Erin Gilchrist: 0:03

It's not a buzzword. It's, it's a strategy. It's like a mission. It should be a mission, it should be a vision, and goal for every safety and fleet leader out there should be thinking about their impact on the environment. I mean, I can't imagine whether I have 10 vehicles or 10,000 that I'm not thinking about how I can, minimize my impact on, on the environment

Tom Raftery: 0:30

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, wherever you are in the world. This is the Sustainable Supply Chain Podcast, the number one podcast focusing on sustainability and supply chains, and I'm your host, Tom Raftery. Hi everyone. And welcome to episode seven of the sustainable supply chain podcast. My name is Tom Raftery, and I'm excited to be here with you today. Sharing the latest insights and trends in supply chain sustainability. In today's show, we're talking to Erin Gilchrist from IntelliShift. This day next week on episode eight, we will be talking to Ethan Soloviev from HowGood about food supply chains. And in episode nine in two weeks time, we'd be talking to Alex Scott from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville about sustainable logistics, particularly around truck emissions. But today we're talking fleets. Before we kick off today's show. I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to all of our amazing supporters. Your support has been instrumental in keeping this podcast going. And I'm really grateful for each and every one of you. If you're not already a supporter, I'd like to encourage you to consider joining our community of like-minded individuals who are passionate about sustainability and supply chains. Supporting the podcast is easy and affordable with options starting as low as just three euros or dollars a month. That's less than the cost of a cup of coffee and your support will make a huge difference in keeping the show going strong. To become a supporter, simply click on the support link in the show notes of this, or any episode or visit tiny url.com/s S C pod. Now. Without further ado. I'd like to introduce my special guest today, Erin. Erin. Welcome to the podcast. Would you like to introduce yourself?

Erin Gilchrist: 2:17

Absolutely. Thank you. My name is Erin Gilchrist and I work for IntelliShift. I am the VP of Fleet Evangelism, which is a fun title. Thank you so much for having me today, Tom.

Tom Raftery: 2:29

Fantastic. And who or what are IntelliShift Erin?

Erin Gilchrist: 2:34

So IntelliShift is a fleet intelligence company. So, we have so software and hardware that is proprietary to IntelliShift that helps fleets drive safety and efficiency from one single pane of glass. So, you know, fleet managers like myself are accustomed to, we call swivel chair management, where we're trying to bring data from multiple sources and make sense of it. So we at IntelliShift help fleet managers do that every day so they can wake up and identify, yesterday, today, and tomorrow's problems in a single, simple to use but powerful platform.

Tom Raftery: 3:11

Okay. And you said your title is Evangelist of Fleet Management. What does that consist of?

Erin Gilchrist: 3:17

Yes, so. I know sometimes I abbreviate and say VP of Fleet, but it's really VP of Fleet Evangelism and, and what that means is I get to do stuff like this. Right. I was a longtime director of fleet for a large, national fleet here in the US and I gained a lot of knowledge and experience over that time, and so what I get to do with that intellectual property is share it now on my podcast, which is Straight Talk On Fleet. And at IntelliShift, I get to be an internal, voice of the customer. So I'm our source for truth at IntelliShift to make sure that everything we do inside of our business, has the fleet manager and the safety and operations managers in mind. And then the third thing I get to do, which is really fun, is I get to be a consultant for our prospects and our customers, to help them sort of realize, blueprint, outline, whatever you wanna call it, their safety and efficiency goals, and help them figure sort of, a path to get there with IntelliShift, with policy, you know, program management. I get to help them with change management. So it's like being a fleet manager without a fleet, which is a lot less stressful for sure.

Tom Raftery: 4:31

Nice. And this is the Sustainable Supply Chain podcast. So obviously we're gonna be talking about sustainability and obviously, I mean, the only way to make fleets sustainable is to go all EV, right?

