November 4, 2021

We are excited to announce that as of October 28, 2021, Athene Holding Ltd., an industry-leading financial services company closed a transaction in which it is the lead investor in a combination of Wheels, Inc. and Donlen, LLC. 

Merging the highly complementary operations of Wheels and Donlen will allow the combined company to bring enhanced mobility solutions and product offerings across large, mid-sized and small fleets to a broader universe of clients.  

I am honored and humbled to be entrusted with carrying on the Wheels legacy of innovation, quality, and premier client service. Now, together with Donlen, we will be the most well-capitalized business in the industry. We will be even better positioned to make investments and drive innovations to deliver best-in-class customer service and solutions, and to deliver greater value to both Wheels and Donlen clients.

The investment to combine our companies is led by Athene Holding, a leading financial services company with over $215 billion in assets. Like Wheels, they have a long-term focus, strong financials and are a deep source of capital. As our business becomes ever more complex and our clients’ needs grow, this merger and the support of Athene will strengthen our leadership position in the fleet management industry, and better position us for long-term success.

Donlen has an excellent reputation with their clients, a great history of client service and retention and a portfolio that will be complementary to ours. I believe our cultures will mesh well and I look forward to welcoming our new colleagues and clients.  While we will be working over the coming months to bring together the best of both organizations to better serve our clients going forward, our primary goal and commitment will be to ensure that we continue to provide seamless, best-in-class service to you in the near term.

Sixteen years ago, I joined Wheels and started my journey into the exciting world of fleet management. Along the way I have learned invaluable lessons from the Frank family, my colleagues, and our clients. They’ve taught me the importance of fostering a strong company culture, of being passionately committed to client success, and of operating with the highest level of integrity – because when you do something, you do it the right way. That is the way we do business – always have and always will. 

Thank you for your partnership and your trust in me. I look forward to many more years of shared success.

Shlomo Crandus

Newly appointed CEO, Shlomo Crandus and Editor-in-Chief of Global Fleet, The Executive Network, Steven Schoefs recently sat down to discuss the merger. In this video podcast, hear them discuss why the two companies are a great match, the timeline for integration and more.  

Motorq CEO and co-founder, Arun Rajagopalan, talks with Shannon Keck from Wheels about fleet intelligence related to COVID, EV, emissions and more. Read more below to learn Shannon’s take on the fleet world as it stands today.

Daylight saving time is Sunday, which means it will start getting darker earlier.  

40% of all fatal motor vehicle accidents occur at night. It’s important to take extra precautions and stay safe while driving in the dark and vision is compromised.  

Check out these night driving tips and more to help keep safe while on the road. 

As many of you are experiencing, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected many areas of the fleet supply chain and labor market. The entire industry is struggling through many pricing and service variability with vehicle manufactures, rental companies, transportation carriers, repair specialists and more.  

Recently, we shared insights and provided recommendations on how to navigate challenges within our Maintenance and Collision National Accounts. Now, we’ll take a deeper look at what’s occurring within the vehicle acquisition supply chain.