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The Handleman Company on The ARI Difference An interview with Dave Hein Handleman Company is currently enjoying its third model year of partnership with ARI. Among the many services ARI provides for Handleman are Maintenance Management, Re-registration, and Vehicle Purchasing. Dave Hein, Handleman’s Fleet Manager, recently characterized his experience working with ARI as “nothing but pleasant.” Besides managing a fleet of over 800 cars worldwide, Dave also runs “the Canadian and the U.S. pension program, the U.S. 401K program, the Stock Option Program, the Relocation Program and the Car Rental Program.” Wearing so many hats leaves Dave highly appreciative of the role ARI has had in alleviating some of his duties. “To tell you the truth,” Dave acknowledges, “I should spend a lot more time doing driver alert—alerting drivers about some things that I just don’t have the time to do. So ARI is getting the job because I order cars, they reregister my cars, they maintenance my cars. And it’s done and over with.” Before coming with ARI, Handleman’s vendors were CitiCapital, followed by PH&H. When asked why Handleman left them for ARI, Dave summed it up in one word: “Issues. What happened is that I’d go to San Francisco to get an answer. They would, in turn, go to Dallas. Then I would have to wait to get the answer. And make another call. And wait some more for an answer. It was always rigmarole. So we went out for bids, and even though ARI wasn’t the lowest bid, we selected you.” Despite not coming in with the lowest bid, Dave & Handleman chose ARI because he likes “their computer services and they were down to Earth.” Dave felt like he “wouldn’t have a problem” with ARI. Elaborating on that point, Dave recalled how he felt when looking for a new vendor: “When you are coming off a relationship with a leasing company that you just absolutely don’t want to deal with anymore, you want to go to somebody who you can talk to like a person. And Mark LeGrand and Tim Weick —I like them; I trusted them. And so obviously I made the right decision. I had to convince our bosses that it would be worth the small amount of additional money over a three year period. And it has been worth it.” Dave has more positive remarks to make about several other people on the ARI team. “Floss Fama is the person who I call on a day-to-day basis. Actually we do it mostly by e-mail—I very rarely talk to her on the phone, but she is my main contact. And she’s wonderful.” Breaking into a smile, Dave says, “And Tom Donato, even though he cheats at golf, he’s a great guy and Randy Getchis is a great guy too. I get along great with them all, really I do. I have no issues whatsoever with ARI or its people.” It definitely seems like Handleman Company and ARI will enjoy a long relationship, at least if Dave Hein has anything to say about it: “If you want to go with a company that provides total customer service for what a Fleet Manager wants, ARI would be your company. It’s excellent. Outstanding.”
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| Now
Open… ARI quality off-lease cars and trucks – available at wholesale prices – have been a popular choice among our clients’ drivers, family and friends for many years! The only thing better, according to our clients, would be to extend the great deals to all of a client’s employees. That’s why we’re so pleased to announce ariautodirect.com, our new, easy-to-use used vehicle shopping website – open 24 hours a day, seven days a week! ariautodirect.com makes shopping and buying a used vehicle easy, safe, and secure!
Advantages for ARI Clients! ariautodirect.com
enables clients to get the highest return in an even shorter time while
fostering employee loyalty by placing the complete inventory of available
vehicles online for immediate purchase by any employee anytime, day
or night. Together with ARI’s full complement of used vehicle
marketing strategies—including auctions, on-line auctions, independent
dealers and driver programs—ARI clients enjoy the most used vehicle
marketing opportunities available from any fleet company. |
| ARI’s Tim Delaney Represents the AALA | ||||
Always looking for ways to streamline its operations and improve its customer service, ARI is excited about the new Working Group Initiative undertaken by the American Automotive Leasing Association (AALA). A national association, AALA represents the commercial vehicle fleet leasing and management industry. AALA member companies own more than three million cars and light duty vehicles which are leased by commercial businesses, as well as some state and local governments throughout the United States. ARI’s own Tim Delaney (Manager of New Vehicle Delivery/Licensing Services) was the spokesperson at the AAMVA convention recently held in Philadelphia, which hosted many of the state DMV representatives. He is currently the representative of the major fleet management companies that belong to the AALA in their efforts to implement the Working Group Initiative’s goals. Essentially, the Initiative examines creative approaches to expand and/or develop electronic capabilities and technology that can better serve the needs of state jurisdictions and the industry alike. The Initiative focuses on two primary reforms: 1) bulk electronic registration renewal processing; and 2) a uniform electronic titling system for all vehicles. “My objective,” says Tim, “is to convince states that their archaic and limited web-based services do not allow for bulk processing by Fleet Management companies.” Establishing a bulk electronic fleet registration renewal processing via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) benefits both jurisdictions and leasing companies. As Tim succinctly notes, “The objective of AALA is to help convince governing authorities that the process will benefit them.” That objective should be clear to any jurisdiction when they consider how the elimination of data entry and renewal application generation/processing will free them to utilize staff in other ways. By modernizing with e-commerce technology, states receive prompt electronic payment with fewer mailing costs, while also positioning themselves to expand their capabilities beyond the leasing industry. Leasing companies, |
