The Fleet

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 creates buy-in with drivers, encourages behavior changes in a positive and personal way, and her unique approaches to rewarding drivers that are complying -- she quite literally drives around with a basket of cookies to give to safe drivers.

That and more on today’s episode with Kristin!

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The Fleet is brought to you by our friends at Lytx. Whether you manage a fleet of five vehicles or 5,000 – Lytx is here to help. 

Lytx fleet dash cams are powered by best in class machine vision and artificial intelligence designed to help commercial fleets and drivers operate more safely, efficiently, and profitably.

Go to Lytx.com/thefleet to learn more today.

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The Fleet is created by the team at Mission. To learn more about our creative studio and network of podcasts, go to mission.org.

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 Interstate Corporation. Dave is a veteran in the trucking industry and has had a front-row seat watching the commercial insurance industry evolve and change over the last 30 years. 

Dave tells us why insurance prices are changing and what you can do to make sure your business is in the best position to get the best price. He also talks about the dramatic role a safety culture plays in that mission and what he envisions for the future of the industry as a whole.

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The Fleet is brought to you by our friends at Lytx. Whether you manage a fleet of five vehicles or 5,000 – Lytx is here to help. 

Lytx fleet dash cams are powered by best in class machine vision and artificial intelligence designed to help commercial fleets and drivers operate more safely, efficiently, and profitably.

Go to Lytx.com/thefleet to learn more today.

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The Fleet is created by the team at Mission. To learn more about our creative studio and network of podcasts, go to mission.org.

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 struggle with in regards to compliance? 

Joining us to answer these questions and more is Andrew Leavitt, the Director of FMS Safety at Ryder and an expert in Department of Transportation compliance and motor carrier liability. Andrew gives us a crash course in Compliance 101, as well as touches on how compliance affects insurance costs and what changes in DOT regulation you need to be aware of as we head into 2021.

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The Fleet is brought to you by our friends at Lytx. Whether you manage a fleet of five vehicles or 5,000 – Lytx is here to help. 

Lytx fleet dash cams are powered by best in class machine vision and artificial intelligence designed to help commercial fleets and drivers operate more safely, efficiently, and profitably.

Go to Lytx.com/thefleet to learn more today.

---

The Fleet is created by the team at Mission. To learn more about our creative studio and network of podcasts, go to mission.org.

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 National Summit for Rural Traffic Safety Culture, and has authored the first United States government white paper on traffic safety culture. Nic has also helped AASHTO develop the traffic safety culture chapter in support of the Toward Zero Deaths national strategy.

Needless to say, Nic is an accomplished expert in the field of driver safety and today he joins the show to talk about the social and psychological contexts of driving and what they mean for your fleets. He answers all the questions above, as well as explains why creating a positive, community-driven culture is so important for driver safety.

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The Fleet is brought to you by our friends at Lytx. Whether you manage a fleet of five vehicles or 5,000 – Lytx is here to help. 

Lytx fleet dash cams are powered by best in class machine vision and artificial intelligence designed to help commercial fleets and drivers operate more safely, efficiently, and profitably.

Go to Lytx.com/thefleet to learn more today.

---

The Fleet is created by the team at Mission. To learn more about our creative studio and network of podcasts, go to mission.org.

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 together and what do they mean for the future of logistics and transportation?

To help answer this question, we’ve invited Stephan Keese, Senior Partner at Roland Berger. Stephan has nearly 20 years of experience in the automotive industry and is currently the head of Roland Berger’s North American automotive practice based out of Chicago.

Stephan joins us to talk about the innovations, trends, and technologies that are impacting the logistics and transportation industries today. He shares some creative solutions that have been implemented around the world to solve their transportation needs, and dives deep into how and why our future technologies will still need to operate within the infrastructure of the past.

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The Fleet is brought to you by our friends at Lytx. Whether you manage a fleet of five vehicles or 5,000 – Lytx is here to help. 

Lytx fleet dash cams are powered by best in class machine vision and artificial intelligence designed to help commercial fleets and drivers operate more safely, efficiently, and profitably.

Go to Lytx.com/thefleet to learn more today.

---

The Fleet is created by the team at Mission. To learn more about our creative studio and network of podcasts, go to mission.org.

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 civilian counterparts do. 

In this episode, Mike shares his experiences implementing new systems of safety management with his officers, some of the shocking things he realized about his own driving habits after doing so, and the results he and his office are now seeing after widespread adoption.

