Artificial intelligence is increasingly shaping how fleets manage assets, reduce downtime, and improve decision-making. For Penske Truck Leasing, the focus has been on using AI to create clearer visibility across operations and extract more value from existing data. According to Paul Rosa, senior vice president of procurement and fleet planning at Penske Truck Leasing, progress with AI begins with strong fundamentals.
“AI is improving our operations by helping us extract more value from every asset while reducing complexity across the business,” Rosa said. By establishing trusted data, consistent benchmarks, and shared definitions, Penske is able to view performance clearly across fleets, locations, and systems. That visibility allows teams to identify where variability is driving cost, downtime, or inefficiency.
With clearer insight, Rosa said teams can focus on the areas that generate the greatest operational impact, including maintenance optimization, asset life cycle decisions, and workforce enablement. The goal, he noted, is not automation for its own sake, but improved decision quality and faster alignment across the organization, resulting in a more reliable customer experience.
Rosa emphasized that successful AI deployment depends on organizational readiness.
“Real progress with AI starts with fundamentals. Without clear data ownership and operational readiness, even the most advanced technology will fall short of delivering meaningful results,” he said.
Looking ahead, Rosa sees predictive maintenance as the area with the most immediate return on investment for fleet operations. He said fleets that have already adopted predictive maintenance supported by AI have experienced positive impacts through reduced unplanned breakdowns and downtime. During the next two years, Rosa expects broader adoption across the industry, driven by the availability of data on most later-model vehicles. He also pointed to continued advancements in road safety through increased use of AI-enabled camera systems.
Beyond maintenance, safety, and broader operational decision-making enabled by AI, Rosa said data-driven insights are also playing a key role in improving fuel efficiency. He pointed to driver behavior and behavior management as the most effective areas for improvement, noting that fleets using telematics and actively applying data through driver coaching have been able to improve fuel efficiency by moving from passive data collection to active engagement.
As AI continues to mature beyond analytics and decision support, Rosa said it is also shaping how Penske is thinking about vehicle autonomy. He outlined a highly controlled hub-to-hub operating model as the most realistic first use case, focused on highway routes with predictable weather conditions and robust GPS mapping. Rosa said this approach would primarily apply to routes south of the I-40 corridor, a major east–west highway spanning the southern United States, where operating conditions are generally more consistent and better aligned with early autonomous vehicle requirements.
Taken together, Rosa’s comments underscore how Penske is applying AI to strengthen operational fundamentals today while also shaping how the company evaluates emerging technologies. From predictive maintenance and safety to fuel efficiency and early autonomous use cases, the emphasis remains on practical, data-driven applications that align with real-world operating conditions.
Sherry Sanger, executive vice president of strategy and marketing for Penske Transportation Solutions, will be speaking at this year’s ACT Expo, May 4-7, 2026, at the Las Vegas Convention Center, as part of the Tuesday Mainstage session, The Emerging AI Ecosystem: How Software Is Redefining Fleet Strategy.
