Humans Working In Harmony with Technology - The New Supply Chain Solution

Karl spoke with Finch Fulton, the VP of Policy and Strategy  at Locomation, and they had a fascinating conversation around their business model, and how it fits with the topics Business Class News has been showcasing - The Future of Our Workforce.

 Finch Fulton joined Locomation in February 2021. He previously served at the US Department of Transportation under Secretary Elaine Chao from 2017-2021, was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy and was the nominee to be Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy. There, he led the USDOT’s efforts around the safe integration of transportation technologies into the US transportation system. This included the development of key policies and initiatives around automated vehicles, commercial space operations, data, machine learning and artificial intelligence efforts, hyperloop systems, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and more. He helped develop the President’s UAS Integration Pilot Program and Automated Driving System Demonstration Grants, managed the Non-Traditional and Emerging Transportation Technology (NETT) Council and served on key transportation-related White House working groups.

He also served in the House of Representatives under Congressman Jim McCrery and Congressman John Fleming, M.D., in the Senate for Senator Jeff Sessions and in the private sector focused on the State and local integration of technology. He is a native of Mobile, Alabama, a graduate of the University of Alabama, received his MBA from Johns Hopkins University, and has been involved in trucking and logistics through his family’s business his entire life.

ABOUT LOCOMATION

Locomation was founded in 2018 by a team of the world’s foremost experts on autonomous vehicles, robotics, and artificial intelligence from Carnegie Mellon’s National Robotics Engineering Center and trucking industry leaders with deep knowledge and experience in every aspect of the trucking business.

The name Locomation is the convergence of locomotion and automation. It isn’t fixated on one single transport mode, but rather describes our grand vision: automation for anything that moves. We began our journey with middle mile freight automation, the most critical link in the supply chain and the one best suited to integrate human-guided autonomous technology. We’re creating capacity in a world that’s demanding more, faster every day. And from here, we plan to go everywhere autonomous transportation is needed.

We are motivated by the challenge of solving problems that have hindered the trucking industry for decades. Trucks transport more than 70% of the nation’s freight. E-commerce has sharply increased the need for freight trucking services. Demand is expected to grow 36% between 2020 and 2031.1 At a time when demand has never been stronger, persistent driver shortages create capacity constraints that force carriers to turn down orders.