The coronavirus pandemic has tested the mettle of leaders around the world. To better understand the experience of executives in the transportation industry, Redefining the Road magazine invited two of the finalists for the 2020 Influential Women in Trucking Award to share their perspective.
KK: We are doing our best to be flexible with customers as far as procuring equipment and navigating the challenges of capacity and peak season surcharges. Communication is also vital. We need to ensure that our customers are not blindsided by changes that are occurring within the freight market, so we are communicating with them on a regular basis if their shipments may be impacted in any way.
CA: This is a whole new world for transportation. We’re working to build even stronger relationships with customers by acting as a real team member. We’re talking to them about the problems they’re facing, asking how we can help and working to provide services they need.
KK: Keeping lines of communication open is even more valuable now than it was prior to these new challenges. We’re holding company Zoom meetings to help ensure that everyone knows what we are planning, provide a snapshot of how the company is performing and give employees an opportunity to ask questions.
CA: I make sure I’m aware of what’s going on – watching the news, seeking information from regulatory agencies and other sources – and sharing that information with drivers. As a consultant, I advise my clients to do the same. It’s also important to check in with drivers about what’s happening at customer sites. For example, are gates closed? Do they have specific PPE requirements?
KK: While we always utilized communication platforms such as Join Me and Slack, we are all becoming experts in almost every video-conferencing platform that is out there!
CA: We’re looking to organizations like Women In Trucking, state and local trucking associations, regulatory agencies, even insurance companies. We are all part of a great big team – all learning together, working together. We need to collaborate more. One hundred percent more.
KK: You have to be nimble and agile. There was no playbook for this situation. In many cases, as we were receiving more information about this virus, we were reacting in the best way possible.
CA: It is important to be a team player and communicate. Everyone is going through similar things. We can learn from each others’ experiences. Rather than reinvent the wheel, we need to share the wheel.
KK: I’ll continue to set and communicate the vision I have for the company and ensure that our team has the appropriate resources to achieve that.
CA: My first priorities are the health and safety of our team in conjunction with the financial stability of my organization and my customers’ organizations. Then, recognizing that the industry is going to grow, how do we prepare for and manage through these growth opportunities? We need to sit down and work with customers to make joint decisions on what will be needed.
Crystal Anderson and Kristy Knichel are two of six finalists for the Influential Woman in Trucking Award that will participate in a panel discussion on Nov. 13, 2020, at the virtual Accelerate! Conference. The award winner will be announced following the session.
This article was originally featured in Edition 3 of 2020 in our official magazine, Redefining The Road.
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