Erin Gilchrist: 4:47

No, Tom, that is not true. That is not true at all. And, and if any fleet managers listening, they're, they're secretly, you know, screaming or outwardly screaming like, wait, I'm not ready to do that. No, I think, you know, the thing that I want fleet managers to really hear today is that there's really no silver bullet to, building a sustainability plan for your fleet to working sustainability into the fiber of your organization and your fleet every day. There's no one single approach that sort of gets you there. So, certainly not all EV but. EVs are great, but, you know, there's lots of challenges still, and it, it's still, sort of fairly new so to speak when you think about, you know, trying to reduce GHG emissions in your fleet. There's just so many other great ways to do it. So.

Tom Raftery: 5:37

Yeah. No, and, and I, I. I obviously asked that facetiously and I am a, an EV owner myself of, of many years. So I'm a big EV fan, but, I guess we should take a step back, Erin. And, how do you define sustainability in fleet management?

Erin Gilchrist: 5:56

Yeah, I mean, that's a great question. I think when I, when I think about sustainability fleet management, I don't think just about, the sustainability of the fleet itself. You know, I am, I selfishly think about because of my experience, organizational sustainability, fleet sustainability. And then, as a fleet leader, how do we in our career, because I think, so many times organizations look at the fleet as a cost center. Not a profit generator. So I talk about sustainability for us as leaders too. How do we stay relevant and sustainable in our careers? And then how, how do we carry that, over into our fleets to make them sustainable or, or, or green? And I think to answer the, your question directly, sustainability for fleets is really reducing our carbon footprint. You know, so, and, and, and a lot of folks do think today that means, okay, we've gotta switch out every asset in our fleet. No, we really don't have to do that. So it's really, being able to lay out a plan, execute on that plan, and then being able to measure the effects of your efforts on GHG emissions, reductions in consumption of fuel, whatever types of fuels you're using. So, really being able to measure what you're doing over time, is how I, how I see fleet sustainability.

Tom Raftery: 7:19

Okay, so for the measurement, you need to have some kind of a telematics platform or similar in place so that you can baseline before you start and then track reductions hopefully in emissions over time.

Erin Gilchrist: 7:36

Yeah, I think so. I mean, in today's, environment, either vehicles have, onboard technology built in, or we're gonna add some technology to different types of assets. No matter what we run, there's technology that we can, bring on board that's gonna help us collect the data that we need to again, establish that baseline, like you said, Tom, and then to be able to track our progress over time. Telematics you mentioned, I mean, what a great tool because not only does that help you track your progress for sustainability, but you know, that's a safety and efficiency play. Data from telematics is rich and there's so many things you can do with it and, and tracking your sustainability efforts is just one, but telematics is a great place to start. So if you're a fleet thinking, how do I start down this path? And you don't have anything on the vehicles today. It is an easy transition. The only thing that's really not easy is there's a lot of data generated. And so, it gets to be an overwhelming thing for fleet managers. Like, what am I gonna do with all this data? And that's where partners like IntelliShift and others can help you make sense of it all. Take it in. Clean it, digest it, and then create a story that you can tell whether it's you're reporting you have government required reporting, you're reporting internally, you're reporting to shareholders, whatever the case may be. There's a great way to kind of consolidate and, then and in turn, share data out with the different communities in which you're, you know, you're working in. But Telematics is a great place to start, for sure.

Tom Raftery: 9:13

And if I am a fleet manager. How high up is sustainability on my list of priorities?

Erin Gilchrist: 9:20

Okay. I'm not sure Tom, but it should be, you know, it should be here. And I say that because if it's not, then that means there's things that you're not doing in your fleet that could improve your overall efficiency, safety, and cost. So I think if you're not thinking about safety and sustainability, I'll put safety here. And because.

Tom Raftery: 9:44

be, be aware, Erin, not everybody's watching this on video. So the, in fact, the, the vast majority of people who who consume this do so via audio only.

