Best of LinkedIn: Commercial Fleet Insights CW 44/ 45

00:00:00: provided by Thomas Allgaier and Freeness based on the most relevant LinkedIn posts about commercial fleets in calendar weeks, forty four and forty five.

00:00:09: Freenest is a B to P market research company that supports automotive suppliers with building feature-by-feature competitive intelligence That shows exactly how their product stacks up against the competition.

00:00:20: You can find more info in description

00:00:22: And um... The mission for our deep dive today Is really just explore top commercial fleet trends.

00:00:28: we're seeing across all those discussions.

00:00:30: We are going to navigate the new economics of fleet transformation, look at how operators are solving this massive depot charging gridlock and then you know unpack how AI and telematics are fixing everyday operational headaches.

00:00:42: Yeah I think that we need start by just unpacking these whole one-to-one swap fallacies.

00:00:46: Oh totally

00:00:47: Because were moving way past the theoretical side.

00:00:50: electric vehicles.

00:00:50: now Were looking into hard economics hitting pavement.

00:00:54: right now The consensus is clear Right?

00:00:57: Electrification is not a plug-and-play process.

00:00:59: Not at all!

00:01:01: It's actually the single biggest trap in fleet management right now.

00:01:05: Sojournir framed this reality perfectly.

00:01:08: Oh, right... The downtime issue

00:01:09: Exactly He pointed out that typical diesel fleet operation might only run vehicles for like ten to twelve hours per day.

00:01:17: There was just massive amount of down time built into legacy logistics.

00:01:21: But with an EV, the financial profile completely flips.

00:01:25: You have a much higher upfront capital expense but drastically lower operational expense per mile.

00:01:31: Right, so if it's sitting parked its just bleeding money.

00:01:34: It is like buying high end smart phone But only using to make landline calls.

00:01:39: That is great way of putting.

00:01:42: If you swap a diesel for an EV and leave idle for twelve hours your ruining the ROI.

00:01:47: Saju was saying you basically need to redesign your logistics, To run that EV twenty hours a day.

00:01:51: Yeah in shifts

00:01:52: Right!

00:01:53: In shifts actually capitalize on those lower operating costs.

00:01:55: Precisely I mean the math only works when asset is moving and just as importantly When it's charging at optimal time

00:02:02: Which is whole other beast.

00:02:03: It Is.

00:02:04: Take data Brian Marshall brought to table.

00:02:07: He looked at impact of managed charging.

00:02:09: Which software right?

00:02:10: Yeah, software that actively shifts your charging schedule away from peak utility demand periods.

00:02:15: And by doing that a fleet's modeled EV energy cost plummeted from forty four cents per kilowatt hour all the way down to just four cents.

00:02:23: wait for sense literally force

00:02:25: and laterally four cents.

00:02:26: That is they staggering drop.

00:02:27: you're talking about a ninety percent reduction in fuel costs using the exact same vehicles The exact same chargers Just By Being Smart About When You Pull A Power?

00:02:35: Yeah.

00:02:36: And we're seeing that aggressive economic advantage play out globally, like Kartik Kumar Saha modeled urban delivery fleets over in Bangladesh and over there.

00:02:45: incredibly expensive diesel is just absolutely squeezing fleet margins.

00:02:50: his model showed that switching to EVs resulted into a seventy one percent lower energy cost.

00:02:54: well yeah then it creates payback period against diesel of just twenty seven months.

00:02:58: two-and-a half years to break even on the premium.

00:03:00: That's fantastic

00:03:01: he really does.

00:03:02: but you know I want to look at where the fuel burn is highest which brings us to heavy duty freight.

00:03:07: because if you want to save money on fuel, You look at the trucks that burn most of

00:03:11: it.

00:03:11: Oh absolutely!

00:03:12: It's the strongest economic case out there.

00:03:15: over at The Move Australia conference Gary Cathay highlighted this structural math here diesel makes up thirty-to forty percent Of the entire cost stack for line haul freight.

00:03:23: Wow

00:03:23: almost half.

00:03:24: Yeah If you can take a sledgehammer To that line item you transform your balance sheet.

00:03:29: And we aren't just projecting This anymore right?

