The Official Blog for Penske Truck Leasing, Truck Rental and Logistics

Penske Truck Leasing today launched the latest evolution of Catalyst AI™, the artificial intelligence engine transforming commercial fleet management. Built in-house and powered by over 100 billion data points and more than 300 real-time models, Catalyst AI marks a major leap in data-driven decision-making—from the individual vehicle to the entire hub.

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Summary Bullets

  • Penske delivers a new level of AI-powered fleet intelligence—unmatched in scope, scale, and actionable insights.
  • Developed in-house, Catalyst AI applies proprietary models that transform complexity into competitive advantage.
  • Catalyst AI advances from fleet-level visibility to granular insights—enabling real-time benchmarking and diagnostics now at the individual vehicle and hub level.
  • 93% of leaders believe AI can improve resiliency—but 84% say the industry is behind, signaling urgency for adoption.

Reading, Pa., May 12, 2025 – Today, Penske Truck Leasing introduced the new generation of fleet intelligence with the latest release of Catalyst AI™, its proprietary artificial intelligence engine and industry leading AI platform that redefined fleet management. Built specifically for commercial transportation, Catalyst AI applies machine learning in advanced methods—turning one of the industry’s richest vehicle data sets into faster, more strategic decision-making across operations.

Catalyst AI was built to meet a fundamental need in modern operations: how to take the right action, at the right time, from the right data. The update introduces four core enhancements designed to make that possible:

  • Fantasy Fleet – Offers a new comparison set made up of top-performing vehicles most similar to each vehicle in the user’s fleet—helping them find gaps and elevate performance.
  • Vehicle-level Comparison – Enables users to compare individual vehicles to pinpoint performance differences, helping identify where targeted adjustments can drive better results.
  • Hub-level Comparison Allows users to assess operations by location and uncover opportunities for improved efficiency at the local level.
  • Impacting Metrics Gives users the ability to focus on specific metrics that matter most to their business—fuel efficiency, maintenance costs, utilization, and more.

“The new release marks a next chapter for Catalyst AI—one that makes complex data more usable, more scalable, and more actionable,” said Art Vallely, president of Penske Truck Leasing. “We’ve enhanced the platform’s ability to surface trends, benchmark at the vehicle level, and identify meaningful outliers across fleets and facilities. Built in-house, the platform was designed to help our customers spend less time chasing data and more time improving performance."

Catalyst AI continues to evolve in step with the complexities of modern fleet operations, delivering faster insights, clearer benchmarks, and intelligence designed to keep businesses ahead. Developed by Penske, the platform reflects what today’s fleet professionals need: trusted insights that drive action.

That demand is reflected in Penske’s 2025 Transportation Leaders Survey: A Road to AI Adoption, which found that 93% of senior business decision makers in the transportation and logistics industry agree that AI will improve their organization’s resiliency and ability to adapt to sudden shifts. More than half (54%) said the ability to compare their fleet’s performance to others in the same market would improve both efficiency and operational decision-making. As they specifically plan for today’s continued economic uncertainty, fleet leaders cited their most critical data needs as: visibility into maintenance costs (44%), fuel price trends (41%), and fleet utilization (36%).

Organizations that have embraced AI are already reaping the benefits with 40% of respondents using AI tools saying they’ve seen improvements of at least 50% in fuel usage, cost reduction, or distance traveled through smarter routing and optimization. However, 84% of transportation leaders think the industry is lagging behind in AI adoption and 36% only feel somewhat prepared to respond to ongoing supply chain disruptions and economic volatility. This signals a growing urgency for tools that not only provide data but translate it into tangible actions that drive outcomes, such as lowering operating costs and increasing efficiency.

“We’ve designed Catalyst AI with our customers’ needs in mind,” said Sherry Sanger, executive vice president of strategy and marketing at Penske Transportation Solutions. “Catalyst AI represents a strategic leap forward in how fleets use data. It’s not just about visibility—it’s about empowering smarter decisions across the entire network with technology that works in the real world.”

Since Catalyst AI launched in 2024, the platform has grown to support thousands of users, helping fleet professionals move from lagging metrics to leading decisions. The platform is now a foundational part of how teams across Penske’s network report, benchmark, and plan—across vehicles, locations, and systems.

“Catalyst AI now analyzes over 100 billion data points annually,” said Tim Haynes, vice president of digital and customer data at Penske. “We’ve engineered a system that runs more than 300 models in real time—delivering comparison logic, trend detection, and scoring that is both scalable and immediate. This release reflects the technical backbone required to help fleets benchmark smarter and respond faster.”

