EROAD director of analytics Gareth Robins has been appointed to two international committees on trucking and freight.
The TRB Trucking Industry Research Committee and the Freight Transportation Data Committee are prestigious panels with membership by invitation only to those at the top in their fields.
The committees are considered authorities on freight data and techniques from a multi-modal transport viewpoint and are run under the Transportation Research Board (TRB). The TRB draws on international research expertise to solve complex transport problems.
EROAD chief executive Steven Newman says it’s “wonderful recognition of the gravitas Gareth has and the work he does making our roads safer”.
“It will strengthen the connection between our customers and those doing research, ensuring that our customers’ issues are brought to the attention of those that can ultimately influence transport policies and roading decisions.”
The TRB Trucking Industry Research Committee reviews a wide range of research topics such as business economics, truck operations, supply chain logistics, shipper/carrier/consignee issues, labour market and human resource issues.
The Freight Transportation Data Committee identifies and publicises data on commodity movements, international trade, freight transportation activity, and the economics and organisation of establishments engaged in freight transportation. It also advises data collection agencies on cost-effective means of fulfilling essential data needs and assists analysts and decision makers in the effective use of freight transportation data.
Meetings for both committees are held in the United States, where Robins is already in demand as a speaker for his work developing innovative algorithms enabling new uses of transport data.
He oversees EROAD’s global transport research projects and is currently working on the use of GPS data to fuel a new wave of transportation research from dynamic risk modelling to fair cost allocation of maintenance funds. This includes visualising billions of vehicle trajectories to provide new insights into behavioural patterns.
Robins lives in New Zealand and has over 15 years of experience in transport analytics gained working in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.
