NAFA kicked off Media Day with a strong signal that the industry is not slowing down anytime soon.

Bill Schankel, CEO of NAFA Fleet Management Association, welcomed the media and shared that this year’s Institute & Expo is the largest the event has been in over a decade. The show floor is sold out, and attendance reflects a nearly even split between commercial and government fleet managers, a balance that continues to influence how solutions are built and deployed.

This year’s theme, Amplify Your Drive, feels especially on point. Because if Media Day proved anything, it’s that fleets are done just looking at data.

For years, the industry has invested in dashboards, telematics, and reporting. That foundation is now expected. What stood out across the stage in Cleveland was a clear shift toward something more practical, turning all that information into faster, smarter action.

AI showed up everywhere, but not in a flashy way. It’s being embedded into workflows, quietly doing the work behind the scenes. At the same time, companies are still tackling the basics—fixing fragmented systems, speeding up decisions, and eliminating the small inefficiencies that add up to real dollars.

In other words, fleet tech is evolving from insight to execution.

Collective Data Brings AI Into the Day-to-Day Workflow

Instead of positioning AI as the future, Collective Data focused on what it can do right now.

Jason Wonase walked through a conversational “Ask Anything” approach that lets fleet managers interact with their data the same way they’d ask a colleague a question. What vehicles should be replaced? What inventory needs to be ordered in the next two weeks? The system responds instantly, pulling from across the platform.

What stood out is how much work is happening behind the scenes. The platform isn’t just retrieving information; it’s connecting maintenance schedules, historical usage, inventory levels, and cost data to produce a usable answer. And then it doesn’t stop there. That answer can be turned into a report, visualized in a dashboard, or saved as a repeatable query.

There’s also a level of control baked in that fleets will appreciate. Organizations can define how decisions are made, what data is accessible, and how AI interacts with it. It’s a practical approach that acknowledges both the power of AI and the need to keep it in check.

Morgan Olson Introduces a Flexible New Work Truck Platform

Not everything at Media Day was software-driven. Morgan Olson brought things back to the physical side of fleet with the introduction of the Kestrel.

Presented by Joe Rudolph, the Kestrel is a compact 4x4 commercial vehicle designed to handle a wide range of applications, from utilities and trades to emergency response and last-mile delivery.

The bigger story is flexibility. The platform is built to be modular, allowing fleets to configure interiors, storage, and functionality based on their specific needs. It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution, and that’s the point.

Equally important is the fact that this isn’t a concept. Production is already underway, early units are in the field, and orders are open. In a market where lead times can drag on, that immediacy matters.

Safety and compliance also played a major role in the positioning, with full testing and validation built into the platform from the start. It’s designed to meet real-world demands, not just look good on paper.

Chevin Reimagines the Dashboard Experience for Fleet Teams

If dashboards have been the backbone of fleet management, Chevin is trying to make them a lot less painful to use.

Richard Clark framed the challenge in a way that hit home: Fleet data has become a massive puzzle, and most teams are still trying to piece it together across disconnected systems.

Chevin’s response is a fully rebuilt dashboard experience that focuses on usability, flexibility, and speed.

Fleet teams can build and customize their own dashboards, adjust layouts in real time, and share insights instantly across the organization. The goal is to remove the dependency on IT teams or outside resources just to get basic visibility.

What’s interesting is that AI isn’t front and center here. It’s part of the roadmap, but the immediate focus is on making data easier to access and act on. Sometimes the biggest improvement is simply removing friction.

MotorQ Focuses on Faster Decisions With Fuse

MotorQ leaned into a reality most fleet managers know well: Getting to the right decision often takes too long.

Ian Dailey introduced Fuse as a way to flip that process. Instead of starting with dashboards and working toward insights, Fuse surfaces prioritized actions from the start.

The system continuously analyzes data on fuel usage, maintenance, utilization, and more, then ranks issues by financial impact. That means fleet managers can focus on what matters most without digging through layers of reports.

There’s also a built-in conversational assistant, allowing users to ask questions and generate custom visualizations on the fly.

