Heavy Duty Trucking, April 2018

HDT APRIL 2018 8 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM lectric vehicles Driverless trucks Platooning Drones Bicycles You may think to paraphrase the show Sesame Street that one of these things is not like the others Yet for parcel and logistics giant UPS using regular and electric bicycles for delivery in some congested urban areas is just as much a part of its innovative thinking as its order of Tesla Semi heavy duty electric tractors Last months annual meeting of the American Trucking Associations Technology Maintenance Council was themed Driving Excellence Through Expertise Yet some fleets may feel overwhelmed by all the new technology coming at them because they dont have the expertise Lets face it at the rate new technology is rolling in no one really has the expertise yet Were all making it up as we go along But sitting still and worrying about it is not an option said Carlton Rose UPS president global fleet maintenance and engineering speaking during the kickoff breakfast You cannot be a linear thinker in an exponential world said Rose who worked his way up through the UPS ranks after serving as a driver and technician Excellence he noted evolves pointing to some of the earliest mobile phones as an example Todays excellence is tomorrows mediocrity he said The first step to seeing what the excellence of tomorrow looks like he said is to grasp what mediocrity looks like today citing polluted air and vehicle crashes as examples Todays mediocrity is standing still watching and worrying as technology moves ahead faster than ever before Its understandable to be afraid of all this change Rose said In fact its smart But fear of the unknown discourages investment When you know its the right thing to do but youre waiting around for the technology to be better proven dont sacrifice the good for the perfect Sometimes we need to take a cue from Nikes slogan Just Do It So how do we break though that fear Its as simple as ABC Adaptability bravery and commitment Rose said That adaptability was definitely seen in another session where UPS Duane Lippincott spoke on a panel on last mile delivery Lippincott who oversees training for UPS maintenance personnel at more than 1400 shops in the U S spoke about how the companys adoption of everything from bicycles to natural gas and electric trucks has changed things on the maintenance side from stocking bicycle tire tubes to figuring out charging and training strategies It may even mean thinking about different ways of training techs and running shops Maybe youd want to outsource the maintenance work on bicycles or drones for instance Its going to be very difficult to hire enough technicians and have highly technical people in all your tech positions he said Perhaps well need a hierarchy with an entry level tech handling basic jobs like oil changes and tires on one end and a highly skilled trained and technical expert on the other end of the scale Maybe we would develop a call in number where less skilled techs call in and the highly skilled ones help diagnose the problem by phone he suggested We dont need virtual reality glasses for that we can do that today every one of us with an iPhone just using Facetime so you can show him the problem youve got UPS for one is practicing what it preaches We must be willing to change as technology changes Rose said Far too often were mentally enslaved to the familiar Freeing ourselves may allow us to take the first step And who knows where all those first steps may lead Dont let fear of change mire you in mediocrity Deborah Lockridge Editor in Chief dlockridge@ truckinginfo com With 28 years covering the trucking industry Deborah Lockridge is known for her award winning in depth features on diverse issues She can be reached at 205 989 6467 or dlockridge@ truckinginfo com EDITORIAL You cannot be a linear thinker in an exponential world E