00:03:31: The miles are actually being driven like Bill Pierce shared some incredible numbers from laser logistics.

00:03:37: Right, their yard trucks!

00:03:39: Exactly they just passed four million miles with their electric yard trucks and Just by hitting that milestone.

00:03:44: They saved two point five million gallons of diesel.

00:03:47: That's massive plus

00:03:49: the cut their maintenance costs By more than fifty percent compared to there comparable diesel units.

00:03:54: I mean fewer moving parts equals fewer breakdowns.

00:03:57: Yeah, and the scale of this transition is staggering when you start aggregating the numbers Alexander Vlaskamp recently noted that MAN e-trucks have now surpassed sixty million customer kilometers across Europe.

00:04:09: Sixty million?

00:04:10: yeah I mean This isn't pilot program territory anymore.

00:04:14: No it's core operations And it's moving way past.

00:04:17: just, you know last mile delivery vans.

00:04:19: I was looking at a massive deployment in India that was discussed by both Andreas Marschner and Jody Marlett.

00:04:24: Oh the Amazon one?

00:04:26: Yeah.

00:04:26: Amazon and Tata Motors are putting three thousand electric trucks on the road specifically for middle-mile and line haul routes.

00:04:33: They're targeting this massive twenty eight hundred kilometer corridor.

00:04:38: Wow And you're seeing the same aggressive scaling in Europe, too.

00:04:41: Claudio S mentioned that Amazon just took delivery of twenty-seven Mercedes E-Aktro six hundred trucks for their German operations.

00:04:48: Just to start right?

00:04:49: Yeah!

00:04:49: That's just a first wave of two hundred truck order and The revenue these electric platforms are generating from OEMs is serious.

00:04:57: Raul or Adondo pointed out that Rivian's commercial delivery van... ...the

00:05:00: one they billed for Amazon.

00:05:02: Yeah!!

00:05:02: That one generated one point six billion dollars in Revenue this year alone.

00:05:07: It makes sense when you look at the energy efficiency across different segments.

00:05:10: Harcimeron core detailed an I-CCT study based in indoor, breaking down the energy consumption side by side.

00:05:17: And what did they find?

00:05:18: So electric buses use fifty four percent less energy than diesel buses.

00:05:23: Okay solid

00:05:24: Forget this.

00:05:26: Electric waste trucks Use a massive ninety percent less Energy then their diesel counterparts

00:05:31: Ninety percent.

00:05:33: Oh well I guess that makes sense.

00:05:35: Stop-and-go duty cycles like waste collection are where regenerative braking really shines the brightest.

00:05:40: Exactly, feeding power back into the battery.

00:05:42: Yeah it's why we're seeing such broad global adoption in those specific niches.

00:05:46: Emily Betts shared that Sonoma County transit just reached eighteen zero emission electric buses Over Morocco.

00:05:53: Sebastian Eibald noted robot is prepping thirty e-buses for a new express line.

00:05:58: Alsonia Joseph celebrated JetBlue adding a fully electric super tug to their Boston Logan aviation fleet.

00:06:05: And you know, commercial operators like Irmin and Mineral Zone are actively expanding their EV footprints as Mark Davis and Brennan Holman both

00:06:12: shared.".

00:06:12: And the shifting market share reflects all of this activity.

00:06:15: Philippa Munoz reported that The VW Group is currently leading European EV commercial sales.

00:06:21: Christos Schreier highlighted that Switzerland is actually leading Europe in heavy electric trucks above sixteen tons.

00:06:27: Really?

00:06:28: Switzerland?

00:06:28: Capturing a twenty-four point two percent share new registrations.

00:06:33: And it's not just legacy European brands.

00:06:35: Cecile Post noted that Chinese brands are rapidly gaining fleet share across the continent

00:06:40: and Eden Redd expects That momentum to just continue.

00:06:43: Diane Kholish shared a study anticipating fully electric fleet share will rise to forty two percent in The near future.

00:06:50: well, but and here is where we need a reality check There is a very real, very loud pushback to this whole.

00:06:56: electrify everything right the second height.

00:06:58: Which isn't necessary correction honestly

00:07:00: completely.

