Roeth: How diverse teams are helping fleets tackle efficiency and sustainability challenges

We recently held our data potluck—an event where various industry stakeholders shared their interpretation of the dataset from Run on Less – Messy Middle. While the meeting was conducted under the Chatham House Rule—which means we won’t be attributing any speaker's comments or their corporate affiliations—we will likely share some of our learnings with you soon.

But for now, I want to talk more generally about the makeup of the group that attended the meeting. I describe it as eclectic and diverse, from the organizations involved to the people representing them. We made an open call to interested parties, and the respondents included vice presidents, data scientists, research analysts, product managers, directors of technology, and more.

Maybe that in itself is not unusual. But the other thing that struck me about the group was that it did not look like a traditional trucking industry meeting. Too often, when I look around the room at a trucking industry event, a larger percentage of the people are male, white, and have gray hair. I am not discounting the value of having seasoned, experienced people working on our industry problems. In fact, I am one of those! However, studies have shown that diverse teams tend to be more creative and innovative.

The group at the data potluck included a mix of older and younger people, bringing together individuals from diverse ethnic backgrounds, educational backgrounds, and industry expertise.

Part of me thinks that the interest in the trucking industry from a wider range of people is due to the technology that is coming and is now available in the industry. I think I am on to something here, as I was reviewing interviews from Run on Less – Messy Middle and came across a comment from Kelly Anderson, fuel analyst for Frito-Lay. She said, "If it wasn’t for the sustainability factor, I don’t think I would be involved in trucking because making these innovations happen in the real-world is what being in an industry that’s been around for a long time and continuing to innovate is all about."

I love the expression "continuing to innovate." To me, that sums up where we are today. The entire trucking industry is on the hunt for technology solutions that will help fleets operate more efficiently and sustainably. From new powertrains to connectivity and AI, new tools are everywhere. One of the things we learned from Run on Less – Messy Middle is that today there is no single right powertrain solution for all fleets to operate efficiently and sustainably. However, there are specific applications that fit well with each of the technologies—diesel/renewable diesel/biodiesel, CNG/RNG, battery electric, and hydrogen fuel cell.

NACFE predicts a zero-emissions freight future, and if we are going to get there in the next several decades, we are going to need to engage the brainpower of a diverse group of people who broaden the way we have historically looked at trucking.

I, for one, am excited to welcome young people, people of color, people of different ethnic backgrounds, and more women to our industry. We are all going to benefit from their fresh perspectives. And we can blend that with the knowledge of those of us who have been in trucking for a while so that we get practical, workable solutions that are deployable at a reasonable total cost of ownership.