Fleet Forward Blog

Our industry is changing. Just like our association members, I’ve seen that in my own fleet operations every day.

But we aren’t standing still, and I’m proud of the many positive ways our industry is evolving, from new apps to new business lines to a renewed focus on customer service.

Many of these changes that may be well-known inside your companies, while other changes may not have attracted attention outside of your own operations, either among the public or your industry peers. We aim to change that, with a new TLPA initiative called “Fleet Forward.”

The underlying idea boils down to this: TLPA members can inspire others in the industry with new ways of doing business. To do this, we aim to strengthen internal messaging to current and prospective TLPA members and, when possible, help tell those stories to broader audiences. And in order in order for this to work best, we want to hear from you.

The new TLPA “Fleet Forward” initiative aims to tell their positive stories of the association and its members using an array of communications tools, from social media to video to earned media, and more. Specifically, the plan includes:

• A greater focus on using social media to communicate our messages and ideas. So if you’re not on social media, now is the time to open that Twitter and Facebook account and join our conversation!
• Creating more videos. We used video effectively during our Legislative Fly-In Event in June of this year. We plan to be doing more of this in the future using short, compelling, informative and fun videos.
• In everything we do, we hope to shine a brighter light on some of the exceptional women leaders within the transportation industry. From blogs to social media posts to assistance with generating media coverage, it is important that we illustrate the growing gender diversity of the industry.
• We will use webinars as a way to create additional informational and educational opportunities for members in the times in-between our major conferences throughout the year. We plan on at least two webinars for the remainder of 2016. The topics will be chosen by TLPA, so stay tuned for more info on these.
• We will conduct more polling, both through members and the public. Internally, we can help create questions for members, the answers to which might be of interest to a broader audience. Externally, we can ask questions of the public at large through Twitter polls that might help inform our evolving industry.

By imparting new ideas, showcasing best practices, and communicating them through multiple channels, we believe we can strengthen companies’ relationship with TLPA. At times, this may involve the media, but the media is not the mainstay of this effort. Helping members inspire others is the way to strengthen the industry and the association in the process.

As the TLPA approaches its incredible milestone of 100 years of service, there is no better time to focus on how today’s modern transportation industry is moving its “Fleet Forward.”

Do you have a story to tell us about how your fleet is evolving? Contact John Boit on our communications team at jboit@melwoodglobal.com today!