Check out our recording of this week’s edition of the Transportation Brief with Steve Bryan, VP and GM, Transportation, SambaSafety, and his guest Steve Wilhelms, Executive VP & COO, InfoStream.

What was discussed

The two spoke on the new hero status that has emerged around trucking, and how to maintain and emphasize the need for positive momentum. Highlights from the conversation, which can be found on-demand, included:

  • The situation that we are currently in due to COVID-19 is not normal, and we will continue to evolve as we move through all going on.
  • The way to keep positive momentum moving forward is ensuring that the lines of communication, in this instance even overcommunicating the level of appreciation and good/bad news, remain open and clearer than ever.
  • That even though the economy momentarily froze in panic, trucking did not stop. This contradicts the common notion that if the economy stops, so does trucking.
  • The general public has now been able to see trucks in high-visibility places, and both image and reputation have benefitted from the once gruff portrayal of truckers.
  • With the continuing spike in e-commerce activities for items out of the ordinary, including ordering whole plants and a +600% increase in bread making machines, it’s more important than ever to ensure you have the most qualified drivers doing those final mile deliveries.
    • We see the biggest change in the final mile deliveries sector, including those in the smaller van-style deliveries.
    • To ensure that these big name companies are able to deliver, we still need to attract those qualified, safe and trained individuals who are able to do the warehouse to final mile driver deliveries, so that those final mile drivers can bring your package safely to your doorstep.
    • There will likely be a high demand for those non-final mile drivers
      (i.e. those doing large freight hauls, driving 18-wheelers, etc.) to work but we need to fill that demand in a safe and responsible way.

Don’t miss out on next week’s edition of the Transportation Brief, where Steve Bryan speaks to Peter Rowe , Vice President, Engineering, SambaSafety. Educated at the University of Limerick in Ireland, Peter has spent his career in technical roles including video game machine programming, hardware and software development of Array Processors, several internet-based startups, to his current role of leading the data engineering team at SambaSafety.

Browse our informative resources to learn further and view other Transportation Brief webinars.