Courtesy Delivery · For Ford Fleet · September 2026

The alert exists.
The truck still sits.

Your dealers have had alerts on inbound vehicles for years. But those go to a store about its own inventory, and a courtesy delivery unit isn't that.

Matt Atkenson · Bennett Thomson · Eric Rice
DIMO
Vehicle data for fleet operations
Yevgeny Khessin, CEO & Co-founder
Confidential. For discussion only.

The problem, in your words

Our systems don't have a way to notify the receiving dealer and this causes significant delays. And major issues related to end-user satisfaction, damage to vehicles (e.g. lot rot), and lots of complications on payment for vehicles.

Matt Atkenson · July 14, 2026

01The truck sits
02Customer calls you
03Dead battery, flat spots
04Store can't get paid

Not just you

The store side and the fleet side say the same thing.

"They call it a key toss in my industry, here's the key there's the car, enjoy it."

Granger Ford · Bronco6G forum

"I feel like I'm beating a dead horse, but there is a huge miss when it comes to courtesy deliveries/drop-ships in the auto industry."

Fleet manager · Automotive Fleet, OEM Report Card

What the selling store warns the buyer

"Things like clean, gassed and a proper introduction to your Bronco will most likely not be extended to you." Same dealer, same thread.

What fleet managers already asked for

"Incentivize the dealership to provide excellent service by surveying fleet drivers after delivery to measure dealership performance."

Granger Ford on Bronco6G · Automotive Fleet, "OEM Report Card: Courtesy Delivery." All four are public and searchable.

Why it sits

It never gets a stock number.

01Built
02Shipped
03Hauler drops it
The gap It just sits no stock number · not on floorplan
04Somebody spots it
05PDI, wash, title
06Driver gets keys

Not their pipeline

The store didn't sell it. No stock number, not on their floorplan. Inbound tracking is built around inventory arrivals and sales planning. A courtesy delivery unit is neither.

Nobody's job

No salesperson wrote it. No advisor opened an RO. It's a set of keys in a drawer.

Never late

Nothing started counting when the hauler pulled out, so the unit is never overdue. It just gets older.

What the truck knows

The truck already tells you it landed.

Your inbound tracking follows the unit until it reaches the lot. Everything after that, including how long it sits and what it's doing to the battery, comes from the truck itself. Ford Pro already gives up GPS, odometer, fuel, battery voltage and tire pressure, so we have nothing to install.

LandedRolls onto the lot and stops.
SittingHasn't moved since. We start counting.
Going badThe battery drops and the tires go soft.
GoneThe customer drives it off and the odometer moves.

In transport mode the Ford Pro pings are sparse, and the in-transit units already carry Cognosos. There may be two ways to see the same truck.

Inbound tracking answers where it is in the pipeline. This answers what is happening to it while it sits.

Email, or software?

Start with an email.

An email doesn't touch the store's DMS and doesn't touch your systems. Software touches both, and takes a year to get through everybody. Nobody is adopting a new screen for one unit a month.

01 The pilot Email and text the day it lands, with the delivery fee stated in it. Today nobody tells the person who would walk out to the lot that there is money on the truck.
02 Next The whole PDI checklist goes digital. The store works through it on a phone instead of on paper.
03 Where the money is Two confirmations release the fee: checklist complete, and the truck actually left the lot.
04 Later Into the DMS, once a store is already using it. We can do that work. It just shouldn't be what the first ninety days waits on.

Phase 3 is where the payment problem goes. I can't scope it until somebody shows me what releases the fee today.

What we would build

Where we can help in very little time.

Notifications Email and text the day a unit lands.
AI phone calls When nobody answers the email.
Dashboard Every unit sitting, worst first.
Customer status So the fleet manager can call the store before it's a problem.

Lot rot

A jump pack is cheaper than a battery.

Sample format, not live data
VINDays sitting12VFuelTiresFlag
1FT…2675711.9 V18%−6 psiDead in ~6 days
1FD…01731112.4 V44%OKWatch
1FT…5520412.6 V71%OKFine

One list, every Monday

Every unit sitting at every store, worst first. Send a porter with a jump pack instead of buying a battery.

