International Truck is creating an industry forum, UPNEXT, where visionaries of the commercial trucking industry can come together to discuss emerging trends and topics that are driving industry change.
"There's a clear need for concerted industry dialogue on the new technologies that everyone is discussing and that will revolutionize the way we all do business – technologies like electrification, digital supply chain, autonomous trucking and blockchain," said Mark Johnson, Navistar's vice president, Strategic Marketing. "UPNEXT is intended to serve as a central platform for exploration of these and other important topics. Its goal is to spark lively discussions that that will facilitate critical thinking, heightened collaboration and even public policy action."
In keeping with its role as an industry forum, UPNEXT will encompass a number of initiatives designed to spark dialogue among expert commentators. The first of these, which can be accessed immediately, is upnexttrucking.com, which will house critical content related to industry issues. The website currently contains white papers from International and curated content from other sources, including the media and other industry thought leaders. The site's architecture is fluid, and its content will continually expand to keep pace with industry dialogue.
"The industry today is facing a period of radical disruption, when new and existing players are rethinking the trucking industry's entire ecosystem to drive operational efficiencies," Johnson said. "UPNEXT is designed to ask the big questions, provide an expert point of view, and bring together policy makers, carriers and other industry leaders to drive meaningful and beneficial change. We look forward to productive dialogue conducted in that spirit."