And remember! The holidays are a great time to catch up on some of those old episodes you might have missed. Check them out here.

We hope you have a happy and safe holiday season! We’ll be back next week with a brand new episode to help kick off the new year.

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The Fleet is brought to you by our friends at Lytx. Whether you manage a fleet of five vehicles or 5,000 – Lytx is here to help. 

Lytx fleet dash cams are powered by best in class machine vision and artificial intelligence designed to help commercial fleets and drivers operate more safely, efficiently, and profitably.

Go to Lytx.com/thefleet to learn more today.

---

The Fleet is created by the team at Mission. To learn more about our creative studio and network of podcasts, go to mission.org.

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 how he got into this field, how the technology has involved since he first started analyzing driver behavior in 2001, and where it’s headed today. Plus, Jeff talks about gamification as a way to manage safety, how managers can think about driver empowerment, and the interplay between self-management in the vehicle and coaching after the fact.

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The Fleet is brought to you by our friends at Lytx. Whether you manage a fleet of five vehicles or 5,000 – Lytx is here to help. 

Lytx fleet dash cams are powered by best in class machine vision and artificial intelligence designed to help commercial fleets and drivers operate more safely, efficiently, and profitably.

Go to Lytx.com/thefleet to learn more today.

---

The Fleet is created by the team at Mission. To learn more about our creative studio and network of podcasts, go to mission.org.

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 Security at Transport America. Lisa has over 28 years of experience in transportation and safety management, is an active member in the American Trucking Association, and was named the ATA National Safety Director of the Year in 2016.

So what makes Lisa and Transport America different?

Their people.

Lisa prides herself on the exceptional team of drivers that Transport America has been able to attract through its unique, driver-focused culture and its commitment to safety.

Today, Lisa shares her experiences getting into the industry, specifically as a woman in a largely male-dominated field. Plus, tune in to find out how Transport America keeps top employees, and how they’ve gone about implementing systems of safety that stick.

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The Fleet is brought to you by our friends at Lytx. Whether you manage a fleet of five vehicles or 5,000 – Lytx is here to help. 

Lytx fleet dash cams are powered by best in class machine vision and artificial intelligence designed to help commercial fleets and drivers operate more safely, efficiently, and profitably.

Go to Lytx.com/thefleet to learn more today.

---

The Fleet is created by the team at Mission. To learn more about our creative studio and network of podcasts, go to mission.org.

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 he lets us tap into that well of knowledge. Patrick shares what he’s seen change over the last several years, why retaining your best drivers in today’s demanding market is more important than ever, and explains the relationship between safety and success. He also shares what training and coaching programs they’ve seen have lasting results, including what technology they are leaning on and implementing fleet-wide.

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The Fleet is brought to you by our friends at Lytx. Whether you manage a fleet of five vehicles or 5,000 – Lytx is here to help. 

Lytx fleet dash cams are powered by best in class machine vision and artificial intelligence designed to help commercial fleets and drivers operate more safely, efficiently, and profitably.

Go to Lytx.com/thefleet to learn more today.

---

The Fleet is created by the team at Mission. To learn more about our creative studio and network of podcasts, go to mission.org.

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Every day, around the world, Amazon is pulling off a logistical feat of inventory fulfillment and next-day deliveries the likes of which has never been seen… So how do they do it?

Joining us today is Ahmad Khan, the President and Founder of Colonial Logistics, an Amazon Dedicated Service Provider – or DSP. Ahmad’s DSP runs routes in Houston and Fort-Worth, consists of over 200 vans, 450 employees, and delivers nearly 200 packages per day per van – that’s upwards of 40,000 packages per day across the company.

Today, it’s a massive operation, but when Ahmad started the company just three years ago, he had only 10 vans and an optimistic attitude. 

In today’s conversation, Ahmad guides us through that explosive growth, how he nurtured a culture of safety as the company expanded, and shares the good and the bad of being a DSP. Plus, he gives us a glimpse of what it’s like on the frontlines of package delivery.

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The Fleet is brought to you by our friends at Lytx. Whether you manage a fleet of five vehicles or 5,000 – Lytx is here to help. 

Lytx fleet dash cams are powered by best in class machine vision and artificial intelligence designed to help commercial fleets and drivers operate more safely, efficiently, and profitably.

Go to Lytx.com/thefleet to learn more today.

---

The Fleet is created by the team at Mission. To learn more about our creative studio and network of podcasts, go to mission.org.

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.