At Motive’s annual Vision 25 event, fleet operators gathered to tackle a pressing question: How do you build resilience in a time fraught with volatility? With shifting regulations, labor shortages, and cross-border tariffs, the stakes have never been higher for fleets navigating uncertainty.
To unpack this topic, Bloomberg business reporter Joe Lovinger moderated a powerhouse panel with three fleet and logistics experts:
- Karol Smith, Director of Safety Compliance at Estes Forwarding Worldwide
- Jim Olson, former Head of Safety at Republic Services
- Hamish Woodrow, Director of Strategic Analytics at Motive
Together, they shared practical strategies, hard-won lessons, and data-driven insights on how fleets can thrive, even when the future is unpredictable. The following themes came through as fleet leaders and analysts evaluated how to address challenges in a complex environment.
Tech-driven efficiency is the first line of defense
For Estes Forwarding, resilience starts with real-time visibility. As the trucking sector tightened during the freight recession, Smith and her team at Estes Forwarding leaned on the Motive platform to make every mile and dollar count.
“We’re watching everything — fuel spend, idling time, routing efficiency, even which drivers are productive,” Smith said. “Geofencing has been a great efficiency driver for us.”
Estes scaled its fleet with more operational efficiency, using data to optimize routes, consolidate loads, and keep high-performing drivers on the most valuable lanes.
Don’t wait for policy to shape your business
Olson urged fleet operators to stay proactive in a changing regulatory landscape. “Engage with your industry associations,” he said. “They’re your early-warning system.”
He flagged two major developments in play across the physical economy:
1. The DOT deregulation comment period, where fleet leaders can weigh in on possible rollbacks to hours-of-service rules. Olson encouraged fleets to stay connected to regulations and engage in the conversation.
2. OSHA’s proposed heat standard. Olson recommended that fleets keep a close watch on new nationwide workplace heat standards designed to protect workers from the dangers of excessive heat exposure,. Cautioning that they may significantly impact outdoor labor conditions and company policies.
He’s also working with the National Waste and Recycling Association to advocate for short-haul-specific rules in the waste and recycling sector, arguing that “the current DOT framework is written for long-haul, and it doesn’t fit.”
“We need a new playbook,” for specific industry rules and regulations, Olson continued. “Think of it like OSHA, which addresses general industry, construction, and mining. The DOT needs the same segmentation” to improve safety for trucking, transportation, waste and recycling, and other industries.
Data lets fleets read and react to market signals
As global trade shifts, Motive’s analytics group, led by Hamish Woodrow, provides real-time intelligence from more than a million connected devices. One key takeaway from the panel: Significant cross-border trade shifts are taking place as a result of changing U.S. regulations.
“The Port of Laredo is up 49% YoY in freight activity, while the Port of LA is down 20%,” said Woodrow. “That’s a massive cross-border shift.”
Motive technology helps customers spot regional demand patterns early. Retailers are front-loading inventory amid tariff uncertainty, causing off-season spikes in warehousing and border activity.
“2025 is going to be unseasonal and nonlinear,” Woodrow continued. “You’ll need both visibility and agility to keep up.”
Build talent, don’t just chase it
In a tight labor market, the best fleets are working harder to develop and promote their own drivers. In his former role at Republic Services, Olson launched an in-house CDL training center in Dallas.
“We couldn’t keep relying on the market to give us qualified drivers, so we started developing our own,” he said.
Meanwhile, Smith’s team at Estes diversified into Class B vehicles to tap into new labor pools. Their secret to attracting, and keeping, drivers? Recognition and empathy.
Estes runs a “Hundreds Club” for drivers with perfect Motive Safety Scores. Monthly prizes include small but thoughtful tools, such as a wedge to prevent flickering tail lights on trailers.
“It’s a $7 part, but it tells drivers: We see you. We care about your safety. That makes all the difference,” said Smith.
Retention comes from real relationships
While tech enables performance monitoring, nothing replaces human connection. Olson advocated for “old-school” tactics like ride-alongs and one-on-one coaching.
“Where we saw the best supervisor NPS scores, we also saw the lowest driver turnover.” NPS, or Net Promoter Score, is a metric that measures customer loyalty and satisfaction.
Smith expanded on the importance of human connection, such as transparency and kindness with drivers. She highlighted their cultural practices at Estes, which include encouraging friendly competition around achieving high Safety Scores and celebrating improved driver behavior. These initiatives, rooted in the company’s culture of safety, contribute to strong driver retention and satisfaction.
Partnerships multiply impact
True resilience comes from shared knowledge and collective action. Olson encouraged operators to benchmark across industries and partner with public safety organizations like Together for Safer Roads.
For Olson, the collaboration has led to design changes like visibility enhancements in company vehicles. In Houston, Olson’s partnership with Together for Safer Roads helped identify and redesign 14 high-risk intersections to reduce pedestrian fatalities.
“Private fleets can’t solve roadway safety alone,” he said. “You need cities, manufacturers, and carriers working together.”
Plan for the unexpected, don’t just react to it
Whether it’s hurricanes, blackouts, or geopolitical shocks, disaster response is now part of fleet strategy. From Starlink connectivity to mandatory driver check-ins, Estes Forwarding prepares its drivers for all scenarios.
“We train for emergencies. We talk about what to do if you’re stranded or offline. You need a playbook before it happens,” said Smith.
Olson added that Motive’s GPS helped recover an abandoned vehicle in a dead zone, a reminder that tech and training work together to make fleets more resilient.
Final take
In Smith’s words, building a resilient fleet means always being ready to pivot.
“Things are going to change, and change fast. We all need to operate with one foot raised.”
For forward-thinking fleets, the right tools, training, and mindset can turn volatility into opportunity. As Vision 25 made clear, the future favors those who are prepared to survive disruption, and lead through it.