00:07:01: Gigi Ferris made a highly practical point.

00:07:04: For most fleets operating right now, a twenty-eight thousand dollar hybrid pickup truck offers vastly better value than a forty six thousand dollar EV.

00:07:11: if your infrastructure just isn't ready.

00:07:13: Right?

00:07:14: You can't force the asset of the environment and support it.

00:07:16: Exactly!

00:07:17: And Arbaab Afraj brought up massive risk on financial side regarding EV leasing.

00:07:22: Oh, the residual values.

00:07:23: Yeah If you lease a diesel truck The bank knows exactly what its worth in three years.

00:07:27: But with EVs Profitability depends heavily on assets' residual value.

00:07:32: If battery degradation fears tank the resale value, lease rates become toxic.

00:07:37: Which is why the focus for mature operators has shifted entirely.

00:07:40: Adam Morath at Siemens and by the way they are running over four thousand EVs right now so they know what their talking about.

00:07:46: Definitely.

00:07:47: He said that real questions aren't proving technology in pilots anymore.

00:07:51: The friction points are upfitting Real-world range And integrating telematics post pilot.

00:07:58: That brings us back to Gigi's point on infrastructure.

00:08:01: Let's talk about the absolute biggest physical barrier to this whole transition, The Depot and the grid.

00:08:07: Oh

00:08:07: boy!

00:08:08: Because an electric heavy goods vehicle is a spectacular piece of engineering.

00:08:12: right up until the battery hits zero then it's just very expensive.

00:08:16: paperweight

00:08:16: Very Heavy Paperweight

00:08:17: Yeah.

00:08:18: And the Grid Bottle Neck Is Defining Challenge Of Commercial Electrification.

00:08:23: Vinny Riska Put It Bluntly Site Radiness And Charger Choice Are The Hardest Parts This entire process.

00:08:30: Choosing the vehicle is easy.

00:08:31: Finding the power to charge it, as a nightmare

00:08:34: Because digging up concrete and waiting for utility transformers takes years.

00:08:39: That's why Jamie Sands highlighted A brilliantly pragmatic move by Transport Scotland.

00:08:43: Oh!

00:08:44: The funding?

00:08:44: Right

00:08:44: Yeah They are funding upto fifteen thousand pounds For SME fleet analysis before our company even buys a heavy goods vehicle.

00:08:52: The entire goal Is to prevent fleets from buying trucks they literally cannot charge

00:08:56: Which is so smart... just to get the plugs in.

00:08:59: The ground is immense, which is why government funding is playing such a critical role.

00:09:04: Tom Bocher noted the importance of the UK depot charging scheme for scalable infrastructure right?

00:09:10: In the U?

00:09:11: S Eric Smith pointed to a thirty nine million dollar pool of clean truck and charger incentives at the port of New York and New Jersey And Sam pornazeri highlighted a highly targeted four point seven million dollar project out on Laguna Beach to install forty-two chargers specifically for their city fleet.

00:09:29: But you know, I want push back on the idea that throwing millions of dollars at massive utility grid upgrades is only way forward!

00:09:35: Okay fair.

00:09:36: Mo Ismail shared a fascinating case study from Warrington's own buses.

00:09:40: They needed more power for their depot but instead waiting in a massive grid upgrade they increased their usable depo power from three point five megawatts To four point three megawats purely by optimizing their operations.

00:09:53: That IS The Power Of Software.

00:09:55: Instead of having fifty buses plug in and pull maximum power simultaneously, which spikes your peak load and blows out your grid capacity you stagger them.

00:10:05: Exactly!

00:10:06: You use load balancing to charge some buses pause them And route power to others based on when they actually need to leave the depot.

00:10:13: That's brilliant...you're essentially manufacturing extra capacity at a thin air just by sequencing the draw.

00:10:19: Oh By The Way if you are finding these kinds of operational insights helpful.

00:10:23: definitely make sure Casually hit subscribe wherever you're listening, so you catch our future deep dives.

00:10:28: Absolutely.

00:10:30: Now alongside software optimization We're also seeing some incredibly clever hardware solutions to bypass grid limits.

