Transportation fleets face challenges with tech complexity

As technology is increasingly integrated into commercial vehicles, understanding the units and how tech affects fleets becomes more dependent on people. 

While technology adoption in commercial fleets will face government regulation, the advances continue to increase the complexity of fleet vehicles, Dania Rich-Spencer, vice president of automotive and mobility at Escalent, said during a panel at the virtual Spring 2024 Commercial Vehicle Business Summit on April 10. 

“Some fleets will be forced to adopt it just for regulations,” she said. “When you think about the adoption of electrification and electric vehicles, you certainly need to understand the health of the battery in range, but at the end of the day, it is a connected solution that is going to help you run your business better.  

“At the same time artificial intelligence is an underpinning with the ability to digest and to parse out and to be able to predict a future event, and for fleets that’s really about preventing downtime and increasing uptime.” 

During the pandemic, shutdowns and slowdowns related to supply chain problems meant waiting for parts to finish vehicles. The same issues could arise again as complexity increases in commercial units, Candy McCollum, manager of business development at Comvoy, said during the discussion. 

“If there’s a shutdown or slowdown and there’s a supplier that shuts down … it can slow things down. It can have vehicles sitting. And to the technology side, it may require more computer chips for that entire vehicle to talk because it is different pieces that are together,” she said. “There’s a lot to unpack here in this space where we’re at, and I think that it really begins inside of us as individuals.”

Parsing the layers 

Tech solutions can create issues that are difficult to understand, even at the dealership level, McCollum said during the panel. 

“It’s just all very layered, and with the vehicles and the technology going at the pace that is going, even at a dealership level, a lot of the times these conversations are much different,” she said. “It’s not just the vehicle anymore, and you’re just moving metal.” 

For lenders and transportation experts, connecting with customers and being able to explain the tech to them remain key, Nicole Combs, director of sales for work truck finance at Mitsubishi HC Capital America, said during the panel. 

“It’s so easy to take the path of least resistance due to the fast-paced environment that we all have and we’re challenged with it every single day,” she said. “The way we communicate day to day could really improve connections. Picking up the phone, it’s a lost art form these days and that interpersonal connection is really lost sometimes in the digital world.” 

Register for the 2024 Equipment Finance Connect, which focuses on best practices in equipment finance, on May 5-7 in Nashville, Tenn. Learn about the event and free dealer registration at EquipmentFinanceConnect.com