Slate Fleet Work Trucks Rolling Out This Year (says Head of Fleet Sales)

[danielt1263]

Drew Walker, head of fleet sales, says that some fleets will be receiving trucks this year. So if you are wondering why you aren't getting yours until April or later...

 

[Johnologue]

Seems smart. I imagine that lets them "test" a larger number of units relative to the number of "customers" they need to support, for example. Compared to personal vehicles, I imagine they'd be less sensitive to comfort/quality impressions, hopefully backed with a higher baseline knowledge of maintenance. If something does go wrong, fleets should have spare units (Slate or otherwise).

 

[sodamo]

Hopefully shake out some Cargo Kits as well.

 

[wa6qmq]

Yes let the fleet group get them first and find any/all bugs so they can be corrected.
As much as I want my Slate yesterday, I would like one with no issues

 

[tubes]

I bet you it is a "friendly" fleet too.

 

[Rocks]

Selling to fleets is instant cash flow. No pesky questions about financing, trades, etc.

 

[ClayJar]

I want my Slate... or at least a delivery window... but I'm delighted by any positive news on fleet sales. I figure the fleet segment is built-in demand that could easily make the whole Slate business much more solid and stable. Make the fleet customers happy, and I can be happy... enough... waiting.

I'm in this for the long haul... even if long hauling isn't really a Slate truck thing yet.

 

[meedgar]

Makes a lot of sense. Slate seems to be a very savvy company playing the long game. Fleet sales goes straight to the competition in the Maverick. The water company, gas company and auto part companies in my neck of the woods have all bought into the Maverick. Their fleet is aging and will be turning 4 years old. Replacing it with an electric, bare bones truck makes sense.

Plus it is free advertising to the retail customer each time one passes by your house or on the street.

 

[KevinRS]

They may well deliver to some retail customers this year as well, still 6 months out, going with under promise, they may offer earlier windows to buyers in certain high order number areas.

 

[Luxrage]

Compared to personal vehicles, I imagine they'd be less sensitive to comfort/quality impressions, hopefully backed with a higher baseline knowledge of maintenance.

When I had some movers earlier this year come and store some of my stuff post-flood. They drove one of those Isuzu box trucks and instead of having the radio on, they had their music on one of those big Beats blutooth pods shoved in the dash. Seems like the Slate was designed for just those kinda guys!

 

[Johnologue]

I bet you it is a "friendly" fleet too.

Are you suggesting that Slate's Amazon ties might make them an early fleet customer? Or does that mean something else?

If the former, would Amazon actually want Slates? They already have a fleet of Rivian vans, and the Slate Cargo doesn't seem optimal for large-volume package delivery.

Maybe if they wanted to expand the fleet for more coverage? I don't know the stats...looks like Amazon has committed to buying 100K, but they have more like 30K currently. I imagine it's limited by Rivian's production volume. It appears they also bought some Mercedes EV vans, so I suppose they're buying more than just Rivians already...

 

[KevinRS]

Are you suggesting that Slate's Amazon ties might make them an early fleet customer? Or does that mean something else?

If the former, would Amazon actually want Slates? They already have a fleet of Rivian vans, and the Slate Cargo doesn't seem optimal for large-volume package delivery.

Maybe if they wanted to expand the fleet for more coverage? I don't know the stats...looks like Amazon has committed to buying 100K, but they have more like 30K currently. I imagine it's limited by Rivian's production volume. It appears they also bought some Mercedes EV vans, so I suppose they're buying more than just Rivians already...

It's come up before, I really don't think Slate is suited for mass delivery fleets. Amazon, UPS, Fedex, even USPS are using vehicles with much larger cargo volume, and low floors in the cargo area.
Cities, counties, painters, plumbers, florist, auto parts stores, grocery delivery and similar delivery from stores, doordash, etc all make sense, but not so much Amazon. Amazon didn't invest in Slate, Jeff Bezos did, and not directly.

 

[Rocks]

If the former, would Amazon actually want Slates? They already have a fleet of Rivian vans, and the Slate Cargo doesn't seem optimal for large-volume package delivery.

One-hour delivery.
Every package is a hotshot. No way to plan a route around multiple packages in the same time frame.

 

[Luxrage]

I've actually gotten a USPS package delivered by a driver in their maintenance pickup truck before so I wouldn't entirely dismiss the USPS from snagging a few to meet some low emissions goals.

 

[Randy]

My guess is that the fleet ones they deliver this year are evaluation models for potential large customers. It should be price-competitive with anything that has a cab and A/C, even utility vehicles, so if it gets a good reputation it should do well.