00:10:37: Pete Lancaster and Simon Tate over at Felton pointed to battery storage charging systems like the charge cube CQ for fifty.

00:10:45: Oh this is the water tower concept right?

00:10:47: Exactly.

00:10:48: Imagine your local grid connection is just a slow garden hose, but you're heavy duty.

00:10:53: trucks need a high pressure fire hose to charge quickly.

00:10:56: these battery storage units sit on your lot slowly filling up their internal batteries all day and night using that low power garden hose Connection.

00:11:05: right then when the truck pulls in they discharge rapidly.

00:11:08: acting like The Firehose it lets large depots fast-charge Trucks Using Their Existing Low Capacity Grid Supply.

00:11:15: that completely changes the real estate game for depots.

00:11:18: And it turns out, depots are realizing they can actually generate revenue from this infrastructure.

00:11:23: in a Bayou fought discussed an amazing pilot in Ireland where on post and The HL Express connected two hundred eleven of their Depot EVs directly to the national grid flexibility markets

00:11:34: Which means when the broader electrical grid is stressed during peak hours, the depot software dials back the charging rate of those two hundred and eleven bands.

00:11:43: And utility actually pays them for that flexibility.

00:11:46: Wow!

00:11:47: Johan Olsen also noted a simpler revenue.

00:11:49: moral Depots can earn third-party revenues simply by opening up their idle chargers to other commercial fleets when they aren't using them.

00:11:56: Which brings us a great example from Matthew Scoble, he shared the results of pilot between CUNA Plus Nagel and Amazon where they share depot chargers for electric heavy goods vehicles And achieved a ninety percent success rate without disrupting either company's day-to-day operations

00:12:11: which is phenomenal utilization.

00:12:14: but it does raise a broader operational question

00:12:18: And this is exactly what I was wondering.

00:12:20: Charlotte argues, I did some recent geotab data showing the Canadian fleet EVs typically returned to base with half their charge still left in the battery.

00:12:28: Half?

00:12:29: Yeah!

00:12:29: The data showed they could cover one and a half times our daily distance without even sweating.

00:12:34: so if fleets are coming back with fifty percent battery...and CUNA plus NAGLE is easily sharing chargers with Amazon Are we overbuilding our grid capacity out of pure range anxiety?

00:12:44: It's a fantastic question, and the answer is likely yes but for very specific reason.

00:12:50: We're overbuilding because we lack the management visibility to trust our own margins... Oh that

00:12:55: makes sense!

00:12:55: Yeah, Joakim Los argued that once you scale past a single pilot depot.

00:13:00: You absolutely need a multi site charging platform.

00:13:03: he outlines six specific capabilities fleets needs but the core of it is having vendor neutral asset control.

00:13:10: if you don't have perfect visibility into your state-of-charge and route demands you are going to over build infrastructure.

00:13:16: just feel safe.

00:13:17: It comes down to accountability.

00:13:19: Natasha Fry stressed that commissioning the chargers is just day one.

00:13:23: You have to stay accountable for critical fleet charging operations long after the ribbon cutting, and that accountability extends to drivers especially.

00:13:32: take home fleets.

00:13:33: Marcella Crawl noted a smart policy out of Austria where they set the twenty-twenty seven tax free home charging rate for company EVs at thirty two point seven cents you.

00:13:46: But to execute smart charging, load balancing and route optimization you need a flawless layer of data which perfectly transitions us into the software nervous system running all this.

00:13:57: AI, Telematics & Safety.

00:13:59: This is where the leap in technology's just wild.

00:14:01: We're moving away from traditional telematics Where we stare at a dashboard full of dots on our map To active AI agents that actually do their work.

00:14:10: Yeah Colin DeNussin wrote an entirely focused book on AI and fleet management highlighting that AI is evolving from a chatbot, which just answers questions into an agent who executes

00:14:21: tasks.

00:14:22: Like actually doing the heavy lifting?

00:14:23: Exactly!

00:14:24: Autocush Boopalum broke down a perfect use case for this.

00:14:28: Historically fleet managers spend hours chasing down dirty or missing data.

00:14:32: Now An AI Agent can proactively notice a gap say A Missing Odometer reading and text the driver directly to collect.

