Last week I attended the Commercial Carrier Journal's Fall Symposium in Scottsdale, AZ. The event was subtitled, "What do you need to succeed in 2014?" It was a big decision for me to go because when a one truck-trucking company CEO is on a business trip, the wheels aren't turning! However, it was a great investment of my time as I met many CEO's of mid-size to large trucking companies and learned a great deal from them.
Below are some of the topics that interested me and were discussed during the event.
- The 2014 Economic Forecast
- How regulation is stifling our industry and preventing a robust recovery
- What the American Trucking Association (ATA) is doing
- What's coming down the pipeline from FMCSA
- Business Intelligence - Key Point Indicators that the big fleets are tracking everyday
The 2014 Economic forecast is not good. Yes, the economic numbers are crawling higher toward a recovery, but if the Federal Reserve decides to stop QE (quantitative easing), also known as printing money, the interest rates will rise and we will be on very fragile economic footing again.
The ATA is doing some great things and spending a lot of resources to lobby Washington lawmakers into seeing things their way. They are currently taking legal action against New York which is using toll road money to fund recreational projects.
The FMCSA isn't stopping with just HOS changes. They are full speed ahead with mandatory electronic on board recorders (EOBRs) and speed limiters. The ATA is on board with mandatory EOBR's and I believe that they support speed limiters as well. This is an example of where the ATA and I split ways. As a small businessman, the ATA doesn't represent me well and I look to other organizations like OOIDA to voice my concerns.
I also heard from management at Mesilla Valley Transportation, one of the country's most forward thinking fleets. He shared key point indicators (KPI's) that are measured everyday. Some of these I track and others I will consider. They include:
- MPG
- Actual Fuel Price
- National Average Fuel Price
- Revenue
- Average Total Miles
- Target Miles
- Out of Route Miles
- Miles Variance
It was a great experience for me to attend this event and learn from very successful trucking executives and entrepreneurs who've grown great companies from scratch. I encourage anyone who is hungry for more knowledge of this industry to attend this event or similar ones and be ahead of your competition as you'll have an advantage over them.