Finance
Strategies to Improve Freight Network Profitability
The Freight Network is the engine that drives carrier profitability in the short term, as well as an asset that drives carrier value in the longer term. Virtually every OTR operation can improve its margins and value by investing in Freight Network Engineering. Join us to gain insights and learn strategies to improve your company’s current profitability and longer-term value.
During this hour-long session you will learn:
1. The critical drivers of freight network profitability;
2. Strategies to improve carrier freight network profitability and value; and
3. Case studies of real-world freight network challenges and solutions.
Building Business Value in a Tough Economy
Despite the challenges of 2020, trucking companies are using this moment to crystalize their company’ purpose. As a result, they are building substantial business value. Spencer Tenney will share how. This session will provide a lens into how the best companies in America are separating from the pack, building life changing wealth, and protecting the interests of their valued employees.
During this hour-long session you will learn:
1. How to focus on what you control as you build busines value – specifically when it comes to
financial and operational reporting;
2. The characteristics of high-performance cultures and the leaders who drive them…they may not
look like what you think; and
3. How to drive value through acquisitions, structure deals, and how to do it efficiently.
Human Resources
A Strengths-based Approach to Building Resilience
Life does not come with a roadmap nor with GPS navigation, especially in the year 2020. With the extraordinary disruptions and uncertainties, it has tested the individual and collective wellbeing of us all. For many people, it has brought forth their strengths and demonstrated their adaptability. Mental health professionals define resilience as the human quality of adapting to, overcoming, and learning from adversity, trauma, and stress. This presentation helps human resource managers create a workplace culture to support and develop resilience across a diverse driver population.
During this hour-long session you will gain insights into:
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Identifying the personal traits associated with resiliency and the unique risks to wellbeing faced by women;
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Learning the business case for developing resiliency in your workforce; and
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Learning how to create a workplace culture that builds on strengths.
Keeping Connected with Your Remote Workforce
A lot of your drivers have been a remote workforce for a very long time. What do you do to keep them connected and feeling like they are a part of your culture? What could you be doing different or better, and why does it matter? And what are other companies doing now to keep their newly remote workforce connected that trucking companies can learn from?
During this hour-long session you will learn:
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The importance of a connected, engaged workforce;
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Best practices from the transportation industry regarding how to keep drivers connected with your culture; and
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How other companies outside the transportation industry are staying connected with their people in a remote work environment.
Leadership
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Heartfelt Leadership: What, Why and How?
This session will focus on the style of leadership known as "Heartfelt" What is it? What are the benefits of it in trucking? How can carriers use it as a culture differentiation? Carriers that ascribe to Heartfelt Leadership Principles see better retention, experience easier recruiting and generally happier employees.
Following this hour-long session, you will be able to answer the following questions:
1. What is Heartfelt Leadership?;
2. Why do people lead this way? Advantages / Disadvantages?; and
3. How can carriers create and foster a culture of Heartfelt Leadership?
Company Culture
Company culture affects all aspects of every company in every industry, and in transportation it is critical to have the right company culture. Culture is the fabric of a company and the values that a company uphold while doing business. Culture starts at the top of a company and resonates to every employee, commercial vehicle operator, manager, and maintenance technician. Every company has a culture whether they realize it or not. Leadership may inadvertently create a poor perception of company culture if their message or actions appear to be in conflict with company policies and standards. It is important for companies to understand how their culture is perceived by their employees and their customers, and how this perception affects their ability to do business.
Takeaways:
• Examples of good vs poor company cultures.
• Methods to foster a positive culture within your operation.
• Maintain a good company culture while upholding your values.
Director - Risk Management Services
Nationwide E&S/Specialty – Commercial Trucking
Legal/Contracts/Insurance
Insuring Your Fleet in Today’s Challenging Market
Join Chris Vogel, Senior Vice President of Cottingham & Butler's Transportation Practice as he shares insights into the Transportation Industry’s current market trends and provides recommendations for insuring a fleet in today's challenging market.
Implementing and Defending the
Independent Contractor Model
The independent contractor driver model is currently being challenged across the country in class action lawsuits by drivers, state governmental actions such as California’s AB-5 legislation, and through regulatory investigations and audits.
This session will provide an overview of the recent attacks and give practical tips for effectively implementing and defending an independent Contractor model with your drivers. We will review the business and best practices which support independent contractor status and the alternatives for establishing a defensible lease/purchase arrangement with your drivers.
Operations
Connecting Your Organization with Technology
Join John Piper as he shares insights on how to leverage audio, video, and social media to impact people long term. He will share lessons learned through this journey over the last 5 years in producing videos and podcasts.
