This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
CAPITOLGains


CARRIERS MOVE TO EMBRACE TECH, FIND TECH TALENT


BY STEVE BRAWNER Contributing Writer


Kyle Kristynik, president of Jetco


Delivery, believes in technology. Not long ago, his company installed


cameras in all of its trucks that record all driving events triggered by g-force such as sudden braking and stops. A vendor studies and grades the footage, which is captured from inside and outside the cab. Soon afterwards, a passenger car


swerved directly into a truck’s path, caus- ing an accident. It looks like it might have been done on purpose, Kristynik said. Without the footage, a judge or jury likely would have found the big, bad trucking company liable for the accident. With it, Jetco Delivery isn’t liable. “The return on investment on that


technology has already paid for itself in about two months now that we’ve had them in our trucks,” Kristynik said. “In our industry, you get a lot of people who are chasing dollars, and the guys and girls in those trucks deal with some crazy drivers that will cut them off in an instant.” Houston-based Jetco Delivery is a


small company that delivers “anything from a small crate on a little bobtail truck to a 200-plus thousand pound oilfield equipment, and everything in between,” Kristynik said. It has about 160 employees including its 110 company drivers and owner-operators. It employs one information technolo-


gy professional and contracts out the rest of its IT services. And like the rest of the motor carrier industry, IT professionals


WITHOUT THE FOOTAGE, A JUDGE OR JURY LIKELY WOULD HAVE FOUND THE BIG, BAD TRUCKING COMPANY LIABLE FOR THE ACCIDENT. WITH IT, JETCO DELIVERY ISN’T LIABLE.


will be a big part of its future. Kristynik, 34, grew up with technolo-


gy and has a manufacturing and financial background, so he’s seen how IT has impacted other industries and embraces the change. For older members of the trucking


industry, however, the transition to a tech- nology-based mindset is a major adjust- ment. Trucking long has been based on relationships, experience and gut instincts.


The new paradigm doesn’t do away with all that good stuff, but it also includes a heavy reliance on data. While computers generate the data, humans have to program it, input it, and interpret it. Those people have to be found, recruited and hired. “You’re just getting to an age where in


my mind, the baby boomer-type popula- tion that’s starting to retire, and the mil- lennial group that’s coming in, this is the


Continues Summer 2015 25


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68