Erin Gilchrist: 9:54

Okay, so, listeners, think about safety being number one, sustainability being number two, and then whatever else is on your list. Whether that's, hey, we want to be more efficient, we want to improve our route optimization, I mean, whatever your top sort of three initiatives or goals are as a fleet operator, fleet manager, fleet director, whatever. You cannot get there. You'll never get there, wherever there is. But you'll never be on the right path until you focus on safety and sustainability, because they do go hand in hand. And how that happens is the technology and the data that you need to operate a safe fleet also is the same technology that you need to operate a sustainable fleet. To have the data that you need to report on sustainability efforts as well as data that you can use to identify assets in your fleet that are ripe for replacement, for to EV or any other type of alt fuel vehicle technology. So, that's why I say sustainability and safety are king because you need technology and you need data to get there, and they all work together.

Tom Raftery: 11:10

Right, and it, it, it's, I think it's an underappreciated point as well, not just in fleets, but for example, in manufacturing, if you go on an efficiency project, you want to reduce wastage and you're rolling out efficiency, you wanna get costs down.

Erin Gilchrist: 11:59

Mm-Hmm.

Tom Raftery: 12:00

One of the outcomes of that is going to, by definition, be a sustainability win. So

Erin Gilchrist: 12:06

Absolutely.

Tom Raftery: 12:07

the, these projects that you know are, can be cost reduction, can be efficiency, can be waste reduction. They generate sustainability wins. So yeah, it, it's, I mean you, you said safety, sustainability, efficiency, route optimization, but both efficiency and route optimization are also sustainability. No?

Erin Gilchrist: 12:28

Oh, absolutely, because anytime we can optimize our routes, then we know that we are reducing miles driven and we're operating our fleets only when and where we need to. And that is really cutting out all that waste. You know, drivers making stops they shouldn't be making, going off route to, you know, visit someone in the middle of their workday that's, you know, 40 kilometers or miles out of the way. I mean, there's so many different things that I've seen in my years as a fleet manager that once we've gotten those things in control. We've seen massive reductions in miles driven, which again, then reduces your consumption, your GHG emissions, and it's just a snowball effect, a good one. And I, and I always think this word like sustainability or greening our fleet, it's, people look at it that as like a buzzword. It's not a, it's not a buzzword. It's, it's a strategy. It's like a mission. It should be a mission, it should be a vision, and goal for every safety and fleet leader out there should be thinking about their impact on the environment. I mean, I can't imagine whether I have 10 vehicles or 10,000 that I'm not thinking about how I can, minimize my impact on, on the environment. It's just such, if we all thought that way, you can imagine the effect that it would have on, on emissions over, you know, across the planet for if, if all fleets and organizations were making sustainability a priority for them, even just in their fleet.

Tom Raftery: 14:02

Yeah. Yeah. And it, I mean, emissions, when we say emissions, we, we typically think, carbon emissions, but of course with typically diesel fleets, you also get SOx, and NOx PM and other kinds of emissions as well, which are also detrimental to people's health, which also we should be trying to reduce.

Erin Gilchrist: 14:21

Absolutely. And I think when you mentioned, you know, I think whether it's in plants or warehousing or distribution, and you think about all these different ways that we can do energy audits and re and so every organization, you know, you have your fleets and all of your assets and all of your real estate. I mean, organizations should be thinking about sustainability in all those places, but in fleet, it's not just about reducing emissions. It is, it is, but it's how you get there. So I think about when you, when you mentioned like warehousing and distribution and supply chain, I think about an opportunity for fleets to look at, you know, the vehicles they're operating of course, the upfitting they're, they're putting on those vehicles. Is it reusable and recyclable? Is it lightweight? I mean, think about aluminium going from, well, there are so many different types of builders out there for, for truck bodies. But when I went in my fleet, I went from steel framed and some other types of composites, and I moved to aluminum. The weight reduction was significant. So I think about and then the longevity, and I could move that body from chassis to chassis and it would live for three or four chassis lives. And, you know, think about the reduction in waste. We didn't have to build a new body. It was lightweight. And so the chassis could operate more efficiently, so we're not burning as much fuel. So reducing, reusing, recycling is a great, sustainability is a great part of a sustainability plan for fleets. Think about all the things that you can reuse to reduce weight to reduce waste. And then also, what materials are we using to lightweight our assets as much as possible? And then, you know a great story there too, is sometimes if you're, you know, think about operating a van fleet and you have some shelving and upfitting in your van, in order to make that a mobile sort of workspace for your, for your technician or your driver going to a lighter weight material might drop the weight of your van enough so that you could get out of DOT regulated types of things, which is, is a lot for fleets and it's, it's a headache, right? But it's important and it's necessary. So lightweighting has some other benefits, not just green, but you know, you might have less regulatory stuff to deal with out there fleet managers.

