:27: alright what do you have?

00:14:29: Samuel Elkins shared this chilling story.

00:14:31: A small Canadian carrier signed a standard, forty-two page broker agreement without deeply vetting it.

00:14:36: Standard boilerplate stuff right?

00:14:38: That's what they thought.

00:14:39: but there was a hidden indemnity clause on page thirty.

00:14:43: It ended up costing them one hundred and eighty thousand dollars for cargo damage They didn't even cause.

00:14:48: Wait...one

00:14:49: hundred and ninety grand For something that they did not do.

00:14:51: Yep!

00:14:52: It forced to literally sell truck.

00:14:54: just survive the cost.

00:14:56: Wow That brings up a really provocative thought for you, our listener.

00:15:00: As fleets become incredibly sophisticated managing AI routing one Hertz battery telemetry and multi-million dollar charging grids the biggest risk to your business might not be technology at all.

00:15:12: it may be buried in standard contracts binding this new ecosystem together.

00:15:17: In world moving fast who is vetting the risks that haven't priced yet?

00:15:22: That's scary though but necessary

00:15:25: if enjoyed.

00:15:26: New episodes drop every two weeks.

00:15:28: Also check out our other editions on charging and battery technology, autonomous mobility markets in software defined an AI-defined vehicles.

00:15:37: Thank you so much for joining us on this deep dive.

00:15:39: make sure to hit subscribe And we'll catch ya next time.