Solving Fleet Downtime and Delivery Delays

Peter Janczewski, Senior Vice President of Sales at Draiver, joins Driving Solutions to discuss how automakers are rethinking vehicle logistics to improve visibility, speed, and operational efficiency. As OEM supply chains grow more complex, Janczewski explains why fragmented logistics models are no longer sustainable and how unified platforms are helping streamline vehicle movement from plant to dealer—or directly to consumers.

The conversation explores how Draiver consolidates multiple logistics functions into a single operational layer, enabling real-time tracking, faster delivery timelines, and improved coordination across vendors. Janczewski also highlights the growing importance of fleet management, where downtime can significantly impact profitability, and outlines how AI is being used to optimize routing and execution. As the industry evolves toward direct-to-consumer delivery and autonomous mobility, logistics is becoming a critical driver of both efficiency and customer experience.

Key discussion points:

•  Why fragmented logistics models limit visibility and slow delivery times 
•  How unified platforms streamline plant-to-consumer vehicle movement 
•  Reducing delivery timelines and improving real-time tracking 
•  The financial impact of fleet downtime and operational inefficiencies 
•  Using AI to optimize routing, coordination, and logistics performance 
•  Preparing for autonomous vehicle and direct-to-consumer delivery models

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Transcript

Welcome And Autonomous Vehicles In Atlanta

Jim Fitzpatrick 0:09

Hey everyone, Jim Fitzpatrick. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. Today we're talking about how Draver is helping OEMs rethink vehicle logistics and their relationship with customers, from managing thousands of vehicles across yards to delivering new units directly from assembly plants to end customers to empowering fleets with on-demand field services. Joining us now is Peter Yinchesky, who is the Senior Vice President of Sales at Draver. Peter leads enterprise partnerships across OEMs, fleet operations, and autonomous vehicle programs. Peter, thank you so much for joining us in the studio. Hey, thanks, Jim. Thanks for having me. Sure. So wow, you got your hands full of all those different uh areas that you're over.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

All over the place.

Jim Fitzpatrick 0:50

Yeah, absolutely. Including autonomous. So wow. There's we still have humans, right? That's right. That's right. That's fantastic. But you know, here in Atlanta, where we're headed where our studios are, you go downtown and you see so many autonomous vehicles taking everybody around, uh, you know, and and it's amazing because nobody's behind the wheel of the car and they're used obviously as taxis and what have you. And it's just incredible.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Yeah, even as I was driving up to the studio and I saw the A V lane, I uh it's remarkable.

Draver And The OEM Logistics Problem

Jim Fitzpatrick 1:19

That's right. That's right here in uh Technology Park here in uh Pea Tree Corners where we are. Um that's exactly right. We it's also a test track for autonomous vehicles. So we see all different autonomous vehicles, you know, going around our office, which is pretty pretty cool. So for those people that are out there that might have missed our last interview at NADA, tell us about uh Draver and uh and and kind of the a brief history, but then also the solutions that you provide.

SPEAKER_02 1:44

Yeah, yeah, I'd love to. Thank you. So, sir, first to like to provide provide some context, uh OEMs, for example, in the United States, uh, this last year they manufactured over 10 million to 10 million vehicles in the US. Those 10 million vehicles, they need to get moved from one side of the plant to the other. Okay. They need to go from plant to yard, yard to rail. Yeah, they get off the train, they need to go rail to yard, yard to dealer. Or in some cases, we're even seeing the OEMs go right from the plant to the consumer. Okay. Um, if you were to ask me 13 years ago who is Draver, I would straight up tell you, we're a driveway company. What does that mean? We have 140,000 drivers, we'll put a driver in that car and we'll move that car a half mile or two miles or whatever it is. Okay. Five years ago, I'd tell you, hey, we're a logistics platform. We can do a lot for your organization. Uh, today, I can honestly tell you, we are the logistics backbone uh to keep vehicles moving today. Like we can do everything from start to finish and really organize the operational efficiency for any OEM out there. That's fantastic.

