WEX Wrap-Up: February 2016

February is wrapping up, and with that comes another WEX Wrap-Up, in which we highlight all the latest from WEX around the world—fleet, healthcare, travel, and more.

WEX Fleet

• Better Sleep on the Road: With Spring right around the corner, drivers will be getting an extra hour of sunlight, but at the cost of an hour of sleep when the clocks turn over. In a recent article, Fleet Driver Sleep Tips, WEX Fleet shared tips for getting better sleep on the road.
• ATA Safety Analysis Data Released: While the men and women behind the wheel of rigs are generally the safest on the road, there’s a natural reaction among the general public and lawmakers to look at trucks as a highway safety hazard. The American Trucking Association took a deeper look into crash data and found that even as mileage rose by four billion miles, the number of accidents decreased to 1.4 fatalities per 100 million miles driven.
• How Telematics Prevent Time Theft: Better information leads to better management in fleets. According to a recent survey of fleets by Bobit Business Media, fuel savings come in second to improved productivity as a telematics benefit. See how telematics help to improve productivity through better route management, better maintenance scheduling and more in Telematics Prevent Time Theft.
• Robot Fleets Ahead?: With self-driving cars on the horizon, is there a possibility for self-driving fleets? WEX takes a deeper look into the talk of the industry in “Is the Self-Driving Vehicle the Future of Fleets?”

WEX Index: February kicks-off with prices at post-recession lows.

Retail gasoline prices continue to drop as the national average for February begins at less than $1.80 per gallon. The current price represents the lowest retail prices since January 2009, the height of the Great Recession.

Further, Diesel prices are just above $2.00 per gallon nationally, and are likely to see downward pressure thanks to strong inventories and a relatively warm winter in the Northeast.

WEX Travel

• The Future of European Payments: The Corporate Payments International Europe Commercial Cards and Payments Summit brings together leaders in the payments industry, and WEX’s very own Jim Pratt will be there to discuss the changing world of customers and the effects that virtual cards will have on the payments industry. Learn more.
• Here Comes Generation Z: If you haven’t begun to understand Millennials, brace yourselves, the next generation is on the horizon. What do they want from travel brands? Learn more about Gen Z and what travel brands can do to catch their attention here.
• Timeliness, Automation, and More, Strategies to Meet Supplier Demands: We’ve moved into the world of immediate payment, and travel managers need to adapt. Suppliers are seeking faster payments, and here is advice on how to make that happen.
• Lifestyle Branding in the Travel Industry: With such a wide variety of accommodation options available to travelers, the ‘vanilla’ lodging experience has passed. Part of the Megatrends defining travel, lifestyle branding has become a major strategies for hoteliers looking to connect with customers.

Evolution1/Healthcare Trends Institute

Before diving into the latest from the Healthcare Trends Institute, we would like to highlight Evolution1’s new website design, released late February.

• Engaging Patients, Promoting Wellness: Companies looking to evolve their wellness programs and reduce their healthcare costs need to consider this very compelling statistic reported by the Centers for Disease Control –- 86% of all health care spending in 2010 was for patients with chronic medical conditions. Here’s how to improve wellness programs with patient engagement.
• What Goes into Retirement Transition?: More and more aging employees are looking to transition into retirement. This benefits employers, younger employees, and the soon to be retiring employees, but what can be done to implement this? Healthcare Trends Institute looks deeper into the move to retirement transition.
• Key Initiatives in Wellness Programs: With more and more employers interested in reducing their healthcare costs while improving their employees’ overall health, they have been turning to wellness programs to support their company-wide strategies. This article takes a deeper look at initiatives in wellness programs for growth.

WEX News

WEX Senior Vice President of Corporate Development Named a Most Influential Woman in Mid-Market M&A: Nicola Morris, WEX senior vice president of corporate development, has been recognized among the 2015 Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A by Mergers & Acquisitions magazine. Read more from the WEX Press Release.
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