OUR HISTORY

Our Origins

Our story begins in 1976 from a single auto body repair shop in Northeast Philadelphia, PA. It was at this Collex Collision location on Grant Avenue where our founders, Wayne and Claudia Smolda, planted the seeds of service excellence that would grow into CEI becoming the fleet industry leader in collision and driver risk services. Those roots allowed CEI to develop a deep connection with our clients and the hard-earned reputation of exceeding customer expectations that are truly a result of our people and our culture.

original CEI building

The Leader in Fleet Accident Management

In 1983, CEI entered the fleet accident management business and quicky became the industry leader in accident repair management while also developing best-in class rental, subrogation, vehicle remarketing and network services. In the 1990s, while experiencing unprecedented growth, we transitioned to a digital technology infrastructure, built by our team of IT professionals that provided the ability to quickly scale our business and continued service excellence.

claudia and wayne

Fleet Driver Safety

Building on our understanding of what causes accidents, we launched our fleet driver safety business in 2003 to help identify risky behavior and reduce accidents. Our award-winning safety platform, DriverCare Risk Manager, allows our clients to monitor, assess, and remediate driver risk and achieve their safety initiatives. In addition to the DriverCare platform, our CEI Studios team provides our clients with professional and effective training and interactives videos.

 

In 2021, CEI launched our new Connected Safety solutions, DriverCare CoPilot and DriverCare Connect, to push fleet driver safety to a new level. Developed specifically to increase driver engagement, these solutions combat the growing danger of distracted driving, and address driving behaviors predictive of crash risk. These solutions provide clients with powerful tools for accident avoidance.

fleet driver

Investments in Data Analytics

As our client base grew to nearly one million vehicles and 500,000 drivers under management, so did our data. Our continued investments in data analytics capabilities allow our clients to make intelligent data-driven decisions. CEI’s technology provides an unsurpassed level of connectivity that provides flexibility in our repair management and safety products and saves our clients $Millions each year.

looking at charts

Positioned for the Future

As we move forward, CEI will continue to support our clients with a shared vision to meet their evolving business needs, initiatives, and goals through innovation, technology, and a client-first culture. Whether its helping to quantify Environmental Social and Governance (ESG), managing electric vehicles or continued growth in the delivery fleet sector, CEI will always remain dedicated to service excellence, one driver and one vehicle at a time.

electric vehicle plug in
Learn more about DriverCare Risk Manager
Learn more about DriverCare CoPilot
Learn more about Accident Management