2023 FSC SPEAKERS

David Roy Akers is an American former football placekicker who played in the National Football League for 16 seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. He began his career in 1998 with the Washington Redskins. During his career, Akers was named to six Pro Bowls and twice received first-team All-Pro honors. He also tied the then-NFL record for the longest successful field goal when he converted a 63-yard field goal, which is the third-longest in league history. Akers is an inductee of the Eagles Hall of Fame and a member of the Eagles’ 75th Anniversary Team, along with being named to the second-team of the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team.

Andy is a sailor of uncharted waters; a tech native, Andy has a decade of emerging technology experience with leading manufacturers in the Transportation, Construction, and Mining industries. Andy started his career developing and launching to market award-winning and industry-defining technologies most notably remote-control and autonomous heavy equipment, fleet telematics, and mobile applications. Now with Volvo Trucks North America, Andy champions electromobility with a laser focus on #Accelerating the Shift towards fossil-free transports.

Rob manages a team of professionals that focus on providing competitive advantage through strengthened supplier relationships, reduced TCO, and improved supplier accountability throughout Corcentric supply chain programs. Rob brings an accomplished executive background in product line management with financial and market analysis expertise. Rob’s professional experience of thirty-two years includes managing roles in finance technologies, transportation, construction, logistics, banking, and the communications industries.  Rob has been an executive with Corcentric for seventeen years contributing to the organization’s growth and business model evolution as well as has notably worked nine years as Senior Operations Manager with Ryder Transportation Services where he was responsible for managing vehicle operation centers, marketing, and financial analysis activities. Rob earned a BA and MBA – Finance, from the University of Miami.

Warren Hoemann was the Deputy Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) at the U.S. Department of Transportation from 2003-2006 and a senior vice president with the American Trucking Associations (ATA) from 2006-2017. Mr. Hoemann has had a long career in trucking, including executive positions in government relations and law for the California Trucking Association, for a major trucking company, at a research institute, and in private practice representing trucking companies.

Katie Rabideau is the eMobility Product and Sales Strategy Manager at Daimler Truck North America.  She has been in the trucking industry for over ten years and has held various positions at DTNA including Operations Manager, National Accounts Executive, and District Sales Manager.  Katie resides in Portland, OR, with her husband and 1 year old daughter.

Tyler Robertson is the Founder of Diesel Laptops. Tyler has bootstrapped Diesel Laptops from his garage and dining room table to the largest provider of repair efficiency solutions for commercial trucks and off-highway equipment in North America. Diesel Laptops has been on the Inc 5000 list 5 times, #2 Fastest Growing Company in South Carolina, and SC SBA Exporter of The Year award winner.

As Vice President at ACT Research, Steve Tam is one of two principal commercial vehicle market analysts. Since being promoted to his current position in October 2008, he was appointed to the Board of Directors and became a Managing Member of ACT Research in September 2016. He also leads the used truck market efforts for ACT. Other responsibilities include project and database management and collection, analysis, and reporting of specialty data series. In addition to being frequently sought after as a guest speaker at industry events and giving presentations to private companies, you will often see him quoted in industry publications, newspapers, and business periodicals.

A graduate of Indiana University, Steve has also served in the military and spent time in various accounting positions at two Fortune 500 companies before joining ACT Research in 2000. He has been involved in the commercial vehicle industry since 1993 and has been vital to the growth of ACT Research over the years.

Uma Vajapeyazula leads the Product Strategy & Management at Cummins,  focused on product development focused on creating practical solutions that help customers get their job done while navigating the ‘Messy Middle’ in the transition to zero emission future. Uma joined Cummins in 2005 and has worked in a variety of roles across Cummins including advanced technology development, new product introductions, product quality, product strategy & management.  She is certified in Six Sigma and System Engineering methodologies which are integral at Cummins to develop innovative, reliable and durable products. She believes Cummins is uniquely positioned to create the power of choice and is passionate to drive scale in lower emission products including Natural Gas, Gasoline, Hydrogen internal combustion engines that do not compromise on power needed to get the job done. Uma’s experience working closely with truck manufacturers, fleets and end users helps her drive product development through the lens of customer’s needs.

Matt Wetta is the National Account Manager for Alternative Powertrain with Peterbilt Motors Company. He has 18 years of trucking experience and brings that knowledge to the BEV/FCEV space, where he is responsible for sales of these vehicles at Peterbilt.