Tom Raftery: 16:54

Nice. Nice. And you've used this term sustainability plan a couple of times now. What, so for, for people who might be unaware, what do you consider a sustainability plan? What would it consist of?

Erin Gilchrist: 17:07

I think it really starts with you gotta get that buy-in, in your organization. So if, if there are, you know, operations and safety and fleet managers out there listening today, if you're not collaborating internally with people like legal, and operations and your, your partners in purchasing, and supply chain in your organizations. You know, certainly just getting those teams together so that everyone's represented and start talking about sustainability with these experts you have right at your disposal. And if you're not partnering with them today, it probably means that they don't know what you're up to and they don't know what's important for fleet. So be a leader in your organization and, and, and bring those groups together and start talking about what sustainability is, and what it could mean for your organization, but certainly what it can mean for your fleet in the way of cost reduction. Talk the language of your organization who sees you as a cost center and say, Hey, know what We're really profit generators here because we can reduce our fleet costs, such that profit increases every time we go out to a customer. So I think it's getting that group together and getting them on your team and creating that team, getting that buy-in. Then it's really developing like a vision, scope and goals for your specific business. What's, what's really attainable. And so when everybody is kind of saying, okay, yeah, we need this, we need to do this. How much do we think we can, you know, let's say for, for the fleet in particular, how much do we think we can reduce miles driven or, or, or gallons consumed or whatever? And start to scope out that and create a goal for yourself. So in year one, we wanna do X, right? And then build out those key elements of a plan alongside, you know your partners in this space. So you're gonna need KPIs, reporting and analytics, right? So if you're a fleet leader you're using something right to manage your costs. Maybe that's just internal. Maybe you have telematics and you're measuring different things. But get those partners, supplier partners on that team of yours that I mentioned with your internal team and start developing sort of this we know we have the goal. How are we gonna manage it? What are the things that we're gonna do that are attainable? How are we gonna measure them? And how long do we think that'll take? And then really just being open to change innovation and evolution because I think when, when fleet managers and fleet leaders start digging into this idea of a fleet sustainability plan. Yeah, they're gonna find that maybe there are some gaps either in their reporting or their ability to gather data. So be open to the fact that you may need to gather that data and in, in a way to do that, you might need to invest and that investment will always be worth your while because you're going to be able to use that in a, in, in so many ways and not just to track your sustainability efforts and goals, and initiatives, but you're gonna be able to use that to increase the efficiency of your fleet, probably improve the vehicle life of your fleet. And in this, and in this day and age, that's really important because fleets are being forced to operate aging assets because they can't get the proper replacements for them due to supply chain constraints. And so when you think about this, this tech is really gonna help you accomplish many of your goals outside of this sustainability plan that you're putting together. And I do talk about sustainability a lot on my podcast, and I've done an episode, episode three of my podcast was on sustainability, but I think another great one because they go hand in hand, Tom, is change management.

Tom Raftery: 21:00

Oh yeah.

Erin Gilchrist: 21:01

Yeah, it really takes a lot of effort to get the organization thinking differently about you as a fleet leader, your contributions to the profit of the organization. And so I think it's episode five where I talk about project and change management, and I think that's a great one to kind of lead into sustainability so that fleet leaders can wrap their head around. How do I, how do I do this? Who do I need to talk to? What do I need to talk about? What am I needing to measure? So those are some, just a couple of episodes that, you know, we can, we can drop when we drop this episode and let people know that they can, they can dig in if they want, and then they can always just reach out and say, okay, Erin, I heard this podcast. What did you mean by whatever? I'm happy to, I'm happy to talk to folks about it.

