HDT 2024 Emerging Leader Adam Cassidy has spearheaded efforts to bridge the gap between safety and IT at Werner.
Adam Cassidy joined the Air Force because he had always been fascinated by big equipment and wanted to “get to play with more big equipment.”
That was 2005. For the next 18 years, he took on roles that included transportation, security, logistics, and aircraft maintenance. Those experiences shaped his approach to leadership and safety.
Since joining Werner in 2015, this 2024 HDT Emerging Leader has risen from corporate safety manager to director of safety.
“I still love working with big equipment, and I love helping our drivers be successful in their careers, which is a big part of my role,” Cassidy says.
“Had I known then what I know now about trucking, I probably would have jumped into a trucking career right out of high school,” he says. “Trucking is home, and trucking is a blast. I don’t see myself ever being anywhere else.”
He has remained involved with the military, serving part time after he joined Werner, and he’s very involved in both company and local efforts to help veterans. He helps lead Werner’s Associate Resource Group for veterans, helps host the Werner Veteran Voices podcast, and he’s involved in veterans initiatives in the larger Omaha community.
“Getting to merge both of those things, my time here at Werner with my Air Force time, has just been a blast. Over the last couple of years, it’s been fun to dig in and help make a community impact.”
Embracing Technology to Improve Fleet Safety
Technology has long been a big part of improving safety at Werner.
For instance, Cassidy says, “We’re big proponents of the forward-facing camera just to capture the road ahead, but we also have side view cameras and backing cameras.”
His leadership in pilot programs, such as a fatigue management system and side cameras, demonstrates his commitment to exploring and adopting new technologies, the company said in its nomination.
“Werner prides itself on its technology,” Cassidy says. “We love new equipment, and we love new tech.”
But it still requires a thoughtful, practical approach.
“We don’t like to be on the bleeding edge of any of it, but we like to be on the cutting edge of all of it,” he explains.
Change Management is Key to Adopting New Tech Effectively
A key to adopting cutting-edge technology is change management.
“Any good change management plan has training built in. And if you don’t, you’re doing it wrong,” he says.
But it’s also communication, letting those affected know well in advance that the change is coming, and when, and reminding them as the change gets closer.
“And also just having resources built and showing the benefit and sitting down with people that don’t understand the benefit to tell them what the benefit is, it’s critical.”
For instance, when introducing backing cameras to Werner’s fleet, he says, many drivers were skeptical. A common response from veteran drivers was, “I’ve been doing this for 30 years. I don’t want this tech. I don’t need this tech.”
But once the drivers got training and realized what the technology could do, “Almost to a T, 9 out of 10 of those drivers would see the tech work and then say, ‘Oh, it can do that? Yes, I’m very interested,’” Cassidy says.
Cassidy loves helping Werner drivers be successful in their careers.
Communication is also key to making sure safety and operations aren’t operating at cross-purposes.
“It just starts with good communication. Everybody walking into a room knowing that everybody has positive intent, right? We’re all here to make the company better.”
In fact, he says, “I love getting different opinions together in the same room, talking about work related stuff, talking about non-work-related stuff, and really just trying to bring difference of thought into the same conversation so that we can challenge each other in the right way to make all of us better.
“And that’s awesome in a professional environment, right? Werner benefits from that, but also we all personally benefit from that challenge as well.”
Werner Reaches a Safety Milestone
One of Cassidy’s proudest achievements at Werner is last year’s 19-year low in DOT-reportable events.
Accomplishing it, he says, “took an entire buy-in, from not only our department but the operational teams. From top to bottom, from side to side, everybody was working towards that, from driver to transportation manager to safety specialist.”
While the technology Werner has adopted was a big part of that, it serves a supporting role, he says.
“I’m very proud of the part I played, but I’m proud of the part that our team played as a whole to get there.”
Cassidy’s leadership philosophy is straightforward. The key to being a good leader, he says, “is caring for others. Period. Taking care of the people that are doing the work is key.”
Beyond that, he says, “effective leadership is really solid communication, making sure that you have a simple plan to get from A to B, then taking care of the team that’s getting that stuff done.”
Keys to Effective Leadership
He’s also big on professional development.
“I grew up in the Air Force. My dad was in for 30 years. I spent 18 years of my life in the Air Force. And the military, for all the things that it’s not great at, is good at teaching you a job, is good at teaching you and providing routine opportunities for informal and formal professional development in any setting.”
Another key to good leadership? Delegation.
“I’ve done my job incorrectly if every day I have to be in the weeds of today’s operations,” he says. “I’ve got a ton of awesome folks that I’ve purposely surrounded myself with that are more than capable of running the day to day.”
The Future of Safety at Werner
As director of safety, his job is to focus on the future.
“What does this look like tomorrow and the week after, the year after, the decade after?”
Currently, one of his big forward-looking challenges involves not the technology on the trucks, but the back-end computer systems.
“Internally, we are in the middle of a tech revolution,” he says. “We’re taking some old systems that have been powerhouses and workhorses to do what we’ve done historically, and we’re building new tech systems to replace them.”
That’s a challenge, he says, but it’s also exciting.
“I really think that trucking has always innovated. The speed of that innovation is just faster and faster and faster.”
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