Jim Fitzpatrick 2:53

When you were saying all of the movement of those vehicles, it's it's pretty outrageous. I mean, it you I think dealers take it for granted. They think the car is built, it gets put on a truck, it shows up at my dealership. But it's not quite the way you just explained it, that vehicle is being touched and moved a number of times.

SPEAKER_02 3:08

And the way that there's let's say 10 million, 10 million vehicles, that's 10 million dots. Yeah, that's also 10 million black holes. Like, where is the car? When's it gonna get where it's gotta go? Sure. Uh, there's so many unknowns there. Uh last year, Draver moved 1.7 million vehicles. Oh my gosh. Um wow. And so our mission for the OEMs, it's getting them the right vehicle at the right place at the right time. Right. And we try we do really truly try to keep it that simple.

Jim Fitzpatrick 3:35

Sure. One would think that that was um somebody that would be on the team or on the staff of the OEM, but that's not the case.

SPEAKER_02 3:44

Absolutely not. Yeah, especially for the OEMs, they need us more than ever. Uh and with our marketplace of independent contractors, they're all fully insured, and they're East Coast to West Coast, so it's not like we're just in Detroit or just in Chicago. We can support an OEM in California, we can support an OEM in New York or Toronto or US, Mexico, Brazil. We're all over the place. That's fantastic.

Jim Fitzpatrick 4:07

Yeah, you did you say 140,000 drivers?

One Operational Layer With Tracking

SPEAKER_02 4:09

140,000 drivers, yeah.

Jim Fitzpatrick 4:11

Oh my God, that's incredible. So OEMs already work with trans uh transport provider. What what makes you guys different?

SPEAKER_02 4:18

Yeah, um, you know, number one, transport providers, they're great partners of us. There's there's an absolute crucial role for them and for us to work together. Uh, but when it comes to OEMs, the majority of the time they're working with multiple vendors, they're working with transport carriers, they're working with inspectors, they're working with yards, they're working with service providers. And what Draver can do is we can provide a single operational layer for that vehicle to go from point A to point B, all in one place. There's no fragmentation, no lack of visibility. It's all it's all in one place for them to have that view.

Jim Fitzpatrick 4:55

Nice. And at any given time, I would imagine you're tracking these vehicles and tracking the progress of the vehicle?

SPEAKER_02 5:02

Tracking everything from that OEM can see who's driving the car, uh, how fast are they going, what is the ETA for it to go to that dealer or for it to go to that house. Yeah. Uh one of the things that we're working on with one of our uh clients right now is we are doing a plant to consumer model. Prior to working with us, this OEM, it was about 30 days, a little over 30 days, for that vehicle to get from where it was at the plant to the final destination. Okay. Uh working with Draver over the last several months, we've got it down to six days from the plant to delivery.

Jim Fitzpatrick 5:35

That's a huge improvement. Huge. Oh my gosh. Wow. And as we know, time is money. So that's millions of dollars you're saving there or making there, you know, for the for the OEM for sure. Wow. Uh talk to me about your fleet partners. Um, how are you helping OEMs better serve the their fleet partners? Yeah.

Fleet Services And Downtime Costs

SPEAKER_02 5:53

And you know, fleets, that that commercial market for OEMs is crucial, right? Yeah, for sure. Uh we have we have several clients that call us the Swiss Army Knife. Uh essentially saying, What don't you do, Draver? Uh, because we really can be that all-in-one solution, whether it's working with the upfitters, it could be in-fleeting, defleeting. Um, a really good story is a couple months ago, uh, there was an OEM delivered to a commercial client in California. Yeah. That client needed smog tests, VIN inspections, weight certificates. So Draver was planning on doing all this, but the the biggest thing was is that the smog module wasn't opened up. So it couldn't get a smog test, so it couldn't get title and registration. Oh, wow. So we were able to leverage Draver and have the driver drive a couple hundred miles to open that module so that that vehicle could be delivered to that end unit. And it wasn't just one vehicle, it was that entire year make model that was having those issues. Wow, that's huge. Yeah, yeah.

Jim Fitzpatrick 6:53

So probably you guys are growing really through what you're finding out to be the needs of your clients, right? That and your partners that are going, hey, do you guys also do? I think we can do that. Yeah, we we don't like to say no, Jim. Right. Uh clearly, clearly.

