Features
24 Sep 19

Fleet LatAm Conference kicks off in Mexico City

Fleet LatAm Conference 2019 has kicked off in Mexico City, the first event in Latin America specifically focused on bringing together Fleet & Mobility leaders with an international scope.

The opening and cocktail reception, sponsored by international telematics company Geotab, was kicked off by a welcome from Pascal Serres, Chairman of the Fleet LatAm Advisory Board and Steven Schoefs, Editor in Chief of Global Fleet.


Pascal Serres (source: Fleet LatAm)


It was followed by Mr. Schoefs interviewing Geotab Associate Vice President Carlos Castillo on stage. During the interview, Mr. Carlos expressed that the automotive industry is evolving, and he sees fleet operators getting more in touch with what is happening with drivers.

 

Basically, the company is in the business of saving lives by reducing accidents and this has a correlative effect. ”The more we take care of drivers, the more we will be able to decrease accidents and, in turn, reduce insurance premiums and maintenance costs,” the executive said.
 


Steven Schoefs and Carlos Castillo (source: Fleet LatAm)

 

The night ended with a keynote address by Adriano Polcar Negrao who is Logistics Vice President (Middle Americas) for international brewing company ABInbev, an operation demanding approximately 6,000 routes every day. Among other things, he discussed the importance of productivity, running a “green” fleet, and focusing on safety.

 

For one, the company has developed a delivery app which helps to better control deliveries and increase productivity by using smart phone technology and machine learning

 

“We continuously monitor traffic and weather conditions and through dynamic re-sequencing our routes are optimized throughout the day. Each an every one of our deliveries are tracked, said Mr. Negrao.


Adriano Polcar Negrao (source: Fleet LatAm)

 

The company also intends to reduce 25% of its CO2 emissions by 2025. It is currently using electric delivery trucks in Mexico and Colombia, the latter of which it intends to add an additional 200 electric vehicles by 2021.

 

Finally, Mr. Negrao explained that implementing a fleet safety culture in the company has reduced 86% of lost time injuries in its Mexico fleet. Besides using telematics to improve safety by monitoring driver behavior (acceleration, braking, speed, and turns), it has also developed a driver simulator to train drivers.

 

“Finally, we have dashcam units in the pilot stage. Through image recognition, we can monitor driver behavior such as seatbelt usage and cellphone habits,” added the executive.


Fleet LatAm Conference is taking place at the JW Marriott hotel in Mexico City from 23-24 September. It will be followed by Fleet LatAm training on 25 September, specifically aimed at Fleet Managers with multi-country responsibilities in Latin America.

Authored by: Daniel Bland