Tireless, fearless advocacy

By Michael A. Levans, Chief Editor -- Logistics Management, 11/1/2005

If you attend industry events on a regular basis, I can guarantee that you've crossed paths with Mike Regan, the recipient of the 2005 NITL Executive of the Year Award. You've probably sat in on one of his presentations or have heard him take over a question-and-answer period at an educational conference—usually following a painfully vague presentation by a government official or industry executive.

If Regan is in a conference room, he's going to make damn sure that what's being said has some concrete meaning for the shippers in attendance. He's that rare breed who, even as an attendee, can increase the take-away value of a presentation just by raising his hand and asking a couple of finely targeted questions.

Whether you've heard Regan several times before or you're certain you've never met him, I strongly suggest you turn to Page 30 and get to know this tireless, fearless advocate for the logistics and transportation industry.

When I hung up the phone following our interview for this month's cover story, I had enough material to fill a dozen pages of Logistics Management and fuel a couple of online conferences. (You can read the entire transcript of our conversation at www.logisticsmgmt.com/regan.) We touched on the development of Regan's services and technology company, TranzAct; discussed the current logistics environment, which he defines as "organized chaos"; explored the reasons why some shippers have found themselves "RIP" (retired in place); uncovered the advantages of supply chain scenario planning; predicted the end of cheap transportation; and even tried to answer why shippers aren't more involved with their industry associations—to him, the most perplexing question of all.

"I know a lot of people in this industry," Regan told me. "Let's say I know five thousand people, and I see that same five thousand at [industry] events. But when you look at it in terms of the percentage of people who have responsibility for logistics and freight issues in this country, you're dealing with single digits. That tells me that there are many people out there who are blissfully ignorant…and they're operating in a state of fear."

In the book according to Regan, people who are operating in a state of fear eventually will cross into the state of denial—and it's his ultimate mission to save shippers the visit. "I once heard one of my mentors say, 'You can get what you want if you help other people get what they want,'” says Regan. "What do people want? I think people want to be successful. I believe there are a lot of shippers out there who want to do a good job, want to see their companies do well—and I feel like I have a commitment to serve them and help them do a good job."