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Donlen

  

How to EnterCompany: Donlen, Northbrook, IL
Company Description: A wholly-owned subsidiary of The Hertz Corporation (NYSE:HTZ), Donlen is a global provider of fleet leasing and management solutions. Since 1965, Donlen has offered its clients highly personalized and responsive customer service and has won numerous business and industry awards, including our fifth consecutive "101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For" in the 2011 American Business Awards.
Nomination Category: New Product & Service Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Business Intelligence Solution – New

Nomination Title: Donlen's DriverPoint™ Telematics Helps Fleet Cut Costs, Increase Safety

    Tell the story about this nominated product or service (up to 500 words). Describe its function, features, benefits, and sales to date. You may include hyperlinks to product photos and data sheets. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

        ABS Global, a world leader in bovine genetics, has a fleet of light- and medium-duty pickup trucks. Drivers are sales and customer service representatives who spend most of their time traveling to farms that are widely dispersed throughout the United States. The fleet manager for ABS had a challenge that many fleet managers face: How can you increase driver safety in a fleet of vehicles that you rarely - if ever - actually see?

        He contacted Nick Ehrhart, Donlen’s Manager of Telematics Sales & Operations, to discuss ways to increase his safety profile. After hearing about their challenge, Nick knew that DriverPoint™ Telematics and GreenDriver® could provide great outcomes for ABS.

        As the fleet industry’s only environmental business focused on reducing CO2 emissions and fuel costs while increasing safety through driver education and behavior management, GreenDriver was the ideal solution to ABS’s challenge for several reasons. The training, coupled with DriverPoint Telematics, gives the fleet manager visibility into ABS drivers’ productivity and behavior while operating their vehicles. The monthly fleet and individual driver DriverPoint Scorecard would further allow him to assess progress and give him insight to his ROI.

        ABS began a pilot program in 50 trucks. Each driver received a DriverPoint Telematics device that easily plugged into the vehicle’s OBD II port. Once plugged in, the device began generating data immediately, establishing his baseline. Each driver then completed GreenDriver’s online training program to help modify their driving behavior to increase their overall MPG, reduce emissions, and subsequently help them avoid accidents by increasing their safety profile.

        ABS began seeing significant results. The overall MPG for the company’s U.S. fleet is at an all-time high, and vehicle maintenance costs are decreasing. ABS noticed that over time, drivers with higher “green” ratings – those who avoid rapid acceleration and hard stops, for instance – have less wear on brakes and tires than those with lower ratings.

        ABS is now using DriverPoint to optimize routes after noticing some instances where several drivers were going to farms in the same vicinity. In a rural area where customers are sometimes miles apart, this can increase fuel usage drastically. ABS easily optimizes the routes in DriverPoint’s web-based interface to eliminate these instances and allow each driver to cover farms in close proximity, reducing fuel consumption and increasing each driver’s productivity.

        The fleet manager noted, “GreenDriver and DriverPoint Telematics are helping ABS create efficiencies that save us time and money.” ABS has now installed DriverPoint in their entire fleet of vehicles. “When we first implemented GreenDriver’s comprehensive program, I was focused on making a safer fleet and thought the ‘green’ items would follow in time,” the fleet manager said. “What we got was much more than I expected. Yes, the information gives hard data to coach drivers into better behavior behind the wheel, but I was also surprised how it turned good drivers into great drivers!”

    List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, product reviews, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

        http://www.greendriver.com/measure-manage/driverpoint-telematics

        http://www.greendriver.com/training-certification

         Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that developed this nominated product or service:

        Nick Ehrhart, Donlen’s Manager of Telematics Sales & Operations, helps customers recognize cost savings and productivity opportunities through the use of vehicle tracking, driver behavior modification, and deep analysis. Using a personalized and consultative approach, Nick works with customers to develop customized programs that meet the unique challenges of their business. Through his efforts, Donlen has seen exponential growth in the number of customers and vehicles utilizing telematics services.