In this year’s Industry Outlook, nearly all of the topics focus on how total cost of ownership is being influenced in some degree by the approaching deadlines for the revised Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which have been put in place to increase fuel efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.

An example is the trend towards using lighter materials like aluminum in the manufacturing and upfitting process and the expected impact this may have with regard both to costs and safety. Fleet managers seeking to mitigate potential cost increases have started to implement policy changes related to the personal use of company-provided vehicles.

‘This year’s Industry Outlook is unique in that so many of the 2014 trends can be traced back to one single initiative – the CAFE regulations,’ said ARI’s director of strategic consulting Chris Morgan. ‘This publication will help fleet managers understand the ripple effect of these and other compliance issues, such as stricter violations enforcement, on their cost-control efforts. With this insight, they’ll be better prepared to make it a successful year through proactive and strategic planning.’

The publication also covers some of positive ways CAFE is influencing the industry, such as the evolution of the cargo van segment and the expanding market for alternative fuel vehicles. Other topics covered in the Industry Outlook include the increasingly aggressive approach governments and tolling authorities are taking to recover unpaid violations and the emergence of advanced fleet technology that allows for the easy visualization of Big Data though the use of easy-to-understand alerts, dashboards and reports.

ARI’s 2014 Industry Outlook is available for download on the company’s website at www.arifleet.com/news.