THE DC VELOCITY Q&A
thoughtleaders
A rare breed
INTERVIEW WITH NOËL PERRY
At first glance,
consultant Noël Perry
might seem an odd fit
with the gritty world
of transportation.
Don’t be fooled by
appearances.
WITH HIS ERUDITE MANNER, STYLish bow ties, and dual degrees from Penn
and Harvard, one might think Noël
Perry would be ill-suited to work as an
economist in the earthy world of transportation and logistics.
One would be mistaken.
Perry’s passionate interest in the
industry took root 40 years ago when he
was working on a loading dock. That
passion has carried him up the ranks at
companies like CSX Corp., Schneider
National, and Cummins Engine Co. It
propelled him to start his own consultancy, Transport Fundamentals, and to
be named partner at fellow consultancy
FTR Associates.
Along the way, Perry has built a reputation for delivering blunt, no-nonsense
forecasts backed by a deep knowledge of
all the transport modes and an understanding of the underlying data. Perry
spoke recently with DC VELOCITY Senior
Editor Mark Solomon about the outlook
for trucking, how soon the driver shortage will hit critical mass, and when he
expects the next downturn to occur.
QHow has your economics training informed your work in an indus-