00:14:40: it.

00:14:40: Doesn't wait for human to run weekly audit

00:14:43: And it makes querying the data incredibly intuitive.

00:14:47: Farhan Rafiq introduced load stop MCP, which allows trucking teams to query their live transportation management system data in plain English instead of writing a complex database query that dispatcher can literally just type.

00:14:59: show me tomorrow's uncovered loads and The AI pulls it from the TMS.

00:15:04: but here is where we hit A massive structural roadblock

00:15:07: right because I have a major issue with this AI hype.

00:15:11: It is brilliant that an AI can text a driver for an odometer reading.

00:15:15: But Clinton Bench pointed out that OEMs are increasingly restricting access to raw vehicle data, so aren't we just building incredibly smart AI on top of the locked box?

00:15:26: It is one of the most intense debates in the industry right now.

00:15:29: Fleets rely on that rock hand bus data harsh breaking seat belt compliance precise energy consumption.

00:15:38: If OEMs lock that data behind a proprietary paywall, independent tech platforms can't function.

00:15:44: The AI is starved of the very oxygen it needs to

00:15:47: work.".

00:15:48: But when the data does flow freely... ...the ecosystems are incredibly powerful!

00:15:53: Luke Gribble and Wes Clontz discussed how the John Deere Operations Center is linking landscaping equipment data on a property-by-property basis without requiring his subscription.

00:16:03: And the machine knows exactly which geofence property its cutting.

00:16:06: Wow Tony Harmon also highlighted a partnership between Azuga and Dispatch MVP, where they're combining real-time telematics directly with AI powered dispatch to eliminate manual routing work.

00:16:18: And in the public sector basic data visibility is saving real taxpayer money.

00:16:23: John Kitzmiller noted how agile fleet and collective data are helping government fleets pool their shared vehicles.

00:16:29: by looking at actual utilization data They can identify cut idle vehicles avoiding massive unnecessary replacement costs.

00:16:37: Sometimes, just putting the data in the sunlight changes behavior.

00:16:42: Facundo Tissara shared an amazing story about the city of Norfolk.

00:16:45: They lifted their preventative maintenance compliance from sixty percent up to seventy percent.

00:16:51: How?

00:16:51: Not with AI!

00:16:52: Simply by publishing every department's compliance numbers side-by-side In The City Manager's report.

00:16:58: It is basic human psychology.

00:17:01: Nobody wants their departments sitting at the bottom list in front of a boss

00:17:04: Exactly.

00:17:05: But when you ignore the data, it bites ya.

00:17:08: Leah Hansen shared a brutal lesson about specking vehicles for their environment.

00:17:12: A municipality tried to save thirty-five hundred dollars by cutting stainless steel hydraulic lines from a snowplow build.

00:17:18: Oh no Fast forward to a blizzard.

00:17:20: Those cheaper rubber hoses blow out in the cold And they get hit with a forty five hundred dollar emergency breakdown bill.

00:17:27: The data tells me what works and nowhere is that more critical than safety.

00:17:32: Yeah!

00:17:34: Genuinely surprising, Steve Lockington pointed to geotab data showing that eighty percent of fleet collisions actually involve average drivers not your worst repeat offenders.

00:17:44: Really?

00:17:45: Yeah!

00:17:46: Eighty percent...

00:17:47: yeah The instinct is to punish the bottom ten percent but the strategy has been moving in the middle

00:17:54: and video telematics are doing it.

00:17:57: Matt Ilarity noted that forty-eight percent of fleets using video telematics have successfully reduced their accident costs And it's getting easier to use that evidence.

00:18:06: Yeah, Sergei Lujchenka introduced a tool from Telematics Insights That creates shareable dash cam links.

00:18:12: It syncs the video The GPS map and speed context into one link.

00:18:17: So when a crash happens You just email it To the insurance adjuster.

00:18:20: They get full story without needing A login to your specific platform

00:18:25: Which is why Graham Smith argued that Telematic led Insurance needs to evolve.

00:18:30: Shouldn't be an underwriter pricing you risk?

00:18:32: which would be a holistic advisory service that helps you fix driver habits before the metal bends.