Tom Raftery: 21:51

Great, great, great. And we, we mentioned in passing as well fuels, so there's diesel, there's petrol in some instances. You Americans call it gas, I'm guessing. There's

Erin Gilchrist: 22:06

We do.

Tom Raftery: 22:07

well. There's actually natural gas powered vehicles. There's biofuel powered vehicles, and of course there's EVs and hydrogen fuel vehicles. Where do you think people are on that kind of spectrum right now, and what should the ultimate goal be?

Erin Gilchrist: 22:25

Yeah, I think really it's looking at your operation, how do you operate? Where do you operate? How many miles do your drivers drive a day? You gotta look at all these factors and say what in that spectrum kind of fits for our organization And maybe, you know, in, in a city, for example, the bus fleet is right for natural gas. You know, they have the real estate to, to carry it. Where a van fleet does not, you know, you know they've got upfitting and things and they cannot fit tanks onboard their vehicles. I tried that and it, it was tough. It was really tough because not only did I take up that real estate, but then it was just kind of other challenges around how an operator who goes a hundred miles a day might access that fuel and do that easily like they do with their gas and just kind of show up with a card, pay, fuel, and get out of there in a reasonable amount of time. And that goes for EVs as well. So I think it's really segmenting your fleet out understanding because a lot of fleets operate a variety of vehicle classes. So, you know, so you could think that in the, so for me, in my, my former fleet, the sedan fleet, what a great way to transition to hybrids and EVs, right? These folks could maybe charge at home. They don't have that range anxiety that a technician might have who is doing a hundred to 150 miles a day and is getting paid for how many customers they see that day. So we gotta make sure that they're able to get from customer to customer. So again, it, for me, it goes back to. What data do you have? So you can evaluate your current fleet or multiple fleets within your fleet. Evaluate each and every profile sort of in your fleet. How they operate, where they go, how many miles they drive, and looking at that data and identifying, Hey, if I wanna step into this, how do I do that successfully and minimize the impact to disruption on my operation? So I really encourage people to start down this path if you're not down it already, and really start with something that might be not easier, but more less difficult from a change management perspective to implement. So, you know, I think if you have sedans in your fleet, look at EV, right? You know, and, and again, there's a lot of great resources out there for fleet leaders who are looking to be more sustainable and looking to, get into this whole spectrum of alternative fuels and alternative fuel technologies. And if you don't have a partner in that, you know, like I would say a fleet management company would be a great partner. You know, there's government agencies who have great information who've already been digging in. It's good to understand sort of what's coming down the pike in terms of not only the tech and the vehicle and the types of vehicles that that might work for your fleet, but it's good to understand sort of what's coming down in terms of regulations. Those are ever changing though, so that's kind of, fun to navigate. But again, partner with your fleet management company and if you don't have one there's a lot of other great resources out there, or gimme a ring, I can help you kind of navigate that space and figure out, hey, where, where should I start? Because while there's a lot of options, there may be only be a two or three that would work for, you know, your fleet out there, fleet manager. So yeah.

Tom Raftery: 25:58

Yeah, good point. Because very, fleet fleets vary enormously in terms of the kind of miles they do, the trips they take, even within a fleet, as you pointed out. Yeah, no, it's, it, it's a good point. And the other thing is, you know, the, the, the shift to a new type of fuel, whether it's EVs or whatever, it's not something that's gonna happen overnight anyway for any fleet, because, you know, unless you're starting from zero. You know, if you already have a fleet in place, you're not gonna replace them all in one go. I'm, I, I don't know how many are typically what would be a, a percentage of turnover of fleet on an annual basis, but it's probably what, 10%.

Erin Gilchrist: 26:39

Yeah. That's a great, I was gonna say, that's a great number. That's typically what fleets are doing. So you know, it, you're right, this isn't something that can happen overnight. So, you know, dipping your toe in the water is, you know, starting down that research path. And certainly data analytics to kind of, identify what might be a great place for you to start.