It’s a subtle shift, but an important one, and one that means less time spent analyzing and more time acting.

WEX Tackles EV Charging Complexity Head-On

As fleets move toward electrification, the operational challenges are starting to catch up.

Ryan Kelly highlighted one of the biggest gaps: What happens when charging moves into the home. Without clear visibility, fleets are left to manage reimbursement and trust that everything is accurate.

WEX’s solution connects vehicle data, charger data, and utility data to verify that a charging event actually belongs to the fleet before reimbursement is processed.

That level of validation brings a new layer of accountability to EV charging, something fleets have long relied on in traditional fuel programs.

It’s not the most visible part of electrification, but it will become increasingly important as adoption scales.

Fleetio Turns Location Data Into a Decision-Making Tool

Fleetio’s latest announcement builds on something fleets already have — location data — but pushes it further.

Stefano Daneri introduced Fleet Map as a way to bring location directly into maintenance and operational workflows.

Instead of bouncing between systems to figure out where assets are and what to do next, fleet teams can see everything in one place and act on it immediately. Whether it’s identifying the closest vendor, understanding asset availability, or responding to a breakdown, the goal is to reduce decision time.

Automation also plays a role here, with geofencing triggering updates and actions as vehicles move.

It’s a shift from simply tracking assets to actively managing them.

Car Keys Express Simplifies Key Management at Scale

It might not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about innovation, but lost keys are a real and costly problem for fleets.

Car Keys Express introduced a platform that manages the full lifecycle of keys, from storage and retrieval to replacement and resale.

Fleets can store backup keys in a secure facility, request them when needed, or dispatch mobile services for immediate replacements. The process is streamlined through a simple app interface, making it easy to act quickly when issues arise.

It’s a practical solution that reduces downtime and cuts unnecessary costs. Not flashy, but incredibly useful.

RTA Fleet Uses AI to Eliminate Manual Invoice Work

Manual data entry isn’t going anywhere fast, but RTA is trying to take a big chunk of it off the table.

Marc Canton introduced an AI-enabled sublet invoice capture tool that pulls data directly from vendor invoices and converts it into structured records.

The time savings are significant, especially at scale, and the added accuracy helps build a more complete maintenance history.

It also ties into a larger vision for RTA, which is building an AI-driven ecosystem that combines data, best practices, and workflows into a single experience.

It’s a good example of AI being used where it makes the most sense, removing repetitive, time-consuming tasks.

Samsara Expands Commercial Navigation for Real-World Fleet Needs

Navigation might seem like a solved problem, but for fleets, it’s anything but.

Eve Alexander highlighted how relying on consumer-grade navigation tools creates inefficiencies, safety risks, and compliance challenges.

Samsara’s commercial navigation platform is designed specifically for fleet operations, taking into account vehicle size, restrictions, and company policies.

New capabilities include Apple CarPlay integration, real-time coordination between drivers and dispatchers, and more control over routing decisions. Fleets can guide drivers to preferred fuel locations, avoid restricted routes, and ensure compliance with internal policies.

The impact goes beyond navigation. It reduces wasted miles, improves safety, and cuts down on unnecessary communication between drivers and dispatch.

Hammerhead Armor Stays Focused on Durability and Customer Relationships

Not every Media Day conversation was about software or AI. Hammerhead Armor brought things back to fundamentals, including durability, reliability, and relationships.

Their approach centers on creating bumpers that can withstand the realities of fleet use, including daily wear, jobsite conditions, and the abuse work trucks endure over time. Built from high-strength steel and engineered for precise fitment, the products are designed to bolt directly onto vehicles without modification, while maintaining functionality such as towing and accessory integration.

But the bigger message wasn’t just about the product. It was about the relationship with the customer.

Driving Thoughts 

Across every presentation, the message was consistent. Fleet technology isn’t trying to show you more anymore. It’s trying to do more for you.

And if this is where things are headed, the future of fleet management might look a lot less like staring at dashboards and a lot more like actually getting things done.

Dig in further on the showfloor over the next few days and follow us as we connect deeper with several of these experts and more!