The trucking industry has rarely been so valued as during the pandemic, when grocery stores and other retailers were struggling to keep the shelves stocked with toilet paper, paper towels, sanitizer, meat, appliances and laptop computers. In the past, most people probably gave little thought to the importance of trucking in the supply chains.
And while factories were struggling to continue or, in some cases, ramp up production while preventing the spread of COVID-19, trucking companies had to quickly pivot to protect their drivers while meeting the challenge of keeping Americans supplied with vital goods.
One company that was well-poised to handle the pandemic curveballs was North Little Rock-based Maverick Transportation, which has about 2,000 employees and operates 1,600 trucks coast-to-coast in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Shannon Newton
Shannon Newton, president of the Arkansas Trucking Association, told Arkansas Money & Politics that embracing technology isn’t new for Maverick.
“Before, during and after the pandemic, they have a reputation for being early adopters and leaders in the industry,” she said. “I think a lot of people might be surprised and interested to learn about all the technology and gamification in their equipment and driver management systems.”
John Coppens
John Coppens, vice president of operations for Maverick, said there isn’t anything the company does in operations that doesn’t involve safety and technology.
“Our dispatch processes use multiple programs, including an Estimated Time of Arrival Projection (ETAP) program that informs our logistics managers of a driver’s current hours and if those hours will allow for on-time delivery that meets our hours of service/safety criteria,” Coppens said. “The best thing technology does for operations is it gives us the opportunity to share information and get information quickly, allowing us to make decisions that are good for drivers and for the company. Our in-cab technology is always evolving and improving. It must be constantly evaluated to make sure we are communicating without micromanaging and in a way that improves the driving job.”
Coppens sees safety technology in the future becoming smarter and easier to use. Any improvements require a lot of hard work to make sure the technology isn’t interfering with the driving job, making the job less attractive.
“There can be so many sounds, lights and devices in the cab of a truck that it can feel like every move is being micromanaged,” he said. “It can become overwhelming. I think the technology will become less invasive and more intuitive. The really good technologies become those things that make you say, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t want to do without that.’”
Coppens said technology and safety efforts help with both recruitment and retention.
“Retention is extremely important to combating the driver shortage,” he said. “Drivers are your best advocates, and if they feel good about your safety culture and how you use technology, they will stay and share with prospective drivers what to look for in a trucking company.”
Administrative staff has worked from home for the most part during the pandemic. Being out of their offices and terminals in large part has made it more difficult to have that personal bond or connection they were used to.
“Whether it is meeting with new drivers, new non-driving hires or those people you have known for years, it takes a toll,” Coppens said. “Video conferencing technology is great, but it doesn’t replace personal interaction. It will be a major plus to have the celebrations, events and driver advisory meetings we all took for granted back again. I would also add that we are very fortunate to have great drivers and people in our maintenance and driver-training teams that haven’t had the ability to work from home. Where would we be without them?”
Maverick’s training team has not had the luxury of working from home, as it was important to keep its school open.
Dean Newell
Dean Newell, vice president of safety and driver training said “They have done an outstanding job with our protocols and keeping everyone socially distanced, etc. Our maintenance teams, securement teams and on-site teams at customer locations also have been working at their respective sites in order to keep things running from their ends. Kudos to all of them as well.”
Maverick uses several different safety technologies including electronic stability control, collision mitigation systems (with automatic braking), blind spot monitoring devices and Lytx forward- and driver-facing camera technology. The company recently signed a deal to outfit its new trucks with MirrorEye Camera Monitor Systems and Lane Departure Warning, along with tire monitoring and tire inflation systems.
The company also uses technology to coach its drivers.
“The videos that we receive allow us to help drivers with the habits that they have developed,” Newell said. “It allows us to share in real time instead of waiting for end-of-month reports to address things. This helps us be more proactive.”
He expects to see trucking technology continue to advance, much like cellphones have done. New technology will become smarter and easier to use.
“I believe things will become more active with less intrusion on the drivers, much like we have all grown accustomed to our back-up cameras in our personal vehicles,” Newell said.
Some foresee driverless trucks in the future, making transportation of goods less expensive and resulting in massive job losses for truckers. Coppens doubts this will happen anytime soon.
“When I look at the roads and what would need to be done to make it happen on a large scale safely, it makes me think it isn’t that simple,” he said.
Newell is not sure where driverless truck systems will end up.
“It’s not as simple as putting a unit out there with no one behind the wheel,” he said. “The infrastructure is not there to handle this. Also, what about the motoring public? Will they accept this? Someday down the road, it may be possible, but I don’t know if it is the way of the future.
“We believe in autonomous vehicles, but not driverless vehicles. If you think about it, a lot of the technologies that we are utilizing today are part of the autonomous movement. We view them as tools to help make the driving job easier for our drivers. In our open-deck environment, we have load checks, load securements, etc., that have to be done. I don’t see a technology doing any of that at this time.”
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