Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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Don't get Experienced fleet managers would be wise to embrace change. manage to score a gig with a manufacturer. While there's some over-the-road stuff with these jobs, it's usually running vali- dation tests in Canada during the winter or down in Arizona in August, and they have to adhere to strict driving guidelines while doing it. And somebody's got to get the trucks from the engineering center to whatever truck show or dealer meeting is on the calendar. But for the most part, these guys spend their days behind the wheel driving a set route or on a track following strict param- eters set by the engineering staff as they attempt to work out one problem or another on the vehicle. All in all, it means a lot more time at home with the family than fleet driv- ers typically see, and you get to see the new- est trucks and hardware long before anyone else. Small wonder, if you talk to them, that you find many of them think they've found their dream job in the trucking industry. One part of their job is to ride shotgun at media and dealer events when a journalist or fleet executive climbs into the cab and behind the wheel. They know the vehicles inside and out, can answer any question you have and can gently coach a novice driver – or a jour- nalist who doesn't get as much time behind the wheel as they'd like – in the finer points of com- mercial vehicle safety. O 30 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | JULY 2012 left behind Yesterday's technology won't run tomorrow's trucks ne of today's more rari- fied truck-driving jobs is held by lucky souls who I've driven a lot of trucks with these guys, and I've conducted sort of an unofficial survey over the years. I always ask them: Among the dif- ferent groups of people they take on test drives, who tends to scare them the most? Is it the dealers or the salesmen? How about journalists or fleet customers? What about the company engineers or executives? The answer, more often than not, is fleet owners. As GREAT GIG: Manufacturer drivers believe they have a dream job. SCARY RIDES: Some veteran fleet owners think they know everything about trucks. TOMORROW'S RIGS: Forward- thinking companies don't dismiss new technologies.