Catalyst AI is embedded within Comparative Insights, a feature inside the Fleet Insight® digital platform. Comparative Insights, powered by Catalyst AI, at the fleet level remains available at no cost to Penske customers. The new Comparative Insights Premium Plan unlocks access to vehicle- and hub-level comparisons and the Fantasy Fleet feature, with a 30-day free trial available before subscription. To learn more, visit penskecatalyst.ai.

About Penske Truck Leasing

Penske Truck Leasing is a Penske Transportation Solutions company headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania. A leading provider of innovative transportation solutions, Penske operates and maintains more than 419,000 vehicles and serves its customers from more than 990 maintenance facilities and more than 2,200 rental locations across North America. Solutions from Penske include full-service truck leasing, fleet maintenance, truck rentals, used trucks, and a comprehensive array of technologies to keep the world moving forward. Visit PenskeTruckLeasing.com to learn more.

Survey Methodology – The second edition of The Transportation Leaders Survey: A Road to AI Adoption was conducted online by Big Village among a sample of 255 U.S. adults 18 years of age and older who are owners, founders, or executive leaders or decision makers of a Transportations or Logistics businesses. This survey was live April 16-23, 2025.

The transportation and logistics sector is moving past AI curiosity and into real-world application. According to Penske’s newly released 2025 Transportation Leaders Survey: A Road to AI Adoption, fleet leaders are steadily embracing artificial intelligence (AI) and seeing measurable returns — even as traditional practices and implementation concerns linger.
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Penske Truck Leasing is pleased to share that Catalyst AI™, its advanced fleet benchmarking technology, has been name one of Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT) magazine’s 2025 Top 20 Trucking Products. This honor reflects Penske’s continued commitment to help fleets drive efficiency through meaningful, data-driven insights.

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Penske Truck Leasing's recent unveiling of Catalyst AI™, a groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) platform offering detailed comparisons and insights to drive enhanced fleet performance and efficiency, has garnered significant praise from industry professionals.

"Catalyst AI represents a game-changer in fleet management," said the American Journal of Transportationin “Penske Rolls Out New Fleet Management AI Platform.”

Designed as an industry-first AI platform, Catalyst AI sets a new standard in fleet management and promises to revolutionize operations with its actionable intelligence aimed at optimizing performance.

"Unlike generic AI tools, [Penske] has trained its algorithm to focus specifically on the transportation and logistics industry," says Timothy Papandreou in “From Analog To Algorithm: How AI Is Transforming Fleet Management” for Forbes. "Fleet managers gain real-time comparisons against similar fleets, exposing inefficiencies and enabling targeted interventions."

New industry research found that 77% of transportation professionals rely on historical, annual forecasting, and industry benchmark reports to inform their fleet planning and procurement decisions. This process is often manual and time-consuming for fleet managers and relies on data that may not be holistically compared to their specific fleets.

With Catalyst AI, Penske is evolving how fleet managers measure success, providing mission-critical intelligence, detailed comparisons, and insights to help drive fleet performance and efficiency. Customers can benchmark their performance through apples-to-apples comparisons by leveraging advanced machine learning algorithms and the rich, diverse live collection of Penske data.

"Fleets' operational conditions vary widely, and it can be challenging to determine the average fuel efficiency or utilization for a particular operation, says Jeremy Wolfe in “Penske Launches Catalyst AI for Fleet Performance Insights” for FleetOwner. "Catalyst AI is a solution to this need: for metrics more comparable to a fleet's unique conditions."

At the core of Catalyst AI lies its patent-pending algorithm, which evaluates key dimensions of fleet operations to create a unique "fleet DNA," which enables the customization of operational KPI benchmarks tailored to the specific needs of each fleet, enhancing performance optimization.

"An industry-focused AI language model can account for regional variations in traffic patterns, weather, and fuel availability, ensuring route optimization that transcends geographical limitations," continued Papandreou. "Over time it will be able to provide greater insights into predictive analytics above and beyond the current best in class offers. It's truly game-changing."

“AI is rapidly being implemented in basic trucking operations laying the groundwork for greater adoption in the future,” says William B. Cassidy in “Penske AI Tool Aims To Help Shippers Manage, Benchmark Private Fleets” for the Journal of Commerce.

