Avis Budget Group has deployed Neology’s neoFleet toll management technology and services across several of its major brands, including Avis, Budget, Payless, Budget Truck and Zipcar.

Under the arrangement, Avis Budget Group will continue to manage its customer experience, while Neology handles the operational processes associated with toll authorities.

Neology’s responsibilities include registering vehicles with toll authorities, aggregating toll transactions, managing toll data, and procuring and fulfilling transponders.

The companies said the structure is intended to give Avis Budget Group control over its customer relationships while outsourcing portions of the toll management process to Neology.

Managing Tolls Across a Large Rental Fleet

The deployment uses Neology’s neoFleet platform, which combines transponder technology with real-time data capabilities and configurable toll management tools.

For a rental fleet, toll management presents additional complexity because vehicles regularly move between customers and locations while accumulating transactions across different tolling authorities.

“We wanted an approach that provides our ability to remain at the center of our customer experience while bringing in a partner with modern technology, flexibility and tolling expertise to support the operational complexity behind it,” said Jason Glass, vice president of global business services at Avis Budget Group. “Together Neology and ABG crafted an attractive model that passed every test we put in front of it and launched ahead of schedule.”

Avis Budget Group and Neology worked together on the integration, which the companies said was completed ahead of schedule.

Separating Customer Experience From Toll Operations

A key component of the arrangement is the separation between the customer-facing experience and the underlying toll-management functions.

Avis Budget Group remains responsible for interactions with its customers, while Neology manages processes involving tolling agencies and transaction data.

The approach provides another model for fleets evaluating whether to manage tolling internally or use a third party for some of the administrative and technical work associated with toll transactions.

“We believe customers should have choices in how they structure and manage tolling, and this partnership demonstrates what a more flexible, customer-centric model can look like,” said Bradley H. Feldmann, chairman and CEO of Neology.

Jon Routledge, senior vice president and general manager of Neology’s neoFleet business, said teams from both companies worked together on the deployment and transition.

When asked why toll management has become a growing operational challenge for fleets, Routledge was clear.

"Tolling is expanding across the US with more facilities and more applications. Increasingly, toll agencies are utilizing variable pricing and high/multi-occupancy lanes that introduce more variables for fleets to navigate. All electronic (cashless) tolling means accurate vehicle registration is more important than ever to avoid toll violations and the introduction of congestion charging (using tolling as a method of charge capture) makes finding the right tolling partner critical to effectively managing your fleet operating expenses."

 "Data availability and timeliness is another critical factor in the efficient operation of a fleet – the ability to know costs in a timely manner is essential in capturing and allocating operating expenses."

The neoFleet platform is designed for commercial fleet toll management and provides tolling data and technology that can be configured around individual fleet operations.