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Automotive Fleet Magazine

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Oct 20-22, 2026 | MD

Driving Notes

Knowing about a vehicle is one thing; driving it is quite another. Getting behind the wheel gives yo...

Multiple Authors

3 contributors

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FleetTakes

FleetTakes is exactly that — a take on what fleets need to know when it comes to the latest in autom...

Chris Brown

Associate Publisher

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Insight Lane

Insight Lane delivers Colin Sutherland’s perspective from the intersection of leadership and innovat...

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Market Trends

Automotive Fleet's former editor, Mike Antich, shared his opinions and ideas on the overall commerci...

Mike Antich

Former Editor and Associate Publisher

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Remarketing Streams

Remarketing Streams reports on the flow of used vehicles moving through the consignor-auction-dealer...

Martin Romjue

Managing Editor

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Market Trends•by Mike Antich•October 4, 2012

Running Trucks Till the 'Wheels Fall Off' is Expensive and Counter-Productive

The cliché in fleet management is that trucks are kept in service until the wheels "fall off." In many cases, this isn’t too far from the truth. Typically, the more expensive the asset, the longer it will be kept in service, especially units upfitted with expensive auxiliary equipment. However, as study after study shows, extended truck replacement cycles often have the unintended consequence of resulting in greater long-term expenses and degradation in worker productivity.

Market Trends•by Mike Antich•October 4, 2012

Policy Versus Guideline: The Trend Toward Flexible Replacement Cycles

Nearly all fleet-related expenses, both fixed and operating, are influenced by when a vehicle is taken out of service. A growing number of fleets are shifting to more flexible vehicle replacement cycles. Some fleets no longer call their replacement cycle a policy and instead call it a “guideline.” They want to reserve the right on determining when to take a vehicle out of service based on prevailing market conditions rather than predetermined mileage and months in service.

Market Trends•by Mike Antich•September 20, 2012

Increased Upfit Volume & OEM Quality Holds Create Backlogs at Upfitters

Upfitters are feeling the pressure from the increase in the number of upfitted vehicles requiring a ship-thru, which is overwhelming some installers and body builders. Also, many upfitter-related OTD issues are the result of OEM quality holds. Oftentimes, upfitted units are held at the body company due to limited storage space at the assembly plants caused by quality hold backlogs. This prevents the release of upfitted units into OEM traffic for final delivery via ship-thru/freight re-entry.

Market Trends•by Mike Antich•September 6, 2012

The Melding of Driver Safety and Fleet Sustainability Initiatives

There are many similarities between eco-driving techniques and safe-driving techniques. In fact, there’s a direct correlation between safe driving and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It’s been proven: the safer the driver, the lower the GHG emissions.

In Memoriam: Coach's Insights•by Ed Bobit•September 5, 2012

The Industry Needs Your 20/20 Vision for the Future

Will you be Chicken Little (“The sky is falling, the sky is falling”) or the clarion to management so you can prepare for the revolutionary change ahead?

In Memoriam: Coach's Insights•by Steve Kibler•September 4, 2012

The Real “Movers & Shakers” of the Fleet Management

In the last 10-years or so of my career, I’ve paid close attention to those private sector fleet managers whom I assumed had no previous technical background in the automotive or diesel industry.

Market Trends•by Mike Antich•August 27, 2012

Game-Changing Fleet Megatrends

Within the context of fleet management, the concept of megatrends is used to identify economic and technological forces that can potentially alter our present-day industry in game-changing ways. Among the current megatrends that can potentially alter fleet as we know it are a higher interest rate environment, a higher taxation environment, leap-frogging technology, changing fleet demographics, and higher acquisition costs.

Market Trends•by Mike Antich•August 15, 2012

Drivers are the Weak Link in License Plate Disposition

Although fleet management requires a strategic perspective, the reality is that it is a detail-oriented profession. The job requires paying attention to a multitude of details crucial to ensuring a well-run fleet. But, as the saying goes, the devil is in the details. A case in point is license plate disposition.

Market Trends•by Steve Kibler•August 13, 2012

Leading by Example

Each fleet manager or any manager for that matter has a unique style of leading his/her team.

In Memoriam: Coach's Insights•by Ed Bobit•August 7, 2012

How Can ‘Newbie’ and Untrained Fleet Managers Make a Difference?

There has been a transition to turning to the fleet management companies (FMCs), and OEMs for direction, counseling, and technical and systems advice. New (and even the more experienced) managers in the company fleet function have new challenges and opportunities.

Market Trends•by Mike Antich•July 30, 2012

FMCSA Seeks 445% Budget Hike to Increase CSA Enforcement

The Compliance, Safety & Accountability (CSA) program was developed to allow FMCSA and its state partners to contact more fleets and drivers, to use improved data to identify high-risk fleets and drivers, and apply a wider range of interventions to correct high-risk behavior. While admirable in its intent, CSA has created a huge impact on fleet management, since it applies to all trucks that operate interstate and require a US DOT number.

Market Trends•by Mike Antich•July 13, 2012

Resetting Management's Future Resale Expectations

All good things eventually come to an end. So, too, will today’s abnormally high used-vehicle prices. Today's resale values are an anomaly caused by a decrease in used-vehicle inventory in the wholesale market, resulting from the extremely low sales of new vehicles from 2009-2011. You need to educate management that today’s resale values will decline. Otherwise, you run the risk of being management’s future scapegoat for declining resale values due to their misperceptions of the market.

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