A Marketers Mind by Zack Pugh III
I just finished reading several articles about safety, technology, and….AUTONOMOUS trucks (SCARY WORD). In this technology filled world we live in today, our drivers are constantly getting hit with all kinds of new technological advances. Some of them are great, while others lack the polish that would be required for practical operation. At M&W, we have embraced lots of these advances in technology OR advances on the professional truck driver as I am sure some of our drivers see it. The important thing to try to do is always put yourselves in the shoes of the other. From the driver’s perspective, they look at cameras as an invasion of privacy, forward collision mitigation and lane departure as taking total control from them, and autonomous trucks as their JOBS being taken away. Then we switch to the executives at M&W view point: cameras help protect the company and the driver whenever there is an accident. Since I’ve been here I have personally seen it save a couple of our driver’s jobs, and in this hiring crunch, losing drivers for any reason is never a good thing. The two major safety advances are collision mitigation and lane departure these help to assist the driver with any situation that they may encounter. While utilizing autonomous trucks is a bit down the road, I think most every industry leader believes that you will always need to have a professional driver behind the wheel, not matter who or what is driving. Both sides have valid points, but in the current world that we live in we must embrace the technology while preserving the AUTONOMY for the drivers. (Do you like how I used the word there in favor of the driver?) At M&W, we work very hard to listen to the concerns of our drivers. We always try to find middle ground and come to work together for the greater good of this wonderful company that we all call home.
DISCLAIMER: This is just my perspective as your humble Director of Marketing, if you have comments on this topic (or anything else) swing by my office. My door is always open.