Traffic Awareness with Carol Fritzsche of Subaru of America

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

 

Ahead of National Traffic Awareness Month in August, Subaru Corporate Risk Manager Carol Fritzsche joins RIMScast to discuss road risks, fleet safety, and theft prevention.

 

Carol has been at Subaru for 10 years and discusses how she and her risk group have been instrumental in setting policy for the automotive giant. Carol is a familiar face among the RIMS community, as a longtime member of the Delaware Valley Chapter of RIMS.

 

Carol speaks of her risk career in the automotive sector, her responsibilities for risk prevention and mitigation, and captive Pleiades Insurance Company, Ltd., which underwrites the Subaru fleet of over 1,200 vehicles. Carol explains how Pleiades saves money and generates profit. She tells of the challenges of automotive risk management and new risks that arise. Carol shares her enthusiasm for her work and how the risks are always changing. She tells of Subaru customers supplying the situations in the Subaru “We Survived” stories. Carol also offers advice for people considering automotive risk management.

 

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMScast.

[:25] About today’s episode, where we will talk about fleet safety and Traffic Awareness Month risk with Subaru Corporate Risk Manager, Carol Fritzsche.

[:38] All about exciting, upcoming RIMS events! Registration is open for the RIMS Canada Conference 2023, which will be held September 11th–14th in Ottawa! Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca for more information.

[:59] On September 14th, the Spencer Educational Foundation returns to New York City for its Annual Funding Their Future Gala. The event will be held at the Cipriani on 42nd Street. A link is on this episode’s notes. You can also visit SpencerEd.org.

[1:15] The RIMS Western Regional Conference will be held October 4th–6th in Vail, Colorado. Visit RIMSWesternRegional.com for more information and to register.

[1:27] Head to the RIMS.org/Advocacy page to find information about The RIMS Legislative Summit, which is returning to Washington, D.C. on October 25th and 26th.

[1:41] We are very excited about the RIMS ERM Conference 2023, which will be held November 2nd and 3rd in Denver, Colorado! The theme is Elevate and Evolve. Registration will open soon as will a call for nominations for the ERM Award of Distinction. Visit the events page on RIMS.org for more information.

[2:05] We are accepting educational session submissions for RISKWORLD 2024. See the link to the online submissions form in this episode’s notes. RISKWORLD 2024 will be held May 5th–8th in San Diego!

[2:22] August is nearly here. August is National Traffic Awareness Month here in the U.S. This is a time when an increased number of vehicles are on the road, including fleets. Today’s guest, Carol Fritszche, is the Corporate Risk Manager for Subaru. Some RIMS members know Carol from the RIMS Delaware Valley Chapter, where she is a member.
[2:44] Justin met Carol Fritzsche years ago at a RIMS event and Justin has always been fascinated by Carol’s work. Justin outlines today’s conversation about Carol’s responsibilities at Subaru, how she helps drive a culture of safety, and the satisfaction she gets from working with captives.

[3:11] Justin welcomes Carol Fritzsche to RIMScast. Carol has been at Subaru for 10 years. She calls it a great job at a great company. She started at Subaru as an intern in risk management, left for a year-and-a-half to work for an insurance broker, and came back to Subaru.

[4:37] Carol mentions the amazing number of parts and the details that go into manufacturing a car, where the end-user just opens the door and turns on the ignition.

[5:26] As Corporate Risk Manager, Carol buys corporate insurance. Subura also has a captive about 35 years old that insures a lot of Subaru’s risk, including the fleet, general liability, worker’s comp., marine, and extended warranty. Carol is also on the underwriting side for the captive. Subaru Corporate Risk Management has 10 members.

[6:38] Carol notes differences within the risk management space at Subaru. Subaru of America is the marketing and distribution arm of Subaru Corporation in Japan manufactures the vehicles. Carol marvels at vehicle design.

[7:52] Justin refers to American Auto as a good look at what not to do in risk management. It’s an Office-like comedy about how not to run an automotive company.

[8:15] One reason Justin invited Carol to RIMScast is that August is National Traffic Awareness Month in the U.S.

[8:41] Subaru’s captive, Pleiades Insurance Company, Ltd., insures the Subaru auto fleet of over 1,200 vehicles that employees and their family members drive for business and personal use. Pleiades is very focused on driver safety with strict criteria on who is allowed to drive. They don’t allow cell phone use at all, even hands-free, in the vehicles.

[9:47] Pleiades penalizes drivers for getting a cell phone ticket. Pleiades is very concerned about drunk driving. If you get a DUI or DWI, Subaru suspends you from the program for seven years. If you’re out and you drink, you can expense getting an Uber instead of driving home.

[12:03] Carol tells her children who drive, we know you’re a safe driver but it doesn’t matter how safe you are, you have to worry about everyone else on the road around you. Carol’s favorite Subaru commercial is “We Survived.” The commercials come from testimonials sent in by Subaru customers.

[13:28] Pleiades constantly monitors its claims history, seeing what is the major cause of loss and how much damage is being caused. The vehicles in the fleet are newer, so most of them have Subaru EyeSight. It stops the car from colliding with something. If the car is in an accident, though, it’s a little more expensive to fix!

[14:54] RIMS plug time! Sponsor an episode of RIMScast! Contact us at pd@rims.org. For upcoming virtual workshops visit RIMS.org/virtualworkshops for the calendar. Applying and Integrating ERM will be held on August 1st and 2nd by Ken Baker of Enterprise Risk Consulting.

[15:41] Chris Hansen of Snug Harbor Risk Consulting will be leading the two-day virtual workshop Fundamentals of Risk Management on August 8th–9th.

