Timely Reminders

• During the period between December 27th and January 14^th, our office will be closing at 5:00 p.m. The office will be closed on December 23^rd and 24^th, December 31^st and on MLK Day, January 17^th. Regular hours will resume Tuesday, January 18^th.
• Starting January 1, 2022, our I-PASS and K-Tag daily fee will be reduced from $5.00 per day to $3.00 per day.

Digital Driver’s License

Sometime next year, Iowans will have the option of keeping their state-issued driver’s license digitally on their smartphones. An app will be available for download for Apple and Android smartphones sometime around the summer of 2022. The DOT is currently working with law enforcement agencies, retailers, and other places that require ID to make sure the digital ID is widely accepted. This new mobile driver’s license will be totally optional for those who prefer the digital convenience, physical IDs are not going away. Read the full Gazette article about digital licenses.  

Driver Side / Passenger Side, left, or right?

As my good friend Dr. Phil likes to say, one of the hallmarks of a healthy relationship is good communication. Trying to communicate the location of an issue with a specific tire or corner of a vehicle can create some confusion so we wanted to explain how we would do it. The clearest way to say it would be to start with driver side or passenger side, then add if it is a front or back tire. If you use left or right instead of driver or passenger side, always assume that you are sitting in the driver’s seat facing forward, i.e. left side is the driver side and right side is the passenger side.

Ice, Windshields, Scrapers, and Wipers, Oh My!

We wanted to remind customers to check their vehicles to make sure they have an ice scraper ready to go. If there is not one in the vehicle, stop by our office and we will get you a new one. Remember that windshield wipers are not the same thing as an ice scraper and can be damaged if used as such. Additionally, If the wiper blades are frozen to the windshield don’t use the ice scraper to free them, we have had to replace wipers in the past due folks damaging them in this manner. Also note that some vehicles have their washer nozzles on the hood, be careful not to break them off when clearing snow.

Vehicle Websites We Like

We have not shared a list of automotive sites we like and utilize here at Fleet in quite some time so here an updated list of our favorite automotive resources and websites:

http://www.edmunds.com, Edmunds is a good general site for vehicle reviews, pricing incentives, used car prices and tips/advice.

http://www.kbb.com, this site is useful for getting an idea of used car pricing.  

http://www.cartalk.com, this is the site for the hilarious Public Radio talk show about car repair. This is an excellent site for repair information, car ratings, and vehicle humor.

http://www.jalopnik.com, this one is a fun site that presents automotive news and insight with a bit of snark and humor (Joe’s favorite).

http://mycardoeswhat.org, this site, a partnership between the UI Public Policy center and The National Safety Council, helps owners understand modern vehicle safety technologies.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov, this is the government site that lists new car fuel MPG ratings, ranks vehicles in every class by MPG, and provides tips on how to get better MPG.

http://www.iihs.org, this site provides information on crash tests. The Insurance Industry for Highway Safety crash tests are more comprehensive than the testing done by the NHTSA.

https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls, NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) does have a nice site for recall information on tires, vehicles, equipment, and child safety seats.

Fleet Factoid

What is the best-selling vehicle in Iowa? Four of the top five are pickup trucks with the current leader being the Chevy Silverado. Check out the article from autoblog.com to see the top 5 vehicles for each state.