Tom Raftery: 27:00

Yeah, because if, if, if you're, you're class eights that are doing, I don't know, 500 miles a day. It's not something you're gonna want to switch to EV tomorrow, but if you have delivery trucks that are doing a hundred miles a day or 160 kilometers a day, that's a no brainer.

Erin Gilchrist: 27:19

Right, right. You know? Yeah. And there's, and, and as time goes on, you know, there are more and more types of vehicles available for different classes that fleets can look into. So, again, I think the key is, you know, shy of, of continuing this process, of turning vehicles over from gas or whatever into something more sustainable. I think also looking at all those other opportunities to reduce the number of miles you're driving. You know, I think one of the biggest drivers of inefficiency is vehicle operation. So, you know, if you're not managing your drivers behind the wheel, you're missing the boat on, you're burning, you're just, it's like throwing dollars into an open fire because these drivers, you know, Tom, you and I could make the same trip and you could make it a lot more efficiently than I could and save lots of money.

Tom Raftery: 28:17

Oh no. I have a very heavy right foot, I'm afraid.

Erin Gilchrist: 28:20

I, I, I'm still, I'm, I'm a work in progress. I'll just say that. But it's all about what happens behind the wheel that either really drives efficiency in the vehicle or tanks it. So, my husband jokes with me all the time because we have vehicles that we track on an app, right? How we drive. And he teases me because he consistently gets better fuel economy than I get because I say he drives like a grandma. And he's, he says that I have a lot of room for improvement in terms of my you know, vehicle cooperation. So I think addressing behind the wheel behavior is a really great step to sustainability. Obviously getting your vehicles maintained on time and on time is a interesting word because it doesn't mean you have to follow a prescribed schedule. Your vehicles will tell you when they need service, so don't service them, but don't under service them. There is a sweet spot and you can get there. So I think you know, just this idea of monitoring driver behavior, monitoring where people are operating the assets to make sure that they're only driving when and where they need to, maintaining vehicle assets on time. Those are just a few things that you can do that are fundamental to fleet management. And, oh wait, I'm leaving out a really big one, Tom is, don't put vehicles on the road without inspecting them every day. I mean, for goodness sakes, you can do a digital inspection on any device, and you can look at that vehicle fitness and make sure that vehicle is fit for the day. If it's not fit for the day, you've gotta address those things because they will drive your efficiency down in a heartbeat. So address those tires. Do they need change? Do they need inflated? So inspecting, maintaining, managing driver behavior, all great ways to dramatically and instantly. Instant gratification, right? To instantly improve the efficiency of your vehicle, which then in turn drives down that consumption number. So, you know, you don't have to change the world in a day. Just, you know, the basics of, of fleet management, the fundamentals of fleet management can drive sustainability efforts today for sure.

Tom Raftery: 30:39

If your tires need to be changed, it's pretty straightforward exercise can, you can do it quite quickly.

Erin Gilchrist: 30:48

Of

Tom Raftery: 30:48

If your drivers need to be changed in terms of their driving practices, not quite as easy. And I'm sure, you know, you get a bit of pushback if, if you start trying to implement some of these practices. So is that the most challenging aspect of fleet management?

