FleetWeek

Toyota has recently discovered that unsecured or incompatible driver's floor mats installed in some of its vehicles may cause the accelerator pedal to become stuck in the full open position.  A stuck open accelerator pedal may result in very high vehicle speeds and make it difficult to stop the vehicle. The following models are currently known to be affected:

• 2007 – 2010 Camry
• 2005 – 2010 Avalon
• 2004 – 2009 Prius
• 2005 – 2010 Tacoma
• 2007 – 2010 Tundra

Toyota is expected to issue an official recall shortly.  Until Toyota determines its full course of action to resolve the situation, it is asking drivers of these models to take out any removable driver’s floor mat and NOT replace it with any other floor mat. 

Once Wheels receives an official notice, we will send that information directly to drivers with affected vehicles.  In the meantime, drivers with questions or concerns are asked to contact the Toyota Customer Experience Center (1-800-331-4331) or consult the information posted at http://www.toyota.com.  In addition, our Driver Services Associates and Maintenance Assistance Program advisors are updated with the most current information on this situation and will handle any driver inquiries that come into Wheels.

Earlier this month, Wheels Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Mary Ann O’Dwyer participated in a panel discussion on fleet market funding strategies and forecasts.  The discussion was part of the annual Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association (AFLA) conference, which was held this year in Phoenix.

O’Dwyer was one of eight CFOs from major fleet management companies who participated in the discussion, which was titled “Strategies to Fund Your Fleet in Today’s (and Tomorrow’s) Economy.”  Specific discussion topics included the state of previous, existing and emerging financing options and alternatives; interpretation and verifiability of interest indices; the benefits of floating vs. fixed-rate financing; Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) and its implications for commercial fleets; and ways certain funding strategies have worked for companies in various industries.

O’Dwyer’s key message to the group was that money is indeed available for the most credit worthy entities – but there is less of it, it is more difficult to obtain and it will likely continue to be more costly for the foreseeable future.

Wheels continues to be dedicated to reaching out to our clients to discuss any steps that can be taken to mitigate the impact of the current market challenges and achieve the most appropriate and cost-effective funding possible for each fleet going forward.  Please contact a member of your account team if you have any questions about the topics discussed by the panel, or any other strategies your company can use.

The FleetView report schedule gives fleets tools to help monitor activity and assist in making key strategic and tactical decisions. Based on the schedule, FleetView offers a number of reports we recommend reviewing in the month of October. These reports are listed below; for a copy of the complete report schedule, please contact a member of your account team.

Reports to run if you are on Wheels' services
Claim Activity Detail: Use as required to monitor collision claim activity (e.g. weekly or monthly).

Fuel Velocity: Run this report monthly a year to help you track fuel card utilization, exceptions and expenses.

Low Fuel Card Usage: Run this report twice a year to help identify under-utilized fuel cards or vehicles.

Maintenance by Category: Run quarterly to spot trends in maintenance costs.

Oil Change: Run quarterly to identify vehicles overdue for oil changes.

Enterprise Open Rental: Run quarterly to monitor open rentals, costs and days.

Fleet management reports to run
Combined Billing: Run each month to audit and monitor expenses.

Miscellaneous Billing: Run as needed to audit and monitor expenses.

Order Status: Run this report during the ordering cycle to follow progress of new vehicles on order, from order placement to unit at dealer.

Inventory by State: Run this report as required by your risk manager.