Freight Efficiency with NACFE‘s Mike Roeth & Friends

Jason Morgan, content director at Fleet Equipment, talks about how the pandemic shaped Fleet Equipment’s direction and his move from magazine editor to digital content producer. He also talks about his desire to tell a great story, what keeps him in trucking and his impressions of ACT Expo. He also shares his thoughts on what it’s going to take to get us through the next several years.

Kim Ehrenhaft, NACFE’s design director and trucking industry marketing consultant, talks about her career in the trucking industry, the work she does for NACFE, the role of graphics and infographics and makes an infographic successful. She also talks about the value Run on Less brings to the trucking industry and peels back the curtain about what happens at visits to the participating fleets.

Deborah Lockridge, editor and associate publisher of Heavy Duty Trucking, why she loves the trucking industry, what makes Heavy Duty Trucking unique and its role in the trucking industry of providing perspective and insights. She also shares her opinion on whether trucking is more challenging now than it was in the past and about how we are doing attracting women to the industry. And she gives tips on what makes a good story.

Mike Rowand, energy and electric transportation consultant, talks about his career with Duke Energy, his work with EPRI and his role as an interface between the utility and the trucking industries. He also talks what utilities need to know about trucking and about grid readiness. He explains the role of communication and collaboration and how fleets can help utilities do a better job of serving them.

Andrew Halonen, president of Mayflower Consulting, talks about his passion for lightweighting, and why he sees himself as a technology matchmaker. He also talks about a new technology for trailers called origami, the importance of keeping an open mind when it comes to new materials, sustainability and lightweighting and the role of AI in helping to find cost savings and sustainable solutions.

Elaine Jones, chief financial officer at Stillwater Hospice and NACFE’s accountant, talks about the importance of target costing in product design and why everyone needs to understand what something costs to build and why. She also shares her thoughts about NACFE, the contractor business model and she gives advice on getting through these times of uncertainty and even gives Mike some advice for the future.

Emilia Sibley, general manager of Terawatt, talks about how EV infrastructure seems like a solvable problem, what’s she’s learned about the trucking industry and the importance of listening to fleets. She also comments  on how we are in a once in a century transition and the need to lean in to the transition.

Dean Bushey, NACFE’s director of programs, talks about his career in the military and how it led to his involvement with autonomous vehicles. He also commented on the current and future state of AVs, and his work on the Electric Vehicle Working Group. He shared his thoughts on making it through the messy middle and gave advice on preparing for autonomous trucks.

Yann Kulp, director of sales – USA for Driivz, talks about the two ways of looking at transportation, his definition of EV suitability and the benefits of being tactical. He also explains what Driivz is and encourages fleets to begin taking baby steps and look for use cases for BEVs.

Jim Park, award winning trucking journalist and a technologies consultant for NACFE, talks about his career as a truck driver, how he made the switch to trucking journalism and why he always tries to put himself into the mind of his audience. He also shares his thoughts on battery electric vehicles and the dramatic improvements that have been made in diesel engines.

Ben Sharpe, senior researcher at Atlas Public Policy, talks about the importance of people in the environmental community and policy space to have a connection to industry. He also shares why he has dedicated a big part of his career to trucking and shares his thoughts on policy in the transformation of the trucking industry. He also provides insights into how to navigate the changes in trucking.

In this episode we flip the script and have Mike Roeth, the show’s host, answer questions posed by his granddaughter Makenzie Roeth. He talks about driving his first diesel truck at the age of 13 and about his first time behind the wheel of an electric truck. He also talks about his career before NACFE and his job as NACFE’s executive director and why he is so proud of the Run on Less series.

Jim Castelaz, founder and chief technology and revenue officer at Motiv Electric Trucks, talks about why he started Motiv and why it feels like we are at an inflection point with EVs today. He also shares his thoughts on the importance of being clear on vocabulary and terms and about learning from what went well and what didn’t. Finally, he talks about the 3 key metrics of EVs and reminds us to not lose sight of the wins.