Gain Better Insights With AI-Driven Fleet Management
The importance of turning data into actionable information
"Right now, from our trucks at Penske, we receive more than 300 million messages daily," said Tim Haynes, vice president of digital and customer data for Penske Transportation Solutions. "We are getting more than 3,500 messages per second from a vehicle.”
Fleets are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to sort and analyze data, build models and focus on key metrics that will drive improvement.
Increased Efficiency
Penske's 2025 Transportation Leaders Survey, which polled more than 250 transportation and logistics executives, found that 70% of companies have now adopted AI solutions, up from 53% in 2024.
More importantly, those using AI are seeing results. Fleet leaders reported improvements in fleet planning (36%), route optimization (35%), operational efficiency (34%) and driver safety (32%). Plus, 40% of those who have adopted AI said it has delivered at least 50% improvements in fuel savings, operational expenditures and distance traveled through route optimization alone.
Among respondents, 93% said AI will improve resiliency and agility and better position their organizations for future growth, and 91% believe companies that adopt AI are better positioned for long-term success.
Smarter, More Accurate Benchmarking
AI can make benchmarking more precise, especially in trucking, where multiple variables affect operations. Historically, fleets have relied on static industry averages that aren’t tailored to a fleet’s specific operations, geography or equipment mix. Nearly all survey respondents — 97% — agreed that comparing their fleet's performance to others in the same market would improve efficiency and decision-making.
Penske's Catalyst AI™ platform uses machine learning to process 100 billion data points, synthesize thousands of variables and run more than 300 models simultaneously to identify similar fleet operations and make apples-to-apples comparisons across critical variables.
"Our customers want to know their utilization and miles-per-gallon not only for their vehicles but also across similar industries," said Samantha Thompson, vice president of customer success and fleet telematics for Penske Transportation Solutions. "I'm running a Class 8 and getting 5.8 miles per gallon. Is that good or bad?"
Catalyst AI also allows users to conduct vehicle-level comparisons to identify underperforming vehicles, compare performance across locations or hubs, and zero in on the metrics that drive results, including fuel efficiency, maintenance costs, utilization and more.
Catalyst AI can also auto-curate a "Fantasy Fleet" by finding the best-performing vehicles that match every vehicle in a fleet, so fleet managers can see what a real-world best-performing fleet looks like and what is possible.
AI in Action
Darigold, a century-old dairy manufacturing company owned by the Northwest Dairy Association, a cooperative of family-owned farms across the Pacific Northwest, leverages Penske’s suite of digital tools as part of its fleet management for 200 drivers who support both direct-to-store deliveries and warehouse transfers throughout the Pacific Northwest.
“The data surfaced through Catalyst AI has already supported internal reporting and opened up opportunities to reduce costs and reevaluate how we measure success,” said Brian Harper, fleet operations leader for Darigold. “We’re starting to use that intelligence to shape how we manage fuel and utilization across locations.”
Despite the momentum, 84% of survey respondents said they believe the transportation and logistics industry is still lagging in AI adoption, up from 64%. Cost can be a barrier to adoption, but Haynes noted that fleets don’t have to make the investment on their own and encouraged them to seek out partners.
Learn more about Catalyst AI and how you can use similar fleet benchmarks to make smarter decisions at Catalyst AI | Penske.