SPEAKER_02 7:06

Uh the the other thing is when we're dealing with fleets, is uh downtime. That's a that's a that's a bad work. Yeah, right. So the the more that we can work with the OEMs and the fleets to keep their units running, whether it's going back and forth to the dealerships, whether it's working with those upfitters, uh, a fleet of 100 vehicles, if they're all experiencing some type of downtime within a year, that organization could see up to about a$17.5 million loss per year, just a hundred vehicles. So imagine some of these orgs that have 500, 1,000, 2,000 vehicles in their fleet. So it's so important to have a good partner to be able to keep those vehicles moving.

Jim Fitzpatrick 7:46

Yeah, I would imagine. Speaking of which, what's the biggest operational challenge that OEMs are facing today?

SPEAKER_02 7:52

It's a great question. I velocity. Yeah. You know, it's it is the vehicle where it needs to be. The longer that it takes, if that vehicle is sitting idle, that's downtime, that's loss of revenue for for everybody involved. It's tied up capital. Yeah. Um and so in in essence, it's is that OEM, do they have the right process, the right platform, and the right partners to give from point A to their final destination as efficient as possible? Right. And that's that's one of the things that Draver can solve. And we can be like a single, we can be a single platform to do all those things that they need it to do.

Jim Fitzpatrick 8:31

And not to mention the experiences that you guys have to reference where you've worked out all of these kings. I mean, obviously you're milli you're you're um moving, you know, millions of vehicles. Uh you've got that experience level that the OEM is going to count on. This isn't your first barbecue, so to speak, right? Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 8:50

Yeah. And everything from our CEO all the way down to our support team and moving vehicles and technology and working with AI, that that's our passion. Like, we love change. You know, a lot of a lot of industries, a lot of orgs, change is tough. We want it. Like, bring us to change. We'll figure out a way to make it happen.

Jim Fitzpatrick 9:08

That's pretty cool. That's pretty cool. So, talk to us about um your autonomous vehicles, uh, autonomous vehicles programs that are out there and how you're supporting uh supporting that that as well.

Why Driverless Cars Still Need Humans

SPEAKER_02 9:18

So that's a it's a big buzzword, Jim. Yeah. Um a lot of people are like, well, autonomous vehicles are coming out. You're not gonna need Draver's drivers, right? Because they're driverless vehicles. Yeah, they're just gonna drive themselves. But not necessarily the case. It's not the case. It's far from the case. Uh sounds good, but yeah, yeah, they're dreaming, right? They're they're totally dreaming. Uh these these vehicles need their tires need to be inflated. Uh, there was just an article uh a couple weeks ago with Waymo, the doors, the passenger doesn't shut the door, the car's stuck. Oh wow. So so I think they're they hooked up with a vendor to to where they would literally send somebody to close that door so that the Waymo could get onto its next trip. Oh, that's crazy. Um it's Waymo down in Atlanta. That's what that was the the Waymo vehicles are running all over. Okay, yeah. So so there's such a strong use case to have our our driver network to be able to support these these autonomous vehicles and to keep them revenue ready at all times. Right. Uh and that that's the biggest goal.

Jim Fitzpatrick 10:20

Oh, yeah, of course, of course. And it it really is amazing. Here we are in 2026, and we've got autonomous vehicles running around major, you know, Waymo running around major cities like Atlanta and New York and others. Uh, where is this headed? I mean, that this is just growing every year, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 10:34

It's I think, you know, right now it's it's real heavy in the rideshare, you know. So from a ride share and fleet perspective, yeah, AV is gonna be more and more dominant as we move into the future. Uh earlier this year, I was at the CES show in in Vegas, and even the autonomous vehicles for personal use, it's there, it's coming. Uh, you know, to where send our vehicle to the grocery store or go pick up the kids, you know, like it's it's right around the corner. It's crazy.