With the introduction of Catalyst AI, Penske reaffirms its position as a leader in fleet management innovation, providing fleet managers with the tools and insights they need to help drive efficiency, reduce costs, and, ultimately, elevate fleet performance to new heights. As the industry continues to evolve, Catalyst AI is a testament to Penske's dedication to delivering cutting-edge solutions that provide insights to empower its customers to thrive in today's dynamic business environment.

Keep reading to see what other companies are saying about Catalyst AI, then learn more about this game-changing solution.

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  • Penske unveils Catalyst AI™ – an industry first AI platform set to revolutionize fleet management with instant access to actionable insights that optimize fleet performance.
  • With 77% of transportation professionals relying on aggregated industry benchmarks to determine fleet performance, Catalyst AI™ addresses the need for real-time evaluation tools.
  • Leveraging advanced AI, machine learning algorithms and Penske’s deep industry knowledge, Catalyst AI™ empowers fleet managers to unlock insights that can optimize fuel efficiency and fleet utilization.

READING, Pa., April 18, 2024 -- Today, Penske Truck Leasing unveiled Catalyst AI™ – an industry first AI platform set to revolutionize fleet management that delivers real-time insight into fleet performance. Catalyst AI marks a pivotal shift away from traditional industry benchmarks, empowering fleet managers with actionable intelligence to optimize fleet performance using dynamic comparative data.

The Catalyst AI™ platform compares a fleet’s performance to similar fleets across Penske’s live database of hundreds of thousands of vehicles in real-time. This platform enables leaders to benchmark their fleets using apples-to-apples comparisons, unlock fuel efficiency opportunities, optimize utilization, and business performance using targeted insights.

New industry research found 77% of transportation professionals tend to rely on historical, annual forecasting and industry benchmark reports to inform their fleet planning and procurement decisions. For fleet managers, this process is often manual, time consuming and relies on data that may not holistically compare to their specific fleets.

“Catalyst AI was born from our vision to harness the power of AI to meet the needs of today’s fleet managers,” said Ann Walsh, senior vice president of digital and customer data at Penske. “By integrating over 57 billion data points with AI, our patent-pending algorithm and industry expertise enables fleet managers to better optimize their operations using leading-edge technology.”

Penske Truck Leasing is ushering in a new era in fleet management by enabling fleet managers to evaluate fleet performance. At the heart of Catalyst AI lies its patent-pending algorithm that identifies the most-similar fleets by evaluating key dimensions of fleet operations and composition. This process creates a unique "fleet DNA," enabling highly customized operational KPI benchmarks tailored to each fleet's specific performance needs.

“With innovation at our core, Penske is committed to developing solutions that drive efficiency and performance for our customers. Catalyst AI addresses the critical need for comparative, real-time insights in fleet management,” said Sherry Sanger, executive vice president of strategy and marketing for Penske. “This cutting-edge technology enables businesses to unlock new efficiencies, reduce costs, and ultimately, sets a new standard for fleet performance.”

Catalyst AI represents a game-changer in fleet management. In an industry first, fleet managers will have access to actionable insights and intelligence to unlock the full potential of their fleets. To test drive the power of Catalyst AI’s fleet benchmarking technology, visit penskecatalyst.ai. Current Penske Truck Leasing customers can easily access Catalyst AI in their existing Fleet Insight accounts with the new Comparative Insights feature at fleetinsight.com.

About Penske Truck Leasing

Penske Truck Leasing is a Penske Transportation Solutions company headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania. A leading provider of innovative transportation solutions, Penske operates and maintains more than 442,000 vehicles and serves its customers from more than 980 maintenance facilities and more than 2,600 truck rental locations across North America. Solutions from Penske include full-service truck leasing, fleet maintenance, truck rentals, used trucks, and a comprehensive array of technologies to keep the world moving forward. Visit PenskeTruckLeasing.com for more information.

Survey Methodology - The Transportation Leaders Survey: A Road to AI Adoption was conducted online by Big Village among a sample of 259 US Transportation and Logistics executives involved in truck fleet management-related decisions at their business/organizations. This survey was live March 13-20, 2024.

Since artificial intelligence (AI) went mainstream, executives across industries have sought to understand how the technology can help transform operations, drive efficiencies, automate repetitive tasks, bridge talent gaps, uncover new insights and everything in between. With the need for efficiency at the core of transportation, AI presents the opportunity to revolutionize the industry.

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