Numbers vs. data
We live in an age when data is king. On an individual basis, it measures how we work, what we buy, where we live, what we earn, and how we spend our leisure time. In business it’s used to measure productivity, progress, profitability, and every other imaginable yardstick of activity with some bearing on success.
In trucking specifically, data these days often seems to drive the trucks rather than the other way around. I just read a profile on Waste360, for example, that explains how Waste Management’s wholesale conversion to CNG for its trucks was promoted in-house by a self-described “data monkey.” And I defy you to find any industry conference that does not feature at least one session on using “big data” to transform your fleet operations. No doubt about it, data rules.
But our annual “Trucking by the Numbers” feature is not about data; it’s about numbers. What’s the difference? In my mind data is about action, about measurement and comparison that leads to insight. Data offers signposts pointing out directions for those who want or need them. Data clarifies by exposing critical information, identifying commonalities, and, if you’re lucky, projecting trends you can either ride or nip in the bud. Used properly, data from your shop tells you if you’ve got problems or if you’re in good shape. Data from your trucks does the same for driver management. There’s good reason fleet managers seem so addicted to data.
“This collection of numbers is intended to create as broad a picture as possible of this industry we call trucking.”
Numbers, at least as presented in our feature, are intended to serve a different purpose. The goal is description, not action. This collection of numbers is intended to create as broad a picture as possible of an extremely diverse industry we call trucking. It’s meant to overwhelm by illustrating just how central trucking is to the economic well-being of the country, how large a role it plays in commerce both domestic and global, how many places it intersects with everyday life.
These numbers aren’t meant to clarify or find some common denominator that illuminates an elemental truth. Rather, they’ve been collected from as many disparate sources as practical, presented from as many perspectives and angles as possible, and to sometimes even contradict each other.
You live trucking every day, and so in many ways you’ve probably stopped seeing just how big it is and how widely its influence spreads to all corners of activity in the modern U.S. and global economies. The purpose of these numbers is to take you out of that daily routine, to get you to lift up your head and appreciate, at least for a little while, how important the work is you do so conscientiously on a daily basis.
For over 30 years as an editor and journalist, I’ve always strongly maintained that Fleet Owner’s role is not to act as a booster or promoter for trucking or its suppliers, but rather to provide trucking professionals with the information and insights you need to create and maintain successful fleet operations. But just this once every year I find myself breaking out the air horns and fireworks to celebrate the wonderful, vital business of trucking in all its diversity and complexity.
Despite its sometimes loud critics, occasional failings and a few bad apples, we should all be proud to be associated in some way with trucking and its many contributions. After all, even if it is a cliché, numbers don’t lie.
