Editorial: The Next Generation at MCE

Many of the transportation industry’s most influential people came together last week at American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition in Philadelphia.

From ATA President Bill Graves to House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster and Scott Darling of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the annual event — as it always does — offered one central location to get a good sense of where the industry is now and where it will be in coming years.

Our extensive coverage of the conference throughout this edition of Transport Topics and on TTNews.com focuses on these and other newsmakers as well as many of the critical issues facing the industry.

But a conference such as MCE — which this year was attended by 2,500 people — also includes many interesting tales from individuals involved in all aspects of trucking.

More and more, we find that some of the most interesting stories are coming from some of the younger people who one day will become top newsmakers. And with the growing shortage of truck drivers and technicians, it is these people who will play a role in the near term in helping bring some of their peers into this industry.

That is why TT came to Philadelphia with a goal in mind of finding some of these folks to share their stories on camera. The result of this effort is a LiveOnWeb program, which airs beginning Oct. 28 at noon EDT.

The lineup will feature:

• Paul Savill, an America’s Road Team captain from UPS Freight who talks about how his focus on maintaining a safe driving record is matched only by his determination to educate the public — especially children — about trucking.

• Eric Vos, the TMC SuperTech champion, from FedEx Freight, who discusses just how much more time he spends using a computer to maintain and repair vehicles as opposed to more the traditional tools of a mechanic.

• Dustin Koehl of Total Transportation of Mississippi and Travis Russo of US AutoLogistics, both of whom are graduates of the LEAD ATA program. They say social media are benefiting their companies and that younger executives can help shape the future of trucking by embracing technology.

We encourage you to tune in live — or watch the replay — to hear their stories.