What it measures

Days from drop to keys, by store. That is the number the pilot produces, and it is what makes the rest of this measurable.

Nobody has to do anything

The list is true whether or not a single store ever opens an email.

Worth building even if the email piece goes nowhere. Name five VINs and I'll run this on them before we talk again.

When nobody answers

Day seven, we call the store.

Day 0Email and text the store the day it lands
Day 3Reminder, with the delivery fee still sitting unclaimed
Day 5Text the service manager by name
Day 7 We call the store. Whatever they say gets written down against the VIN. "We've got a Ford fleet unit on your lot seven days, VIN ends 2675. Where's it at?"
Day 10Your zone office, with what the store told us attached
Says it's an assistant, not a person You write the script Real question, it hands off Every call recorded You set the days

The first three rungs are cheap to run. The call is the one that works without somebody at Ford making it.

What makes a store move

They didn't sell it, and it's taking a parking space.

01 Put the money in the email Say what the store gets paid and that it's still sitting unclaimed. On retail drop-ships stores quote around $300 to $500. Nobody tells the guy who'd walk out to the lot there's money on it. Costs Ford nothing
02 Pay them quicker The truck confirms it left, so nobody chases paperwork. Same money, weeks sooner, less of your team's time in it. Costs Ford nothing new
03 Tell the customer too The fleet manager wants that truck more than anyone. Tell them it landed and when it is ready. Milestones only, without a day counter. Today they cannot see it at all
04 Give them the service work That's a fleet in their backyard they'll service for years. Put that in the email too. Your call, not mine

01 and 02 change nothing in the program. 03 we build, you decide what it shows. 04 is a policy call and it is yours.

What the dashboard looks like

DIMO Courtesy Delivery / Units on lot Mockup, sample data
VINReceiving storeDays on lotStatus12VFuel
1FT…2675Store 412077 Called, no fix11.9 V18%
1FD…0173Store 388145 Reminder sent12.4 V44%
1FT…5520Store 412074 Emailed12.6 V71%
1FT…2291Store 551032 Emailed12.7 V68%
1FD…7734Store 388141 Delivered12.8 V64%

Sorted worst first. Nobody has this view today.

One unit, opened up

DIMO Courtesy Delivery / 1FT…2675 Mockup, sample data

1FT…2675

F-150 Platinum · Oxford White · for AVIS · Store 41207 · landed 8 Sept, 09:12

7Days on lot

12V11.9 V
Fuel18%
Tires−6 psi
Call the store Tell the customer

History

8 Sept 09:12Landed. Inside the lot, engine off.
8 Sept 09:40Emailed and texted the store
11 Sept 08:00Reminder. Delivery fee still unclaimed.
13 Sept 08:00Texted the service manager
15 SeptStill on the lot. Battery down 0.7 V since landing.

Every rung is on the record, including what the store told us.

Commercial

A licence, not a project.

01 The pilot Ninety days, two or three stores. We run it at cost. About $50k
02 In production, per vehicle A monthly licence on units in the courtesy delivery window.
03 Or per delivery Nothing until the unit is handed over and the fee clears.

Two ways to buy the same thing. Tell me which one fits how Ford already pays for software.

What I need

Three things, in order.

First: two or three weeks
  • Three to five stores, half an hour each
  • Walk me through it, hauler to keys
  • What releases the fee, and what it pays on fleet
  • Who owns this day to day
  • Whether the receiving store is surveyed at all
The data: three doors
  • Ford Pro. GPS and battery on the VINs, once we know how sparse transport mode really is
  • Cognosos. Already on the units in transit. Can we read that feed, or does it start with them?
  • The delivery system. Whatever knows the purchasing dealer is not the receiving dealer. That is the list.
Then: 90 days
  • Twenty-five or so units, two or three stores
  • Access on those VINs only
  • Measured on batteries we keep from dying
  • Time to the store's first response
  • Share of customer notifications sent
Today all I want is a few dealer names and one person who owns this. The three data doors we can chase in parallel.
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