Jim Fitzpatrick 11:02

It really is. I wonder how long before we see um uh um autonomous vehicles dropping vehicle, you know, a whole tractor trailer load of cars. Yeah, you know what I mean? You can imagine tractor trailers dropping off, you know, a uh uh autonomous vehicles that are it's an actually an autonomous tractor trailer. Right. That's crazy, right?

SPEAKER_02 11:24

You know, that it's funny you say that because I mean, even right now the big buzz is is the Tesla semi, right? I mean, you've got an EV that is that's pulling, you know, 26 to 30,000 pounds.

Jim Fitzpatrick 11:37

So crazy, crazy. Um, I noticed in your logo that you got AI, right? So everything is AI now. Uh talk about that.

How Draver Uses AI Daily

SPEAKER_02 11:46

We live, breathe, sleep AI. What can we do better to help our clients? Yeah, you know, and if and if there is a partner, it is AI. You know, there's there's a place for you and myself, but it is a tool that we can use to better ourselves and give our clients the better experience every single day. Yeah, so that that AI is built into our culture, it's built into our platform, it's built into our trips to where we are giving our clients and our drivers the best trips possible. That's great, that's great.

Jim Fitzpatrick 12:14

And you guys were early adopters, I mean, you of AI, right? I mean, yeah, you were doing this when it wasn't even cool. Yeah, six, seven years ago. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 12:21

We put the AI and we made it nice and bold inside of Draver. Like it, yeah, we really, you know, went all in on it. And it's proven, yeah. I think if if we would have just started it today, we'd be behind the game. Yeah, you know, so it's proven to be a strategy that's been very effective for us.

Jim Fitzpatrick 12:36

That's right, that's right. So what's what's next for you guys? I mean, you're always on the cutting edge, obviously, in this in your space. Uh, what's next for for for Draver?

SPEAKER_02 12:44

You know, it makes me laugh. And as we're talking, and I talked, you know, the Tesla semi. Uh, a couple years ago, Elon Musk sent an email out to all of Tesla, and it was a push. Hey, we need anybody and everybody, all of our employees, to move our vehicles and deliver them to clients. And this is Elon Musk, right? So if Elon Musk is saying, hey, we need all hands on deck, yeah, there is a great opportunity for Draver and for our partners to deliver a best in class experience for them and for their clients. And it's just a matter of you know, working together, finding the right partners, right, uh, and and doing what you do well, yeah, and and and staying in there.

What Comes Next For Draver

Jim Fitzpatrick 13:26

That's right, that's right. Yeah, no question. Imagine getting an email from Elon Musk and you know, get out there and move these vehicles. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah, that's crazy. That's crazy. So, what excites you most about where where Draver is headed?

SPEAKER_02 13:39

Yeah. Uh, you know, so it traditionally speaking, as as we're working with OEMs, you know, it's very it's manufacturing, but it's it's it's changing from that. Yeah, it's turning more into like a mobile mobile operations. It's what can we do here? What can we do there? Yeah, and and Draver has the infrastructure as well as the architect architecture to really orchestrate from start to finish how these vehicles are getting off the lot to wherever they're going. Right. Uh and so that technology and that opportunity to help them deliver these vehicles as fast and as efficient as possible. There, it's it's an exciting time to be a draver, it's an exciting time for our partners, and it's an exciting time to be a client purchasing a car today.

Jim Fitzpatrick 14:28

Yeah, I bet. I bet. Yeah, there's no question about it. The the the evolution of the retail automotive industry, it's it's really amazing all that's happening, you know.

SPEAKER_02 14:36

Seems like overnight.

Jim Fitzpatrick 14:36

I know, I know. We haven't even gotten into what the Chinese market or the Chinese manufacturers will bring, you know, to the table. Everybody's like, oh, they're not coming. I think they're coming. You know, yeah. They're uh they're now there in Canada, you know, and and uh we'll see what happens. But uh Peter Yancheski, uh senior vice president at of sales at Draver. Thank you so much for coming by and and joining us in the studio. This has been great. I know our our uh viewers, especially our OEM executives that watch us each day will get a lot out of it. So thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

Thanks, Jim.

Jim Fitzpatrick 15:05

Thanks for having me.

Announcer 15:06

Thanks.com.