Jim Rice, Ready to Knock It Out of the Park

Jim Rice is Uptake’s new VP of Sales for Transportation. It’s fitting that Jim has a connection to baseball, and it doesn’t come from the fact that he shares the same name as the famed Red Sox player. Jim hails from always sunny and 72 San Diego, where he resides with his wife, Christine, and their two boys, Logan (8) and Tyler (7), and where baseball is a family pastime.

At Uptake, Jim will focus on helping fleets and maintenance shops keep vehicles on the road.

“We must help fleets surprise and delight their customers,” says Jim. “Or else, these customers will take their business elsewhere.”

Jim sat down with the Uptake blog crew and shared his vision for predictive maintenance, akin to Starbucks’ The Way I See It.

Fleet managers used to trade in their trucks about every four years. They’re now being asked to stretch it to five or six years. That will create more downtime and more work for shops. Maintenance departments will need to adjust and add predictive maintenance to preventive programs.

According to Jim, an extended warranty may pay for a blown engine, but it still costs in downtime. There is no telling how long it will take repair shops to return the vehicle. Meanwhile, that out-of-service truck isn’t making deliveries and isn’t making money for the driver and fleet. Next time: negotiate contracts for outsourcing maintenance with a total cost mindset.

The third annual State of Sustainable Fleets Market Brief was released, and trends toward electric vehicles and compressed natural gas (CNG) continue their upward march. Until greener, cleaner vehicles make up more of the fleet, the best move toward sustainability is to have healthy, efficient diesel trucks.

While the tech shortage isn’t going to go away, the skills gap can be alleviated with reduced diagnostic time using tools like Uptake Fleet. Just being able to prioritize fault codes helps save time that can be reallocated to skills training and knowledge transfer via a mentor program.

Jim’s background in video safety applies to transportation. Jim understands and believes in safety first for on-highway and private fleets. It’s unsafe when drivers and trucks are stopped alongside a highway or busy street.

Unexpected downtime needs to be a rare event. With an optimal blend of preventive and predictive maintenance, it can be.

At Uptake, we look forward to Jim leading the charge in transportation and helping fleets realize the business value of predictive insights.

Ready to put your data to work?