Erin Gilchrist: 31:06

I am gonna say yes. And also if you, if you would ask any fleet manager what their top you know, challenge is and has always been, it's probably this word, compliance. So they mean getting operations leaders who manage the drivers and getting the drivers to do all the fleet stuff we need them to do is a big challenge. But I would challenge fleet managers, Hey, we'll, we'll make it easier for them and they'll do it. You know, give them KPIs that are direct, directly related to their operational KPIs, and they'll do it. If you tell, if you tell an operations manager that Austin, Texas is doing $3 and 54 cents fleet cost per customer served, for example. And then you have Salt Lake City at$11 per, you know, a fleet cost per customer served, and, and Salt Lakes like oh, what are they doing in Austin? Then you could say, oh, well, they're not idling, they are monitoring their driver's behavior and they're actually coaching the driver when they see the behavior you know, get outta whack, and the drivers are making the improvements, oh, and they're getting their vehicles maintained on time, Salt Lake City. So it's then very easy for that fleet manager to say, Hey guys, if you do these things well, and guess what? I'm gonna put tools and tech on the vehicle to make it easy for you to do it. And driver scorecards and digital inspections and yada yada, then. And you show them the impact that can have on their profit margin, they'll listen. They'll listen. It's just about making it about them. What's in it for them? And I think that whole WIIFM thing, what's in it for me, is a great communication strategy for organizations with fleets. Show the driver and really show the driver and really show the, the driver's, managers, and leaders, what's in it for them? What do they get out of it? Well, I get home safe every day and my vehicle runs and it doesn't break down on, on, you know, out of the blue on me, and I can get to all my customers and I can get paid. And then the operations manager's like. I'm minimizing my fleet cost. I'm maximizing my profit margin every time I send a tech out to clean carpet or you know, you know, whatever, do cable work or all these vocational things, it helps them focus on if I do fleet right, I can make more money. So, you know, it's kind of like tie these things together guys, and then they'll be your best friends out there and then you can really serve your customer. Because in my mind, the customer for the fleet team is operations. And so if you can show operations that you can help them run an efficient and safe fleet. And that it'll improve their profit margin, then you guys are all gonna be like holding hands and singing kumbaya. Right. That's, that's a good, that's fun to think about, right? It, but you can get there. It's, it's about communication and collaboration for sure.

Tom Raftery: 34:14

Okay, so let's give a hypothetical, I'm a fleet manager of a fleet of, I don't know, a thousand, 5,000 vehicles, whatever it is, in let's say, Austin, Texas, seeing as you used Austin a few minutes ago, and I've been tasked with making my fleet more sustainable and as never had a sustainability project in the company before. What are my first five 10 steps? What? What do I need to do?

Erin Gilchrist: 34:44

Okay, so again, I'll go back to if you don't have a team inside your organization, you're, you're dead in the water, right? So first, get people together. Again, I'll use the example of you're gonna need legal and you're gonna need people, people, people. So hr, right? Because you need to make sure that you communicate everything correctly and you're following all the rules. They'll help you write policy or I'll help you write policy too. So, you know, legal and fleet and operations and purchasing and supply chain and fleet. So get a group together that's step one. And talk about, okay, we have, we have to reduce let's say the metric you're using for sustainability in your fleet is, your fuel consumption, that's typical, right? So we gotta reduce our fuel consumption in our fleet. So how are we gonna do that? And then it's you as the fleet leader kind of leading that conversation saying, Hey guys it's, there's no one way to do it. We have to start with you know, do, do we have control over our routes? Do we know where people are? And what they're doing. Do we know how they're driving behind the wheel? Are we compliant on preventative maintenance for our fleets? Are we getting fuel at the right price, at the right time? You know, and are, and do we have leakage? Okay. And if someone says We don't have any leakage. You have leakage, you definitely have leakage. There's pilferage, there's fraud. Just know. Especially if you have a 5,000 unit fleet. So think about those things that you can step into that will reduce, your consumption of, of fuel and start down that path, okay? So pick two or three things you're gonna tackle first and then say, okay, do we have the data to tackle those things? You know, if we don't, we need to get it. So what's out there? And then you can really lean on the fleet industry and other fleet. Leaders and see what other people are doing. If, if this, if you're really that green and you really don't know what's out there, there are a lot of great resources to ask and see what's out there. But you're definitely gonna need telematics on your vehicles so that you can manage and monitor all those things I just talked about, and then develop your vision, scope, and goals. Right. And then determine how much progress do we wanna make, how are we gonna get there, how are we gonna measure it? And, and then I think last but not least, then think about do we need to at this moment, this in this first year of, of creating a sustainable fleet, do we need to switch out any of our vehicles? Do we need either newer assets that are gonna be more efficient or do we just need to better monitor the behavior and the, the kind of fleet operational stuff for the fleet we have? And if your answer is, Hey, you know, we probably have some vehicles that are right to switch out, then, you know, as you're implementing the things that you can do now, then start to step into what's out there in the marketplace. Can we get, do an EV pilot? Can we pilot any other types of fuels or alt fuel technologies in our, in our fleet to start to move the needle a little quicker? So that would be my advice. Just don't try to eat the whole elephant, just one bite at a time. And it can be done with what, it probably can be done at least, major steps with what you have now. And then if you don't have telematics, then that's sort of a next step. And then you can really use the telematics data to dig into those larger steps like switching to EVs and other things that can again, further build on your sustainability plan. And I think that plan should start out, Hey, what's our, our first year goal, and then what's our three and five and seven and 10 year goal? And that'll grow and change. Just stick with it. Build a plan, stick with it. Let it grow and evolve. It's a living and breathing thing. If it's a good project, it's alive and which means it's going to grow and change. Right. So that's kind of a mindset for orgs.

