Lori Rasmussen Provides Insights into COVID-19 Impact on Fleet Transport

On May 6th, PARS President Lori Rasmussen participated on a panel of fleet leaders for the AFLA-Bobit webinar series on the topic of the “Latest Market Intelligence on COVID-19 Impact on Fleet Operations and Supply Chain Partners. Panelists included  Kristofer Bush, Vice President, Product Management for LeasePlan and Colin Sutherland, Executive VP, Sales and Marketing for Geotab, and the moderator, Mike Antich,  Associate Publisher of Automotive Fleet.

Here are some of her insights into the impact of the current crisis on the transport industry:

  • PARS has had a mobile driver app for the past few years, and its customers can still count on this technology for contact-free pickup and delivery in this new era of distancing.
     
  • While there have been widespread closures of motor vehicle agencies, most states have extended the expiration dates for vehicle registration, temporary tags, driver’s license. About half the states are open and accepting applications online or by mail. Others are processing renewals. Some physical locations are open, but usually by appointment only and limited services. Her recommendation was that any company with expired or new vehicles needing registration get the paperwork ready now because of the influx of requests as agencies reopen.
  • Along the same line of thinking, Lori mentioned that we are seeing more maintenance facilities and body shops open up along with some dealerships addressing safety recalls. As a result, companies with idle vehicles should make maintenance appointments now to avoid the re-opening rush of requests.

  • Finally, Lori covered some additional points, but the topic that drew special interest was repurposing idle vehicles.  She shared the story of a PARS customer whose scientists needed to get into the lab to work on COVID-19 studies, based on Account Manager Wendy Chichester.