Future Wishes for the Work Truck Industry

The past two years have been unlike anything else experienced in the history of fleet. Those who are reading this article, I salute you. It’s been because of your hard work, late nights, blood, sweat, and greasy tears that so many have been able to have food on their table, live in a new home, get their shopping done for the holidays, and so, so much more. 

Here are just a few wishes for a bright work truck future:

“An improved nationwide charging infrastructure that can support EV truck fleets outside of the higher adoptive regions of the country. Additionally, I’d like to see an added focus and attention placed on attracting and educating the next generation of technicians and drivers, given the future expected shortages in these fields,” said Adam Secore, senior vice president, operations for Merchants Fleet.

“The future is predictive maintenance, and in many ways, it’s already here. To become the industry standard, predictive analytics need fleets to have greater access to their data, either from telematics service providers or OEMs themselves. Then also is the issue with technician training and retention, and the skills needed to be data-literate, as well as traditional tech knowledge," said Braden Pastalaniec, VP of Transportation and Logistics at Uptake. “I’d also love to see a more fully digitized maintenance process — from the early flagging of an issue that brings the vehicle into the shop, followed by proactive and remote diagnostics, and a repair process where the tech has the support of on-demand manuals and augmented reality — would allow fleets to address persistent challenges with technician shortages and training.”

“While the current trend is to have highly specialized vehicles per job assignment, ideally, more modular platforms will enter the market, allowing vehicles to be easily reconfigured for job assignments," said Nick Richardi, senior product manager at Zonar. 

“More trucks. I say that tongue-in-cheek, but in all honesty, we need stabilized production from OEMs to keep up with demand. We’d also like to see more young people exploring careers in the vocational truck world. There’s huge potential and great opportunities to make good money,” said Scott Hanewall, general manager - commercial division for Monroe Truck Equipment.

“Ultimately, all of us would like to see vocational vehicles be more environmentally friendly. EV and alternative fuels are growing in popularity, and there’s a reason for that. More and more people are concerned about the environment, and I’d like to see that carried through on vocational trucks as well,” said Jim Smith, director of sales - commercial division for Monroe Truck Equipment.

Looking toward the future with hope and optimism, I hope that your days are filled with more joy than stress.  For me, I wish that we could have a little more time to breathe and innovate again. And I wish for the days of more in-person events than zoom calls. 

What are your future wishes for your fleet? Did we hit the nail on the head or miss something?

Email me and let’s chat! 

Lauren Fletcher
Executive Editor, Work Truck
Lauren.Fletcher@bobit.com