It’s finally here… Outlook 2019! We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome hundreds of customers, partners and team members to Dallas. Yesterday, we kicked off the conference with some competitive fun at Top Golf and a welcome reception. Today, the real fun began. We started the event with an update from Ray Greer, CEO of Omnitracs, and a keynote speech from Ray Martinez, Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
If you weren’t able to attend the conference, don’t worry! We’ve included some highlights from the general session below and we will share additional highlights later today. You can also follow us on Twitter for real-time updates over the next few days.
The CEO’s Take: A Review of 2018 and 2019’s Roadmap for Success
CEO Ray Greer began our morning with a review of our 2018 successes and an update on our 2019 plans for Omnitracs. Greer focused on Omnitracs’ commitment to leaning forward to driving change and disruption, which means providing integrated, dynamic and intelligent solutions. To support this goal, Omnitracs expanded its executive team with some key hires, including Paul Nagy, Chief Product Officer, and Michal Yariv, Vice President and General Manager of Strategic Initiatives. Their proficiencies with vertical expertise and next-generation technology are fueling the 2019 roadmap and bringing new viewpoints to the existing team of formidable leaders. One of the things that became very clear to the executive team within in the last year is that Omnitracs must collaborate with employees, customers and the community to deliver on its values of integrity, quality, innovation, teamwork and community.
In 2018, Omnitracs was laser-focused on the following areas: compliance, software stability, customer needs and Omnitracs One, our unified fleet management platform. On the compliance front, we saw customers embrace ELD adoption. In the first nine months of ELD enforcement, speeding violations, inspection citations and HOS violations have all decreased. However, we aren’t done yet. Greer drove home the fact that ELD compliance must continue to be a focus for all fleets. For more information on ELD adoption, check out our recent blog post by Tom Cuthbertson, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Omnitracs.
Looking ahead to this year, Greer discussed how efficiency and speed optimization will be the main drivers for change in 2019. Omnitracs is focusing on several areas of product development, including Stick Upgrades, as the downtime for updates can cost fleets a significant amount of money. Cummins, an Omnitracs partner, has been working with us to allow over-the-air program updates. This is increasing uptime, safety and efficiency while reducing TCO (total cost of ownership).
Additionally, Greer discussed the evolution of Omnitracs One. Our team initiated a collaboration with Red Hat to drive an open source culture and help the entire industry move toward a cloud-native mindset. As he put it, “open innovation is more than technology; it’s an open-sourced culture.” By utilizing the open source community, we have a larger network for collaboration and transparency. We can share problems faster and work together on new, innovative technology. Our recent announcement about the partnership is available here.
Lastly, Greer covered our new product innovation focus: Next-generation delivery, intelligent load management, workflow (i.e. improving driver efficiency and satisfaction) and event management (fuel, rest/parking, dock scheduling and maintenance). As he put it, “driver retention and satisfaction depend on using technology to increase efficiency, productivity and satisfaction.” He also pointed out that the industry needs a unified platform – we can’t remain fragmented. An open platform will drive innovation across the entire ecosystem, and Omnitracs has the scale and relationships to be a proxy for the industry.
Ray Martinez: A Re-commitment to Safety in 2019
Next, during his keynote, Ray Martinez of the FMCSA focused on how the government is driving change across the transportation industry, specifically as it relates to the safety of drivers and improving roadways. For the government, there is a delicate balance between enforcing regulations, while ensuring that it isn’t hampering technology and new ideas that are entering the scene. Martinez stressed that the government understands the challenges around ELD adoption and how appreciative they are of the carrier and driver commitment to it.
Stay tuned for more updates from our conference and make sure to follow us on social media!
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