The commercial vehicle industry is undergoing a period of rapid transformation, driven by factors such as sustainability concerns, technological advancements, and evolving workforce needs. In this dynamic environment, collaboration has emerged as a critical driver of innovation. The CVBS Fall 2024 fireside chat, “Reciprocity in Action: How Collaboration Drives Innovation,” offered valuable insights into how collaborative efforts are shaping the future of the industry.

Shared Challenges: The Catalyst for Collaboration

The panelist’s discussion highlighted a common theme: diverse stakeholders in the commercial vehicle sector, including vehicle manufacturers, body manufacturers, technology providers, and government agencies, are grappling with similar challenges. These shared hurdles, such as meeting emissions regulations and integrating new technologies, are fostering a spirit of collaboration. The complexity of the issues necessitates a collaborative approach, and recognizing shared responsibility encourages companies to pool their resources and expertise to find solutions.

“Stakeholders in the commercial vehicle industry need to think about how they might work together to go after all the funding that’s available from different state agencies and the federal government right now,” urged Jessie Denver, Lead Advisor, Utilities & Market Development at GO-Biz. “Whether it’s a dealership, manufacturer, or a fleet itself, I would recommend coming together and saying, let’s go after this funding opportunity as one voice. And that could even be a suite of dealers in a specific geographical area (typically competitors) who go after grant funding resources on behalf of the customer fleets they serve.”

Everyone in the industry faces similar challenges, but there are opportunities for innovation and growth, so the question becomes, “How do we start talking to each other?”

Forging New Paths With Cross-Industry Partnerships

Another common topic that arose was centered on the importance of cross-industry partnerships for driving innovation. Reciprocity between collaborators is vital to the success of cross-industry ventures. The collaboration between propane energy providers and commercial vehicle manufacturers serves as a prime example. By working together, these seemingly disparate industries are developing innovative alternative fuel solutions.

“Early on in the council’s history, we would fund something, and then nothing would happen with that venture because we didn’t have a healthy partnership with the stakeholders,” explained Greg Zilberfarb, a consultant at the Propane Education & Research Council. “So now we make sure that we have strong cross-industry partnerships. There’s a lot of collaboration that needs to happen in order to see a new platform happen.”

This highlights the power of combining knowledge and resources from different sectors to achieve breakthroughs that might not be possible alone.

Open Communication: The Lifeblood of Collaboration

The panelists consistently underscored the importance of open communication and knowledge sharing in successful collaborative endeavors. It was a universal consensus that everyone in the industry, from OEMs to manufacturers to end users, must be open and transparent with each other, sharing data and best practices.

Caleb Pontius, General Manager at Rockport Commercial Vehicles by Forest River, Inc., noted, “Collaboration can’t be just between the body companies, but also with customers themselves. Every time we go to a trade show, we get a few folks that walk by and say, “‘Hey, have you thought about this or have you tried this?’ You get some really great ideas from industry shows, and not just from customers and users, but also from just walking around the show and talking with other folks that are developing products that we might incorporate into our vehicles.”

This free flow of information fosters trust between stakeholders and accelerates the pace of innovation.

The Fruits of Collaboration

Collaboration is also key to navigating the rapidly changing landscape of the commercial vehicle industry. By working together, organizations can adapt more quickly to new technologies and market demands.

Obviously, collaboration is not all a bed of roses, as Tony Lista, VP, General Manager of Unicell Body Company, confessed to the inevitable friction on the reciprocal path. “There are some pain points in collaborating with dealers. But there are always truck clubs and like twenty different groups that dealers can talk to about what is and isn’t working. And communication in those groups is definitely collaborative rather than competitive.”

Reciprocal collaboration plays a vital role in addressing the industry’s challenges. Through partnerships between educational institutions, industry associations, and employers, fears of open dialogue between historically contentious stakeholders can be overcome.

“Collaboration is supposed to mitigate risk and suppress those fears,” opined Gregory Skinner, Vice President, Strategic Insights at Escalent, “but sometimes we get so used to our day-to-day work, it can feel like we’re going to compromise our businesses by stepping outside of that scope. Maybe part of this is just having courage, you know, taking a little bit of a risk to go in and start having conversations or poking around to see what’s possible.”

Ignite your innovation engine: Watch the full fireside session and discover how collaboration is revolutionizing the commercial vehicle industry! Or see the full CVBS Fall 2024 playlist here.