During this hour-long session you will learn:
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How to use long form podcasts to reach your drivers and help with your messaging and retention;
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How to create a video content strategy for 2021 and beyond;
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What you can do to step up your game on LinkedIn; and
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How to implement mobile apps and how prepare for their evolution in your fleet.
How Data Will Shape the Fleets of the Future
Telematics is transforming the future of trucking. Fleets are recognizing that using data can help provide a holistic view of a truck’s journey– from preparing for the trip, safety while in transit, the condition of trailer goods, and even obstacles on the road. Listen to Geotab’s Class 8 telematics expert speak about data trends in the trucking industry and how they can be leveraged by carriers for a competitive edge.
During this hour-long session you will learn the importance of:
1. Using data analytics for fleet competitiveness;
2. Understanding your data; and
3. Partnering with best-in-class partners.
The Negotiating Leverage Carriers
Have Been Searching for in the Market
Truckload transportation is traded much like stocks in an open market. Unlike stocks truckload transportation prices are not linear in time, rather they trade across rate spectrums. Having access to minimum, maximum, and average rates is not enough. Mastery of the rate spectrum is critical to serving the customer with sustainable capacity.
In this session we introduce a method for looking at the rate spectrum. Discover what Q1, Q2, and Q3 rates are and why they matter. Participants will come away with a better understanding of truckload rates.
Join us for what is sure to be a spirited discussion as we address:
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Why knowing your markets’ minimum, maximum, and average rate is not enough;
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Why knowing a market’s quartile boundary rates is important;
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What a market’s quartile boundary rate tells you about how the market clears across the entire rate spectrum; and
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How to use what you know about a markets’ rate spectrum to ensure you have the upper hand in every negotiation.
Collaboration –
The Bottom-Line Impact and Sustainability
We have heard the word collaboration countless times in the past year. Learn how a startup's vision for increasing efficiencies, improving our environment, and changing the way we think about resources such as trailers through a sharing marketplace is changing the way fleets view under-utilized trailers and repositioning. Francis Roy, Vice President of vHub will give you an overview of trailer sharing - how it works and what that means to a fleet and its bottom line as well as its impact on sustainability goals.
This hour-long session will address the answers to the following questions:
1. How to determine if your underutilized trailers could be generating revenue?;
2. What to consider before entering the "sharing" community marketplace?;
3. How does this technology fit in with other on-board technologies?; and
4. How does trailer sharing contribute to green efforts and sustainability?
Lease Purchasing; an Innovative Playbook
This session will showcase what a successful lease purchase program looks like while supporting the many challenges carriers face. An emphasis will be on how to reduce cost and mitigate risk of capital invested dollars at reduced interest rates, improve retention, allocate staffing and administrative cost differently throughout your organization, and options for owner operators at the completion of a lease.
During this hour-long session you will learn:
1. How to reduce cost and mitigate risk of capital invested dollars at reduced interest rates;
2. Ways to improve retention;
3. How to allocate staffing and administrative cost differently throughout your organization; and
4. Options for owner operators at the completion of a lease.
2021 Best Fleets to Drive For:
Statistics, Trends, and Innovations
Best Fleets to Drive for saw companies finding even more innovative ways to improve the workplace experience for their drivers. This session shares the best practices from those winning fleets across human resources, operations, safety, and work-life balance.
Attendees will:
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Hear about emerging trends in transportation fleets;
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Review case studies of what is currently working; and
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Identify where the Best Fleets are heading in the future
Benchmarking – Turning Data into Action
The TCA Profitability Program (TPP) is the industry’s premier performance improvement solution designed specifically for TCA's carrier members. Join TPP Program Manager Shepard Dunn and Managing Director Jack Porter as they share their insights from years of experience which will include:
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Critical data points to capture and monitor;
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The key performance indicators being used to chart the path into the profitable future;
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The strength of the composite as a business performance measurement tool; and
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Best practices and ideas for sustaining profitability
Risk Managing Customer Contracts
More shippers are not willing to negotiate contracts or will only allow a bare minimum of changes. So, what can carriers do? This session provides carriers with practical takeaways to evaluate customer opportunities, how to evaluate risks in contracts, which contract changes to prioritize when changes can be made, and how to manage the customer risks on the back end once the contract is signed.
Recruitment & Retention
It's Not Pay, It's a Phone Call
“We don’t have a driver retention problem; we have a driver relationship problem.”
When people feel they are valued, they feel that their voice matters. They feel their voice matters when someone is willing to listen to them, acknowledge them, and respond.
Sounds simple, right? We must work with a defined intention, with a purposeful drive, and with accountability.
