All Aboard for the Mobility Revolution!

At a recent ride-and-drive event hosted by NAFA’s New Jersey, New York/Inter-County, and Philadelphia Chapters, I talked to the 150-plus attendees about what NAFA is doing for members to help them with the ongoing mobility revolution in fleet management. Here is a summary of my remarks:

This is a really exciting time to be involved in fleet. Everything is changing so quickly. I’ve been involved with NAFA for 25 years, and I don’t recall a time when the industry saw the types of changes we’re talking about today.

I remember the days when the hot topic was driver reimbursement programs, rather than providing drivers with vehicles; and when supplier companies were courting organizations to tout their full-service programs, saying that fleet managers were unnecessary. And I remember when big, six-cylinder cars were replaced by mini-vans, then four-cylinder compact cars, which have now been replaced by eco-boosted cross-over vehicles.

But those changes didn’t necessarily change the way fleet managers did their jobs. Fleet managers were still managing assets, which were four wheels on the road, for the most part.

That’s not the case today, and certainly won’t be the case in just a few years.

Soon, this "Ride and Drive" event may be just a "ride" event as autonomous vehicles gain more and more use and acceptance. Autonomous vehicles are just one part of the evolution from your work as "fleet managers" to being more "mobility managers."

In fact, Lukas Neckermann, who spoke at NAFA’s International Fleet Academy back in April, said it’s not a mobility evolution but a mobility revolution. That one word indicates that pace at which this change is taking place, so beware, and "heads-up!"

The other two parts of that revolution – in addition to autonomous vehicles – are the moves toward zero-emission vehicles, and zero-ownership of those vehicles.

Imagine the change to your job as "fleet managers" if in, say, 10 years, the majority of us are moving around in electric, zero-emission cars - that we are not actually driving but are controlled by a computer - and that we call or summon them to us on-demand because we don’t actually own them ourselves.

But the mobility revolution is even more than that.  It’s not just about zero-emission, autonomous, shared vehicles. Mobility is about the entire possible spectrum of getting a person or thing from point A to point B in the most efficient, effective method possible. So, that will include public transportation, and biking, and drones, and shared logistics, and whatever else can be used to move a person or thing.

And, mobility goes beyond just thinking about vehicles used during your driver’s work day. Mobility considers every aspect of moving a person – from the moment they step out their front door to the moment they return.

So, for instance, if you’re not currently considering how every person at your company gets to work, moves around while at work, and returns home, you soon will be. Or you soon should be, so that you are the driver of that change (pun intended), not a casualty of it.

Imagine how your job changes if you are responsible for figuring out the most efficient, effective way to get hundreds – maybe thousands – of people to work every day. Or if they even need to come to work every day.

Imagine how it changes your job if this millennial generation doesn’t give a hoot about vehicle ownership – something dear to most of us in this room – and would just as soon take public transportation or some rideshare service.

Imagine how it changes your job if the packages your drivers deliver at 150 stops every day are now delivered by drones launched from a central shipping location.

These are not foreign concepts. These are not The Jetsons. These are here, now.  I read yesterday (October 22) that New York State is investing $30 million to create a 50-mile drone-testing corridor between Rome and Syracuse, New York, for these very applications.

That’s why NAFA has a very strategic focus on mobility – not just fleet management – so that we can help you with this revolution. In the coming months, you will be able to start this conversation – if you haven’t already – using the education and networking resources we are creating and will create. These will include articles in our magazine, webinars, and an in-person learning experience just prior to next year’s Institute & Expo in Anaheim.

The mobility revolution is happening quickly, but NAFA is here to help you.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!

Sincerely,

Phil