[15:52] Optimizing Risk Management with Artificial Intelligence will be led on September 28th by Pat Saporito. More information about these sessions and others is on the Virtual Workshops page. See the full Virtual Workshop schedule and register.

[16:12] The RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep is on August 15th through 17th, 9:00 am–4:00 pm EDT. See the links at Rims.org/certification for these and future workshops. A link is also in this episode’s show notes, as is a link to the full Virtual Workshop calendar.

[17:03] Subaru fleet vehicles have the in-vehicle technology STARLINK that allows Subaru to track vehicles if they happen to be stolen. Customers can call in to activate STARLINK to see where their vehicle is. They have to verify they are the owner.

[17:48] The Risk Management department focuses on insurance and loss control. The product side is managed by Subaru Manufacturing. Carol’s Risk Management department collaborates with the technology and product departments. Her primary focus is on loss prevention and loss mitigation.

[19:10] Carol went to school at Temple for risk management and insurance. There “was maybe a paragraph on captive insurance in the textbook.” It was never brought up again. When she started at Subaru it was exciting to work on the day-to-day operations of the captive.

[19:37] The captive started when auto insurance was in a hard market and it was very difficult and expensive for Subaru to get auto insurance for its fleet. Subaru knows the risks better than the insurance companies do, so it makes sense for them to insure the fleet themselves.

[20:07] Subaru has a large fleet with a lot of people driving but their loss experience is very favorable and it’s been very profitable for the captive. Carol takes ownership of a lot of the success because of the safety policies and procedures risk management has put in place through the years.

[20:55] Carol loves the RIMS Delaware Valley Chapter and seeing all the familiar faces and interesting topics when she goes to a meeting. Philadelphia is an insurance city. A lot of insurance brokers are headquartered and insurance companies have major offices there. The plane from Philadelphia to RISKWORLD is packed with insurance people!

[22:21] Carol’s advice to anyone applying to the automotive risk sector: “The risk management world is … always changing. There’s always a new risk emerging. When people hear ‘risk management,’ they think ‘insurance.’ They think it’s boring. … It’s not. It’s so much more. Specifically auto. It’s so interesting to me, seeing it from the client side…”

[22:53] “...but also, because we have the captive, seeing it from the carrier side, as well. I review the risk from the underwriting side and I price it out and I design the coverages, but also, on the other side, I see the claims and I can build policies around it.”

[23:34] One policy in place when Carol started is for teenage drivers, a major driver of claims. To drive a fleet vehicle, teenage drivers must have 10 hours of behind-the-wheel training before they get to drive a fleet vehicle.

[23:44] Justin takes a defensive driving course online every three years.

[24:02] Justin comments on the great safety tips for National Traffic Awareness Month. He hopes to see Carol at RISKWORLD 2024 in San Diego. She thinks she can make it work to get a week in San Diego!

[24:20] “Special thanks to Carol Fritzsche for joining me today on RIMScast. It’s worth noting that Carol is a RIMS CRMP holder. And she will be featured in our RIMS CRMP Stories series very soon, A link to the CRMP Stories is on this episode’s show notes.”

[24:39] We’ve also got a link to RIMS Risk Management Magazine’s coverage of Fleet Safety, Vehicle Safety, and The Automotive Sector.

[24:50] You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are on our show notes. RIMScast has a global audience of risk professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let’s collaborate! Contact pd@rims.org for more information.

[25:35] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email membershipdept@RIMS.org for more information. The RIMS app is available only for RIMS members! You can find it in the App Store.

[26:00] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today’s risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more.

[26:16] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com and check out the blog at RiskManagementMonitor.com. Justin Smulison is Business Content Manager. You can email Justin at Content@RIMS.org.

[26:38] Justin thanks you for your continued support and engagement on social media channels! Listen every week! Stay safe!

Mentioned in this Episode:

Risk Management Magazine Fleet safety article: “Tips for Preventing Fleet Vehicle Theft”
Submit an Educational Session for RISKWORLD 2024

NEW FOR MEMBERS! RIMS Mobile App

RIMS ERM Conference 2023

RIMS Canada 2023 — Sept. 11–14 in Ottawa!

Spencer Educational Foundation — Funding Their Future Gala — Sept. 14, 2023

Contribute to Risk Management Magazine
RIMS Western Regional — Oct 4–6, Vail Colorado

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP)

Dan Kugler Risk Manager on Campus Grant
Upcoming Virtual Workshops:

Applying and Integrating ERM | August 1

Fundamentals of Risk Management | Aug. 8–9

Optimizing Risk Management with AI | Sept. 28

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August 15–17, 2023

9:00 am–4:00 pm EDT
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Follow up with Our Guest:

Carol Fritzsche

Corporate Risk Manager, Subaru of America, Inc.

RIMS Delaware Valley Chapter

 

Tweetables (For Social Media Use):

 

“I toured our plant out in Indiana twice, and just the amount of parts and down to the paint, every detail is just crazy, that goes into a vehicle. You would never know; you just open the door, turn on the ignition, and go!” — Carol Fritzsche

 

“[Pleiades insures] Subaru’s auto fleet, over 1,200 vehicles. … We are very focused on driver safety. We have very strict criteria on who is allowed to drive our vehicles. … We don’t allow any cell phone use in the vehicles at all, … even hands-free.” — Carol Fritzsche

 

“The captive started because the insurance market, particularly auto, was in a hard market and it was very difficult and expensive for Subaru, with our large fleet size and with the parameters of our program, to get auto insurance.” — Carol Fritzsche

 

“Teenage drivers [are] a major driver of claims. … If you want your teenage child to drive our vehicle, they have to have 10 hours of behind-the-wheel training before they even get into a Subaru.” — Carol Fritzsche