This fireside chat recap is from the FreightWaves North American Logistics Tech Summit on Wednesday.
FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Exploring the future of FreightTech
DETAILS: The most attractive FreightTech opportunities are constantly changing. New products and companies are popping up each day, such as e-commerce opportunities, the movement toward autonomous electric vehicles and sharing data.
SPEAKERS: Kendra Phillips, Ryder System Inc.’s CTO and VP for new products, and George Abernathy, president of FreightWaves.
BIOS: At Ryder System, Phillips is responsible for overseeing the evaluation, development and deployment of new technologies and digital products. Abernathy is responsible for all revenue and commercial efforts at FreightWaves.
KEY QUOTES FROM PHILLIPS
“Most technology is not focused on the driver, or it’s not focused necessarily on making the driver happier. We are starting to see some startups focused on that space where they are really understanding driver behavior, drivers wants and desires, and how they can match them with the right loads or the right opportunities for them. Drivers are the heart and soul of what we do.”
“We as a company want to make sure that we’re going with our eyes wide open towards the change and disruption happening in the industry. The best way we can do that is by really being ingrained into the startup community. We want to know what’s happening when it comes to e-commerce, autonomous electric vehicles and digitization of data, so we really focus on various startups in those spaces.”
“We are an 88-year-old company, and it’s easy when you have been around that long to sit back on your laurels. We can’t afford to do that, not right now, not with everything happening in this space.”
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