During this hour-long session gain insights into:
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Listening to and acknowledging your drivers;
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The role of communication as the "golden ticket" to loyalty and retention;
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How not to over-think it. Just have a conversation; and
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The need to connect, be yourself and allow your drivers to do the same.
Senior Director, Dedicated Driver Recruiting & Enterprise Communications
Covenant Logistics Group
Embracing Recruiting Technology
in a Remote World
2020 acted as a force propelling industry across the world to take a giant – albeit necessary – leap into the technology ecosystem. Regardless of how sophisticated companies thought their level of tech proficiency was, it was challenged and tested relentlessly. Work-from-home recruiting and remote interview processes with CDL driver candidates shook the worlds of driver recruiters and have since become the ‘new normal’.
While 2020 may be in the rearview mirror, the lessons it taught us are still at the forefront of our minds. In this interactive session featuring DriverReach Founder and CEO, Jeremy Reymer, attendees will get an in-depth crash course on how to embrace technology in this ever-changing world.
During this hour-long session you will learn:
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How to automate manual tasks and set up compelling, conversion-oriented nurture campaigns;
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How to improve efficiency across all aspects of the recruiting experience – from application submission to verification of employment; and
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How to continually identify efficiencies and improve the driver (and recruiter) experience with an integrated system.
Making Driver Turnover a Problem of the Past
This session will share effective onboarding and retention strategies built around practical policies and procedures. Other key topics will include how managers and owners need to make safety culture a priority, why drivers leave, and strategies to make them stay with an emphasis on the power of increased communication and driver engagement. Additionally, Dirk will highlight the importance of prioritizing training and professional development, developing a solid online presence, and celebrating driver performance.
Safety & Compliance
Cybersecurity and the Transportation & Logistics Industry
Cybercriminals and threat actors are taking advantage of nonstandard operating modes. Ransomware is a prominent cyber threat. In this session, attendees will understand why the T&L companies are targeted and what could be lost if under attack.
During this hour-long session you gain insights into:
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Ransomware - a prominent cyber threat;
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Why T&L companies are targeted and what could be lost if under attack;
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Data security concerns in a work from home scenario;
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Learning about cyber threats on electronic logging devices (ELD) in vehicles and how to navigate risk; and
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What "best in class" transportation companies are doing to address cybersecurity.
Safety & Retention from the C-Suite
How does leadership initiate safety cultures that organically lead to recruiting and retaining the best team members? In this interactive fireside chat, industry thought leaders Ray Haight and Brian Fielkow explore why safety and driver retention excellence are closely linked and how to ensure your company excels at both.
During this hour-long session, gain the following key takeaways:
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Why senior leaders must actively engage in safety and retention initiatives and effective ways to accomplish this
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Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as it applies to safety, recruitment and retention
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How to hire the right fit – including not compromising your hiring standards – even as demand for drivers increases
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How to steer challenging conversations when drivers pushback about your hiring and/or driving requirements
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How to quantify your recruitment and retention efforts to prove ROI and to hold your managers accountable to retention programs
Streamlining Driver Performance Coaching
How can you offer your drivers a more “high-touch” coaching experience without hiring additional staff? Today’s fleet safety technologies enable office staff to do more with less, reducing the burden on safety managers while providing a sense of community for the drivers. A combination of in-cab alerts, automated performance coaching sessions and gamification tools encourage your drivers to form and maintain safe driving habits in a fun, engaging way without requiring face-to-face meetings.
During this hour-long session you will gain insights into:
1. How to reduce stress and reclaim staff time with automated performance coaching;
2. How to encourage drivers to improve habits through gamification and incentives; and
3. Fleet performance coaching best practices.
Up in Smoke? Marijuana Decriminalization & The Trucking Industry
The session will provide a functional perspective around marijuana decriminalization as it impacts the trucking industry. During this presentation, we will explore DOT vs. state perspectives, protections that states put into place for decriminalized users, impairing effect of marijuana and how it differs from alcohol, cannabidiol (CBD)/inherent issues from a drug screen perspective, and the current state of issues pertaining to roadside marijuana testing/DUI laws.
Eagle Eye or Ostrich -
The More You Know, the Safer You Are
This session will address the age-old question of how much intel on your drivers may hurt or help any legal challenge, impact your insurance/claims costs, and bolster your safety program / culture. The session will address questions on what data/intel is the right amount for managing your company’s interests while maintaining the appropriate risk mitigation.
Key questions to be addressed:
1) What is the correct amount of driver oversight to maximize impact of your safety program
2) How having too much data on your drivers negatively impact potential liability/negligence claims.
3) What type of ongoing data should be maintained on your drivers