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Mike Antich
Former Editor and Associate Publisher
Automotive Fleet's former editor, Mike Antich, shared his opinions and ideas on the overall commercial fleet industry and draws interesting comments from fleet managers and other industry professionals from across the country. Mike was inducted in the Fleet Hall of Fame in 2010.
Due to staffing constraints, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA ) can currently only audit about 2 percent of nation's truck fleets. In response to these resource constraints, FMCSA is developing a Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) 2010 initiative to implement new ways to reduce truck-related accidents. CSA 2010 will measure a fleet's safety performance through data uploaded from fleet compliance activities and accident reports.
Read More →When a company decides to brand vehicles with either logos or full-vehicle advertising wraps, it may inadvertently create a situation that puts employees in conflict with homeowner association restrictions on the parking of commercial vehicles in common areas. Most homeowner associations allow commercial vehicles as long as they are garaged, but not all fleet vehicles can fit in a garage due to height or length. An estimated 50 million Americans live in homeowner association communities.
Read More →The high cost of fuel is causing more employees to use fleet vehicles for personal use since many companies pays for gasoline. Although overall fleet mileage has increased, there has not been a corresponding increase in reported personal use miles. Companies that allow drivers to take vehicles home, but do not allow personal use, report a growing problem of policing unauthorized personal use by employees looking to reduce their "personal" fuel costs. This is a broad-based industry issue.
Read More →The 2008 model-year produced mixed results in order-to-delivery (OTD) perfromance. A protracted UAW strike and flooding in the Midwest delayed some models, while other models posted improved OTD due to reduced retail sales, which expedited fleet production. In addition, there was sufficient rail car availability due to soft retail sales and a decrease in quality holds.
Read More →When fuel prices crossed the $3.25 per gallon threshold, fleets began looking for ways to downsize vehicles or opt to four-cylinder engines.This trend is reinforced by corporate sustainability initiatives and/or fuel spend/GHG reduction programs. The shift to four-cylinder engines is broad-based and includes many of the nation’s largest fleets. One consequence to this increased demand for four-cylinder models is that fleets have increased their purchases of import-badged vehicles.
Read More →With a dramatic decrease in retail truck sales, some fleets are concerned that assembly plant closures and production slowdowns may delay truck deliveries and ship-thru upfits. In addition, there are further concerns about potential fleet allocation issues, availability of transportation, extended lead times caused by shift eliminations, and reduced special equipment runs. One challenge is moving completed upfit vehicles back into "traffic" when an assembly plant is shutdown.
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