Tom Raftery: 38:57

Cool. Cool. Erin, we're coming towards the end of the podcast now. Is there any question I did not ask that you wish I had or any aspect of this we haven't touched on that you think it's important for people to be aware of?

Erin Gilchrist: 39:10

I mean, I think the only other thing is, again, I, I know I touched on fleets, being able to like look at their data. What are they, you know, how are they managing all the data? And I think that, you know, when I talked about what IntelliShift does, I think that what we're helping fleets do is find an easier way to identify issues, insights, trends that are dragging down safety and efficiency for fleets. So if, if you're listening and you feel like you're that swivel chair management, fleet manager who really needs to hire like a full-time analyst just to deal with all the data that's coming in off of fuel cards, off of vehicles, from devices. I would encourage you to look for ways and means to steward your data better. So data stewardship is a really important thing when you're trying to drive safety efficiency, but certainly sustainability. So, you know, do yourself a favor and try to get that data consolidated so you don't miss anything. Because I think the thing that kept me up the most at night as a fleet manager before I kind of found my happy place was all the things that are going on that I didn't know about it. Like, what's my next big risk? And in today's world, we know that that next big risk. And it's 'cause it's present so much, at least here in the US is distracted driving. So it's not about if our drivers are gonna get in an accident, it's when, and then what do we have on board to protect them. So I think all these things go hand in hand. It's just getting that technology that helps you sleep better at night because you have your data in one place and you can easily identify. The things you need to tackle every day and in the next week or month or a year, and create new projects around those things with the right partnerships. So that's what I would share. Just, you know, if you find yourself struggling to do that, then you know, look out there, see what's out there. Find a partner who can help you make your life easier. Because once you can make it easier for your organization to get on board with the fundamentals of fleet, then you're gonna win all around. For sure.

Tom Raftery: 41:32

Makes sense. Makes sense. Cool. Cool. Erin, if people would like to know more about yourself or any of the things we discussed in the podcast today, where would you have me direct them?

Erin Gilchrist: 41:43

I would just say, link in with me you know, I'm Erin Gilchrist on LinkedIn. You can find me there. You can also find, Straight Talk on Fleet, which is my podcast, and you can find that anywhere you listen or watch content. So yeah, it is a lot of fun topics and, and maybe we can, you know, chat, DM me on LinkedIn. I'm happy to help you start kind of, creating a vision or mission around sustainability for your, for your organization and for your fleet.

Tom Raftery: 42:11

Tremendous. Tremendous. Great. Erin, that's been really interesting. Thanks a million for coming in the podcast today.

Erin Gilchrist: 42:16

Thank you. It's been so much fun, Tom. I look forward to seeing you again.

Tom Raftery: 42:20

Likewise. Okay, thank you all for tuning in to this episode of the Sustainable Supply Chain Podcast with me, Tom Raftery. Each week, thousands of supply chain professionals listen to this show. If you or your organization want to connect with this dedicated audience, consider becoming a sponsor. You can opt for exclusive episode branding where you choose the guests or a personalized 30 second ad roll. It's a unique opportunity to reach industry experts and influencers. For more details, hit me up on Twitter or LinkedIn, or drop me an email to tomraftery at outlook. com. Together, let's shape the future of sustainable supply chains. Thanks. Catch you all next time.