Company: Element Fleet Management, Sparks, MD
Company Description: As North America's premier fleet management company, Element provides world-class financial and management services for commercial vehicle and equipment fleets. Element Fleet Management is a part of Element Financial Corporation, one of North America's leading equipment finance companies.
Nomination Category: New Product & Service Categories - Software
Nomination Sub Category: New Product or Service of the Year - Software - Mobile Development Solution

Nomination Title: Element Fleet Management’s Clarus Driver

Tell the story about this nominated product or service (up to 650 words). Describe its function, features, benefits, and performance to date:

Imagine changing jobs -- before you start your first day you've done some research and gotten up to speed on your new company. Your first day on the job you’re learning about your new role and daily responsibilities, meeting colleagues, and your boss hands you the keys to company vehicle. In addition to coming up to speed on your day-to-day tasks, you now have to learn:

• How to purchase gas with your new fuel card and pin?
• Where to go for maintenance when your check engine light comes on?
• Who to call in the event of an accident?

A day in the life of a fleet driver can be a bit overwhelming.

Element Fleet Management worked to solve this problem with the introduction of Clarus Driver in spring 2014.

In designing Clarus Driver, our focus was to develop an interface which allows fleet drivers to easily complete fleet tasks so they can stay focused on what is most important – their primary job responsibilities. Element’s technology tools are always built with the end user in mind and strive to provide an easy, effective and enjoyable experience. Clarus Driver is the epitome of our dedication to these principles.

With a driver population comprised primarily of sales executives and service technicians that is increasingly mobile, Clarus Driver was built in a responsive design interface to ensure an optimized experience regardless of the device preference for using a mobile phone, tablet or desktop computer. The Clarus Driver home page uses a To-Do List to easily identify needed actions and provides an effective guide to walk users through tasks they need to complete. Clarus Driver also provides access to many self-service options to keep our clients’ drivers on the road and productive. Drivers use the application to search for maintenance service providers by location, and Clarus Driver is smart enough to only return results for shops which perform work on their assigned vehicle. Drivers that have forgotten their PIN can quickly retrieve it while they are at the pump trying to purchase fuel. Previously, these tasks would have required a time-consuming phone call; now they are all possible at the click of a button.

Drivers have expressed how easy and enjoyable it is using Clarus Driver, comparing us favorably to popular consumer-based applications and grading the site with a CXi (an index score provided by drivers grading the effectiveness, ease-of-use and enjoyability of Clarus Driver) of 4 out of 5 since its release one year ago. In addition, completing the most common task of reporting mileage on a monthly basis takes on average only 57 seconds, a 111 percent decrease in task completion time from using our prior version of the application. In a relatively short amount of time Clarus Driver has positively impacted the work experience of over 34,700 drivers.

In bullet-list form, briefly summarize up to ten (10) of the chief features and benefits of the nominated product or service (up to 150 words).

To Do List – This function immediately lets a user see what items need attention.

Responsive Design – Clarus Driver optimizes its display on users’ screens, providing the same experience regardless of device preference.

Simple Mileage Reporting – Enables timely and accurate reporting of personal use mileage, notifying drivers when a report is due; makes quick calculations and reminds them of past months’ mileage readings if they fall behind.

Retrieve Service Card PIN – Drivers don’t need to panic when they are at the fuel pump without their service card PINs, as Clarus Driver allows for easy PIN retrieval.

Location-based Supplier Locator – Identifies Element-approved shops nearby that are able to service user’s vehicles.

Policy Documents – Enables fleet managers to share important policy information, ensuring drivers
stay up-to-date with access to their fleet’s most recent policies.

Element Game – The gamification of Clarus Driver helps educate and motivate drivers