Long may you run

Attendees at logistics industry trade shows typically log a lot of miles each day, as they make the rounds of vendor booths in cavernous exhibition halls. But all that exercise is pretty much off the table this year as trade show organizers switch to virtual events in response to the pandemic.

That shift hasn't prevented Rolling Strong, a provider of wellness programs for trucking companies, from keeping members of the trucking industry moving. The Missouri-based firm created a virtual 5K fun run/walk for a recent convention as a way to showcase a new "dynamic virtual races and competitions" feature that will soon be available to Rolling Strong platform users.

The first athletes to use the program were people registered to attend the 2020 American Trucking Associations (ATA) Management Conference & Exhibition (MCE), held online from Oct. 23–25. Rolling Strong also hosted a Health Competition that was held in conjunction with MCE 2020, with prizes that included Garmin and Fitbit watches, backpacks, and gift cards.

"Truck drivers are the ultimate remote workforce," Rolling Strong President Stephen Kane said in a release. "They live a completely mobile lifestyle every day so we have always strived to make the Rolling Strong platform 100% virtual. We've been working on adding and enhancing those capabilities since before the Covid-19 pandemic made virtual offerings a necessity for many companies and associations. When ATA asked us to create a virtual 5K for MCE, an event we have long sponsored, it was the perfect opportunity to put our technology to work."