meanwhile, also enjoy the speed and efficiency of e-commerce technology in eliminating data entry, renewal application handling, and follow up. Payments are consolidated, and the turnaround time is much quicker. A smooth and efficacious process for bulk electronic fleet registration renewal processing is already in place and working effectively in several states. First of all, record layout is determined by each jurisdiction, which extracts all the individual lessor’s upcoming renewals and places that file on the jurisdiction’s own secure website. After importing and validating the file, the lessor uploads that validated file to the jurisdiction’s website for invoicing. After an electronic payment is issued, the jurisdiction generates and mails renewed registrations/ stickers/plates in bulk. The generation of electronic titles also works smoothly and provides many benefits for jurisdictions and fleet management companies. In eliminating paper title generation, jurisdictions realize a decrease in mailing costs and improved fraud control. By sharing title information, there’s more consistency among jurisdictions. fleet management companies enjoy greater efficiency by reducing the number of lost titles and the subsequent decrease in replacement costs. With a ready availability at the time of sale, fewer titles have errors because the standard leasing company names are pre-programmed. Of course, the benefits are directly related to the number of jurisdictions participating. With the potential platforms of COTA and NMVTIS already in existence, there’s little reason for jurisdictions not to convert to these highly beneficial procedures. Tim’s efforts on behalf of ARI & AALA to convince government agencies to adopt the Initiative are unceasing and unrelenting. “I pester the Heads of the Departments of Motor Vehicles and other responsible government agencies on a daily basis,” Tim assures us. “They need to automate and allow us to obtain information. I stress that I represent 1.5 million titles and 1 million renewals.” As Tim reports, CA, NC, WI, NJ, NY, CT, and PA now offer bulk processing systems. And next month, “Indiana is implementing a new system that claims to satisfy our needs.” So even as we speak, exciting innovations are happening for the entire leasing industry, thanks to the vision and leadership of Tim Delaney, ARI, & AALA. |
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| Howard Wodack Retires
Following a stellar ARI career spanning more than 36 years, Howard Wodack, Senior Vice President of Management Information Systems began his retirement on August 1, 2003. In April 1967, Howard began his career at ARI as DP Manager. He rose to VP of Systems in 1972 and Senior VP of Systems in 1981. Two years later, Howard was named Senior VP of Operations. He was appointed Senior VP of Management Information Systems, a role he held until his retirement. Through three and a half decades of service, he led the development of leading edge IS systems and products that are the envy of the industry. Howard introduced ARI to the computer age and successfully helped us navigate through the constantly changing Information Processing world. Howard’s accomplishments are the result of his people development skills and caring leadership strengths. We thank Howard for his hard work and dedication and for what he has meant to ARI. |
| New Program Offering from ARI Canada Web-based Mileage Reporting
All that is in the past, however, with
the advent of ARI’s new web-based Mileage Reporting system. Now,
drivers receive an email each month reminding them to submit their mileage.
Attached in the email is a link to our secure web-based mileage reporting
system. It’s as easy as clicking on the provided link. Drivers aren’t the only ones who will benefit from the new system. Fleet managers will no longer have to chase after drivers who are late in their reporting. The system can be programmed to send a series of reminders if mileage hasn’t been entered after a specified period of time. The system also has reporting capabilities detailing those drivers for whom mileage has or not been received. For fleet managers who personally collect mileage from their drivers, the system provides an administrator option, allowing reporting for multiple users. Ease, accuracy, and accessibility are sure to make web-based Mileage Reporting a welcomed edition to ARI’s roster of fleet management programs. TruckServe Comes to Canada Similar to ARI Total Management System, TruckServe is a comprehensive maintenance program developed for fleets with commercial medium, heavy-duty and specially equipped vehicles. Certified TruckServe technicians provide coverage from 7:00am to 8:00pm EST Monday through Friday and from 8:00am to 3:00pm EST on Saturdays. They can assist in the development of proper PM (preventative maintenance) schedules and parts expediting, both of which are designed to achieve optimum efficiency, minimum downtime and the best return possible on investment. “TruckServe is different than other maintenance programs in that staff is specially trained to deal with the unique requirements of large trucks and speciality equipment. When a piece of equipment can cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace, that expertise becomes invaluable,” says Rick Farrell, TruckServe Coordinator. As with all ARI programs, ARI offers a number of reporting tools that can give detail at many levels. This data can be included with data from light-duty fleets to provide an accurate accounting of integrated fleet costs. TruckServe is but another innovative program making ARI Financial Services the one-stop fleet management shop. ARI Canada is pleased
to announce the launch of its new web-based Driver Abstract retrieval
program.
Using this system, abstracts can be ordered in less than two minutes regardless of whether you’re requesting 10 records, 100 records or 10,000 records. When the information on each driver is retrieved, you are automatically notified via email to login to a secure website to view the results. The program has been designed to identify the high-risk drivers immediately with the click of a mouse. For example, if you order abstracts for your 500 fleet drivers, the software will indicate if there are any people driving with a suspended or expired license. This is a powerful risk management tool. Similarly, you can quickly determine which drivers have violations on their record and which ones are clean. The program then allows you to drill down on those drivers with violations. Each driver’s abstract is presented in a standard report format for ease of interpretation. If desired, each driver’s abstract can also be printed and stored off-line. There is also a point scoring system that’s available so clients can accurately compare the driving records of individuals in different provinces. The default values assigned to each violation can also be customized to accommodate clients that have their own points program. In the case where spouses and driving-age children are permitted to drive a client’s vehicle, this new system can retrieve an abstract on each family member and link it to your specific employee effortlessly and provide a “Family Abstract” snapshot. ARI will provide FREE training to our clients on how to get started with this program. There is also a manual and a toll-free support line to call. Another exciting feature of this program is once the high-risk drivers in the fleet are identified, they can be assigned web-based driver training lessons aimed at specifically addressing the issues contained on their driver abstract. This training capitalizes on the power and convenience of the Internet to provide a cost-effective option to help drivers appreciate the need to drive safely. Ask your ARI representative for more details about the driver abstract and training programs. |
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