CSCMP and Truckstop.com collaborate on supply chain paper contest

For the fifth straight year, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Young Professionals group is inviting CSCMP members who are 30 years old or younger to submit a paper that demonstrates their problem-solving ability and innovative thinking.

This year's "Call for Papers for Young Professionals" contest is sponsored by the online freight-matching marketplace Truckstop.com. Submitted papers must answer one of three questions concerning transportation and freight. The questions focus on the future of autonomous vehicles, how hydrogen-powered vehicles will affect the supply chain, and the impact of regulations on the trucking industry. The full text of the questions can be found in the contest announcement.

Truckstop.com and CSCMP will evaluate candidates on their skills in providing creative insights and innovative solutions, as well as their ability to add genuine value to the supply chain. Truckstop.com plans to create a panel of judges by drawing from its customer base of 50,000 companies and its academic partners at universities such as Texas Christian University, Northwestern University, Brigham Young University, and Auburn University, said Brent Hutto, Truckstop.com's chief marketing officer, in an interview.

The first-place winner will receive:

• One complimentary registration to the CSCMP EDGE conference and exhibition in Atlanta, Georgia, September 24-27, 2017
• Hotel accommodations
• An announcement at the Young Professionals Reception at CSCMP EDGE, and
• A US $500 stipend

Additionally, Truckstop.com plans to promote the findings of the winning papers.

To apply, contestants must be Young Professional or Student members of CSCMP. The paper must be one to five pages long and must be submitted by June 15 to cscmpyp@cscmp.org.

As a data-based company, Truckstop.com is strongly committed to supply chain research and helping to envision the future of the marketplace, Hutto said. The company saw the Young Professionals Call for Papers contest as a good fit with its existing research efforts with supply chain programs at major U.S. universities. It also provides the company with a way to engage with the next generation of supply chain leaders, he said.

Hutto said that many young professionals already have a strong understanding of the macro issues in supply chain management. The questions for this year's contest, he said, will draw their attention to some key micro issues in transportation and freight.

"It's important to help young professionals understand the total scope of the supply chain," Hutto said. "This contest provides them with an opportunity to see and think about an area of the supply chain that they might not even be actively looking at."