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.

[Read more...]Show less

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.

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.

[Read more...]Show less

Penske Truck Leasing has announced the latest enhancement to its Penske Driver™ mobile app: the electronic driver vehicle inspection report (eDVIR) feature.

[Read more...]Show less

READING, Pa., August 5, 2024 Penske Truck Leasing recently launched an electronic driver vehicle inspection report (eDVIR) feature in the Penske Driver™ mobile app for its customers. This new feature enables customer truck drivers to submit driver vehicle inspection reports electronically using the free Penske Driver app.

This new eDVIR functionality also provides fleet managers with immediate access to the submissions sent through the app using Fleet Insight™, Penske’s real-time fleet management platform. This advancement aims to streamline inspection processes, enhance compliance and improve overall fleet management efficiency.

“Our new eDVIR capability represents a step forward in how we support our customers’ compliance and maintenance needs,” said Brandie Searle, vice president of digital product management for Penske. “By responding to customer feedback with this highly requested feature we enable electronic submissions and real-time visibility, helping fleet managers address issues quickly and effectively, reducing downtime and improving operational efficiency.”

The eDVIR feature is designed to help users stay compliant with Department of Transportation regulations and is exclusive to Penske leased, maintained, or rented vehicles. The upgrade streamlines the repair request process by automatically sending defect reports from the telematics system to Penske’s maintenance system. As defects are resolved, detailed mechanic notes and resolution statuses are communicated back to the telematics system, providing essential information such as repair shop locations, repair notes and contact details.

The Penske Driver app is used by approximately 20,000 commercial truck drivers monthly and offers a range of features including logging Hours of Service to comply with the Electronic Logging Device mandate, submitting 24/7 roadside assistance requests, checking-in for service visits, submitting fuel receipts digitally and finding location rental, leasing, service, parking, EV charging and fueling locations. The app provides access to vehicle information, service history and 24/7 support.

Penske offers live, free weekly training webinars on Penske Driver to ensure customers can effectively use the technology. Penske Driver is available for download on both Android and Apple devices. For additional guidance and information, download Penske’s eBook: “Complete Daily Tasks and Stay Compliant with Penske Driver.”

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 446,000 vehicles and serves its customers from more than 990 maintenance facilities and approximately 2,500 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.

The blush of a new year can be the perfect time for fleet managers to explore new tools to help with asset management and performance.

[Read more...]Show less

Penske Truck Leasing releases the next iteration of its customer website to continue to improve the user experience. Customers will benefit from an enhanced navigation and expanded, customizable data sets for each fleet's operation.

[Read more...]Show less

Today, Penske Truck Leasing announced the launch of Fleet Insight™, a proprietary website designed exclusively for Penske customers to save them time and provide visibility and control. Fleet Insight is part of Penske’s overall connected fleet suite of products, offering customers a connected, streamlined, and customizable home for their data.

[Read more...]Show less