FreightWaves NOW

Tony Mulvey - Senior Analyst - FreightWaves Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joel Bennett - VP for Product - Metafora - Denver, CO What is Product and why does it matter? Product with a capital “P” is the focus on the collaborative approach to solving users problems through better, more enjoyable interactions with software. Product is the entire ecosystem of product dev, which includes product managers, software engineers, architects, customer service. If you can build a healthy ecosystem, this is how you innovate. How do you leverage your product team to truly innovate? Innovation comes from inclusivity, not exclusivity. This is where “Product” with a capital “P” is different from the product team. As you discover problems to be solved from market research, info from sales, feedback from operations team, carrier reps, outside investment, leadership, you should be developing solutions for those problems with input from all these areas as well.  Your product development team should be an integral part of this process. This is different from just giving your developers a list of things to do. The collaborative process is key to identifying the best possible solutions for the product you are building. What are Software Development Best Practices? Software development best practices are essential for creating high-quality products that meet customer needs. Best practices include things like code reviews, automated testing, continuous integration, and deployment, and version control. By adopting these best practices, companies can reduce bugs and improve the quality of their products. They can also improve collaboration between developers and other stakeholders, making it easier to catch issues early in the development process. Getting Buy-In? Buy-in to making these changes is key. First, you need the organization to buy in. This is from the leadership level. Improving your SDLC best practices and getting teams more involved will raise your overall efficiency and allow you to deliver higher quality work at a faster pace. Think of it almost like applying automation to your development cycle. Everyone wants to identify automation tools, or ways to automate processes, and improving your team is the same. Good developers will always buy-in to these improvements. Many times they’ll lead the effort to make them. While many individuals might be resistant to change, the best employees will embrace opportunities to improve their work. Key Elements: Discuss the importance of rapid development Explore Software Development best practices Explore the importance of a product ecosystem to lead innovation Examine the risks and rewards associated with tech Understand the roles & responsibilities that best facilitate an atmosphere of progress, innovation, and adoption Receive tips on how to incentive change Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donny Gilbert - Director of Customer Solutions - FreightWaves Tony Mulvey - Senior Analyst - FreightWaves Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mary O'Connell- 3PL Expert - FreightWaves - St. Louis, MO What is Parade and why is it an important addition to Ryder Freight Brokerage? How will the addition of Parade impact Ryder’s relationships with shippers and carriers? A common phrase around here is automate what you hate, what kind of time does the average rep get back from using a strong carrier management software? What is the key to carrier retention? What about RFPS, is this the answer to survive mini bids 24/7? What challenges were you facing that led Ryder to look for a solution like Parade? What were the specific features or benefits of Parade that appealed to you the most? What was the decision-making process like when choosing our solution? Did you speak with anyone else (such as a colleague, peer or a consultant) before choosing Parade? If so, what did they say about us? Have you used similar solutions in the past? If so, how does Parade compare? How do you see Parade helping you achieve your business goals? What other factors (such as pricing, customer support, or reputation) influenced your decision to choose our solution? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donny Gilbert - Director of Customer Solutions - FreightWaves Tony Mulvey - Senior Analyst - FreightWaves Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rachel Premack - Editorial Director - FW - New York, NY Can you basically outline how one bill effectively ended unionization among long haul truckers? When deregulation happened, how much of what happened was an unintended consequence? Are we saying here that for the trucking economy to function as profitably as it did, we can still have the same number of drivers but we need to consolidate them into less companies which will push rates higher because there is less competition? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donny Gilbert - Director of Customer Solutions - FreightWaves Tony Mulvey - Senior Analyst - FreightWaves Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Gallagher - Washington Correspondent - FreightWaves - Washington, DC We had the announced split of MSC and Maersk not too long ago, why this bill right now? It obviously sounds like this is a shortcut to the FMC having to go to a district court to say that a certain rate is illegal - what would you say to those that claim this is regulating the financial system of maritime shipping? What has been the outside reaction to this bill being put forward in Congress? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donny Gilbert - Director of Customer Solutions - FreightWaves Tony Mulvey - Senior Analyst - FreightWaves Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donny Gilbert - Director of Customer Solutions - FreightWaves Thomas Wasson - Enterprise Fleet Expert - FreightWaves Bill Priestley - Producer - FreightWaves NOW Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices