Automotive Fleet and the Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association (AFLA) are hosting their second joint webinar, which is also AF's third webinar, on the COVID-19 pandemic, titled “COVID-19 Impact on New-Vehicle Fleet Ordering and Deliveries” scheduled for today, April 21, 2020 at 2pm CST. Registration is available here.

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a huge impact on fleet industry new-vehicle ordering and delivery process. Most OEMs have temporarily closed automotive assembly plants, new-vehicle transport is sketchy, upfitters are encountering labor constraints, and a number of dealers have either closed or reduced staffing that is impacting courtesy deliveries.

In this free on-demand webinar, Automotive Fleet will discuss with several fleet management company vehicle acquisition experts the logistical issues created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on the order-to-delivery process and provide a look forward to the 2021 model-year. 

Panelists for this webinar include Tim Cengel, senior procurement manager for Wheels Inc.; Cindy Gomez, vice president of vehicle acquisition services for Donlen; Steve Armstrong, manufacturing relations manager for Mike Albert Fleet Solutions; Angela Lauer, assistant VP, Enterprise Fleet Management; Ted Davis, vice president, North American Supply Chain for ARI; and Mike Antich, editor for Automotive Fleet Magazine.

 Key Topics Covered: 

• Product availability

• Parts constraints

• Order cut-off timetables

• Upfitter constraints

• Vehicle transporter issues

• Rail-car constraints

• And other issues that my cause OTD delays

The first AF-hosted webinar, held on March 26, 2020, was titled “Fleet Policies & Procedures to Minimize COVID-19 Contagion,” and received 829 registrants. Speakers during the first webinar included Mike Antich of Automotive Fleet; Katie Keeton, fleet manager, Siemens; Tom Coffey, senior VP, sales, Merchants Fleet; and Natalia Migal, chief risk officer, LeasePlan.  You can view this webinar on demand here.

The second webinar was held on April 9 on “Real-World Best Practices, Solutions, and Lessons Learned in Managing a Fleet During a Pandemic.” This panel included fleet manager members of the AFLA Commercial Fleet Sounding Board, which features Matthew Betz, expert of fleet operations, DTE Energy; Phil Samuelson, fleet and capital asset manager, USIC Locating Services; Katie Keeton of Siemens; and Antich of Automotive Fleet. There were 882 fleet professionals registered to attend the webinar, a new record for AF. You can view this webinar on demand here.

A major component to the webinar included the ability to engage in the conversation by submitting questions live during the presentation. Attendees will also be able to engage in the webinar held on April 21.

Once again for the upcoming webinar, attendance is open to all and there is no limit to how many people wish to register. Click here to register.