00:18:37: And fleets need to help desperately because as Rob Minton warned, commercial auto insurance costs have spiked by fifty percent.

00:18:45: About fifty percent?

00:18:46: Yeah!

00:18:47: A huge driver of this cost is liability surrounding the gray fleet – which are employee-owned personal vehicles used for work tasks.

00:18:55: If a company doesn't manage safety it's massive blind spot.

00:18:59: The risks aren't just on the road, either.

00:19:01: Ron Tolley warned about physical data security.

00:19:04: noting that van and load thefts consistently spike during winter peak delivery season You have to take basic operational steps using your data like shielding key fobs overnight so thieves can't clone this signal.

00:19:17: Looking at a bigger picture...the impact of connecting all these vehicles is profound.

00:19:21: John Stafford pointed out live asset data can actually track street level NOx reductions.

00:19:27: Oh!

00:19:27: Nitrogen oxides

00:19:28: Right.

00:19:29: We aren't just guessing about emissions, we can see exactly which neighborhoods are breathing cleaner air because a fleet swapped diesel for EVs.

00:19:37: Knox are the pollutants that create local smog so tracking that at street level is huge public health win.

00:19:43: But

00:19:43: getting there requires training.

00:19:45: Rami Kapoor emphasized that intelligent vehicle safety isn't just about sensors.

00:19:50: it requires deep understanding by drivers behind wheel and technicians calibrating them in bay

00:19:55: And you have to monitor the human element closely.

00:19:58: Sophie Fouquet mentioned that Michelin EV charge is tracking energy costs per specific driver.

00:20:03: Why?

00:20:04: To detect charging fraud, making sure someone isn't charging their personal vehicle on company dime.

00:20:09: The infrastructure to pull all this data is expanding rapidly.

00:20:12: Shuji Shiraki noted that Emotion Fleet Is currently installing Geotab Telematics across an entire commercial fleet over in Aichi Japan Specifically targeting Driver Safety and Predictive Maintenance

00:20:23: And thankfully, the industry is aggressively sharing these lessons.

00:20:27: Marcus Kroger highlighted ASCO and K-II Mobility running webinars on how to keep rapidly growing electric fleets operational.

00:20:34: Umesh Patel shared insights from a fleet engineer conference where real world data proved that simply training drivers on regenerative braking could improve an EVs range by thirty percent.

00:20:44: Thirty percent just for training?

00:20:45: Yeah!

00:20:46: Just knowing how to drive it That's wild.

00:20:49: Sean Miller from LA Metro shared some hard-earned lessons on transit depot electrification, emphasizing that commissioning takes way longer than anyone expects and agencies really need to trust their in house experts.

00:21:01: Joel Veroni highlighted how Stellantis is engaging over fifty BDB customers to shape tailored mobility solutions rather then just dictating what they

00:21:09: build."

00:21:10: And Steve Greenfield continues to drop weekly Intel reports that keep the entire industry updated.

00:21:15: exactly these kinds of massive shifts...

00:21:17: It is a phenomenal amount of transformation happening all at once.

00:21:21: If you enjoy this episode, new episodes drop every two weeks.

00:21:25: Also check out our other editions on charging and battery technology Autonomous and mobility markets And software-defined and AI defined vehicles.

00:21:34: Thank You for joining us on the Deep Dive.

00:21:36: Don't forget to subscribe so that you catch all those upcoming additions.

00:21:39: I want leave with one final thought.

00:21:42: today We've talked extensively about the massive influx of new electric models, and Ceciopost highlighted just how quickly Chinese brands are flooding into the European fleet market.

00:21:52: Now add to that...the rising liability on the grey fleet of employee-owned vehicles Rob mitten warned us about!

00:21:59: It's an unprecedented convergence in hardware & liability.

00:22:02: Exactly The next big challenge for fleet managers isn't going to be managing the physical tires on vehicles or even finding grid power.

00:22:10: The real nightmare is gonna be managing incredibly fragmented, chaotic web of data pouring out a dozen different brands operating on entirely different telematic standards all sitting in single parking lot.

00:22:21: who will solve that ultimate data integration puzzle?

00:22:24: Until then keep diving deep!