Fleet managers wear many hats — from human resources and dispatch to maintenance, budgeting and customer service. This mix of reactive problem-solving and highly fragmented administrative tasks can take a big chunk of time out of their working day.
Imagine how much time and resource they could save with a tool designed to simplify fleet management and turn responsibilities, big and small, into tasks that can be completed in minutes.
Meet Ford Pro AI — the next step on our journey to deliver impactful AI experiences for commercial vehicle customers. Following a successful introduction in the US, we’re introducing this technology for our customers in Europe too.
Now, instead of digging through vast amounts of data to monitor and manage their vehicles, fleet managers can simply ask Ford Pro AI to find relevant information and suggest improvements to positively impact their fleets.
Our conversations with 200 fleet managers in the UK and Germany during the past two years surfaced some eye-opening numbers. They told us a single unexpected vehicle downtime incident results in an average of 2.4 hours of administrative work — rising to 2.7 hours for medium or large fleets.
For "hybrid" managers like business owners, finance directors or operations managers where fleet is only part of their job, general fleet administration typically consumes 5 per cent to 10 per cent of their overall working time. That’s roughly 15 to 20 hours per month on tasks like paying low emission zone charges, managing accident claims, tracking fuel receipts and negotiating lease terms.
And 60 per cent of fleet managers told us tracking and analysing total costs of ownership was also a part of the day job.
“In today’s complex fleet landscape, reactive management is no longer an option. Fleet operators need to anticipate and execute with speed.”Jeremy Gould, director, Ford Pro Solutions, Europe
Ford Pro AI is designed to remove friction from fleet managers’ day-to-day work by extending human capability, rather than replacing it. The technology ingests signals from fleet vehicles — seatbelt usage, engine health, maintenance metrics and more — and translates them into actionable steps that can boost uptime and safety.
In today’s complex fleet landscape, reactive management is no longer an option. Fleet operators need to anticipate and execute with speed. Ford Pro AI meets this moment — using this robust data to build on our company’s 120-plus years of commercial vehicle experience and customer understanding.
Ford Pro AI can’t replace what hard-working fleet managers do, but we believe it can help their day go smoother and boost the bottom line by handing back time that’s better spent planning for the future, rather than reacting to the present.
Jeremy Gould is director of Ford Pro Solutions, Europe
