The Fleet

For much of our show, we’ve focused on our market here in the United States, but what about the rest of the world?

Fleet Managers that get assigned to international markets quickly learn just how different other countries operate compared to the United States. 

Size of roads, availability of refueling stations, access to repairs and maintenance, laws and regulations, traffic density, and accessways, it’s endless, the myriad of system...

Where does a city turn in order to make their roads safer? Who does a private fleet call to improve driving conditions for its drivers? 

Because these questions went largely unanswered, a new organization was created to better address solutions for safer roads.

From companies like ABInbev and UPS to city governments, Together for Safer Roads, or TSR for short, is a global coalition on a mission to create safer roads. David Braunstein...

We are psychologically incapable of putting down the phone. 

That might sound horrific, but Dr. Paul Atchley, a Professor of Psychology at the University of South Florida, has studied human behavior for decades and he’s convinced distracted driving is part of our everyday lives, that people want more entertainment and connectivity options while driving, and most importantly, we as a culture find it acceptable to exhibit these behavi...

Driver shortage? 

There’s no driver shortage. 

So why is the trucking industry having such a hard time filling its open jobs? 

According to today’s guest, the cause is not a shortage of drivers, but an abundance of options. 

Joining the show is FreightWaves’ Grace Sharkey. FreightWaves is like the Bloomberg of transportation -- they report on all the logistics, trends, and news that fuel the global supply chain.

In today’s conversation,...

About 35 percent of U.S. trucking miles are driven empty. This means that roughly 1 in 3 trucks we see on the road are empty, traveling between jobs, burning fuel, time, and miles with nothing to haul and no money being made.

Convoy is on a mission to change that. 

Joining the podcast today is Grant Goodale. Grant is the founder, former CTO, and now CXO of Convoy, an on-demand trucking service for arranging regional and local shipmen...

Earlier this season we sat down with Giovanni Bertolino of Enel X to discuss electric vehicles and the infrastructure needed to support them. Today, we dive even deeper into the world of EVs and what you need to know about implementing them in your fleets. 

Joining us for that discussion is Tim Campbell, the founder and Managing Director of Campbells Consultancy. He is one of the UK's most experienced commercial vehicle consultants ...

What trends should fleet managers and industry executives expect to see in the next year, 5 years, and 10 years? And how will these trends affect the day-to-day for drivers on the ground?

Joining the podcast today is Rajesh Rudraradhya, CTO of Lytx. Rajesh shares his vision for the future of fleet technology and what he is working on today to meet that vision. Plus, he dives deep into the key trends facing the industry as a whole - ...

Today we have a special guest uniquely positioned to offer both a perspective on driving and on coaching -- Herschel Evans, Safety Trainer and Driver for Yellow Corporation. Herschel was recently awarded Lytx’s 2021 Coach of the Year and was the first-place winner in the For-hire Trucking category. Among countless impressive accomplishments, he has maintained a flawless driving record with over 3 million accident-free miles.

Today, ...

Today’s guest is Jerry Glass, the President and founder of F&H Solutions Group, a consulting firm that advises companies on a range of labor issues. As a company, Jerry and his team have negotiated more than 800 collective bargaining agreements, and, as he puts it, over the 15 years since he founded the company, “they’ve seen everything.”

Jerry offers a valuable look into labor unions, labor shortages, and how today’s economy is aff...

Electric vehicles. It’s an inevitable transition most fleets will be making -- maybe you already have EVs in your fleet, or have a plan to phase them in in the not-so-distant future.

But as we get ever closer to widespread adoption of EVs in fleets, what do you need to know to be ready?

Joining us today is Giovanni Bertolino, the Head of e-Mobility USA & Canada for Enel X. Giovanni leads Enel’s team focused on growing the company’s r...

We are back with more episodes of The Fleet! Kicking it off is our interview with Kristin Danner. 

Kristin is the Corporate Safety Manager for the City of Kansas City, Mo. Over the last two decades, she’s helped develop the city’s safety program from the ground floor into the successful 1900 vehicle program it is today.

On this episode, Kristin shares her experiences managing fleets and safety in the public sector, including how she ...

You’ve heard it time and time again - insurance costs for commercial vehicles are skyrocketing. 

It's a tale of woe for fleet managers everywhere, but our guest today is here to tell you not to give up all hope just yet; there are strategies you can take to get your insurance costs under control - and possibly even lower them.

Joining The Fleet is Dave Michelson, President of DWM Consulting and former longtime CEO of National Interst...

DOT Compliance. It's a topic that has caused nightmares for CEOs and fleet managers everywhere.

Compliance is an unsung, yet vital, component of running a safe (and legal) business. Every business that operates a fleet has to be in compliance - whether your business is in fleets or if having a fleet is just one aspect of your operations. 

So what exactly does it mean to be compliant and what are some of the top issues that companies ...

What works better - incentives or disincentives? Positive peer pressure or negative? Financial motivation or group encouragement? 

Joining The Fleet today - and here to help us kick off the new year - is Professor Nicholas Ward. Nic is the Director at the Center for Health and Safety Culture in the Western Transportation Institute and a Professor at Montana State University. He has a Ph.D. in Psychology, is a founding member of the ...

Most of our infrastructure was designed and built decades ago. But updating those massive initial investments to keep up with the times is not realistically possible. In the US we already have an estimated infrastructure investment deficit of $60 billion year over year. All of this, on top of increasing demand for mobility and changing methods of transportation, leads to an important question:

How do all these moving pieces play tog...

Today, we are deviating from our regularly scheduled programming. As 2020 comes to a close, we wanted to reshare one of our favorite conversations this year; our interview with Lieutenant Michael Crabb. 

Michael is a Lieutenant of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office where he has worked for over 30 years, but it wasn’t until the last few years that he began implementing technology to help his officers avoid the same distractions their...

What role does psychology play in driver behavior?

Joining The Fleet today to help us answer this question is Dr. Jeff Hickman, a Research Scientist at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the Group Leader for the Behavioral Analysis and Applications group. 

Jeff has extensive experience in the design, delivery, and implementation of safety and health systems using behavior-based psychology. In today’s episode, he shares ho...

Last year, the US trucking industry brought in 792 billion dollars of revenue and had over 2 million heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers operating on the roads. Needless to say, trucking is a massive industry, and operating competitively in such a complex industry isn’t easy. But one trucking company that stands out in all that noise is Transport America.

Joining us today is Lisa Gonnerman, the Vice President of Safety and Secur...

In every industry, hiring is a two-pronged process. Not only does it take systems for recruiting great employees, it also requires creating cultures and systems that drivers want to continue to work in.

Here to talk to us today about recruiting, hiring, retention, and culture-building is Ozark Motor Line’s V.P. of Human Resource & Safety, Patrick Landreth.

Patrick has nearly 4 decades of experience in the world of trucking and today ...