Connected Tires Pay Off as Fleet Tech Stack Layers Up

Continental Says Connected Tires Are Earning Their Keep

Continental Tire reported this month that North American fleets running its connected tire systems are seeing measurable fuel savings -- not pilot-program savings, but the kind that show up in monthly cost-per-mile reports. The pitch has shifted from "smart tires are coming" to "smart tires are paying for themselves," which is a much easier conversation to have with a CFO.

For fleet managers, the practical takeaway is simple: tire pressure, temperature, and wear data piped directly into telematics dashboards is becoming table stakes. The fuel-savings story makes it easier to justify the upgrade in a year where most equipment line items are getting squeezed.

AVILOO Plants a Flag in North America

Battery testing company AVILOO appointed Brett Lippel as CEO of its North American operations in late April, with a stated mandate to drive nationwide adoption of its battery-health technology. The move tracks with what fleet electrification leaders have been saying for two years -- that the next bottleneck for EV fleets isn't charging, it's knowing what shape your batteries are actually in.

Independent battery diagnostics matter most at the resale and warranty stage, where fleets either capture residual value or eat it. Expect more activity in this corner of the market through 2026.

From Execution to Intelligence

Automotive Fleet's April analysis framed the bigger shift well: fleet transport is moving from execution to intelligence. Routing, dispatch, and maintenance decisions that used to live in a manager's head are increasingly made -- or at least pre-staged -- by software that's seeing the whole network at once.

The honest read is that most fleets are still mid-transition. The leaders are running predictive maintenance and AI-assisted dispatch in production. The middle of the pack is buying the tools and figuring out the workflows. Either way, the direction of travel is clear.

Market Keeps Compounding, M&A Keeps Coming

The North American fleet management systems market is on track for double-digit annual growth through 2029, per Computer Weekly. That growth is bringing the consolidation you'd expect: Zenobē acquired Revolv in March to expand its student transportation, transit, and commercial EV footprint across the U.S. and Canada.

The Zenobē-Revolv deal is the same pattern showing up across the category -- platforms with capital are buying regional operators to round out coverage. For fleets evaluating vendors, it's worth asking whoever you're shortlisting what their 18-month ownership picture looks like.