At the Washington State Department of Transportation last year, Allison Dane Camden helped launch an artificial intelligence project with the University of Washington to aid truck drivers in finding parking along Interstate 5.
The project proposes to extend down the I-5 corridor to provide drivers with better visibility of available parking along most of the West Coast. It aims to display real-time truck parking availability information for 13 safety rest areas and six weigh stations near the interstate.
Now, Camden is working in the other Washington, in an inaugural role heading an office created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to develop multimodal freight policy and similarly innovative solutions to freight issues on a national scale.
The I-5 truck parking project and Camden’s leadership at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials are among a wealth of trucking experience she brings to her new role at the U.S. DOT, said her old boss, Washington Transportation Secretary Roger Millar.
Asked what trucking executives should know about the newly appointed deputy assistant secretary for multimodal freight infrastructure and policy, Millar said: “She’s not new to your business. She gets it.”
In separate interviews with Trucking Dive, Millar and Washington Trucking Associations President and CEO Sheri Call spoke highly of Camden and her knowledge of trucking issues.
“I have always had a very positive working relationship with Allison,” Call said. “She understands the specialness of the industry. I was thrilled to see not only her appointment there, but also just the fact that they're calling some attention on a more permanent basis to supply chain issues nationwide.”
‘A good choice to lead’
Call, who has worked for the Washington Trucking Associations for over two decades, cited Camden’s “breadth and depth of understanding” on various issues affecting the industry as benefits of having her at the helm of the new office.
“She was she was definitely a good choice to lead in this position,” the trucking association CEO said. “In the state of Washington, we do it all, whether it's manufacturing, construction, agriculture [or] import/export, so she's got a wide range of experience, and I think she's got a lot of really good resources to draw from.”
Call said Camden recommended her for a position on a community advisory group for the $7 billion replacement of an aging I-5 bridge connecting Washington and Oregon. Officials hope that project will break ground in 2025.
The Washington Trucking Associations helped the state transportation department advocate for $1.8 million in seed money for its part of the joint grant application for the I-5 AI parking initiative, Call said.
“It does not expand parking, but it does provide some technological solutions to the parking problem that we have in Washington,” Call said. “We're looking forward to bringing some technology to our parking situation here for trucks.”
A ‘change agent’ with technical and people skills
Of all Camden’s skill sets, her technical knowledge and people skills will be most valuable to her in leading the multimodal freight office, Millar said.
“She gets the technical stuff,” he said. “She is familiar with the freight community. She’s familiar with logistics and supply chain. She’s engaged with trucking and rail and ports and all those folks. So she knows that environment.
“But she’s also well-versed and very skilled at making government work. She’s spent some time on the Hill. She knows what works and what doesn’t work there. She’s worked in state government, she’s engaged local government, she’s engaged public-private partnerships.”
Camden has relationships with transportation officials across the country from her time at AASHTO, where she served as vice chair of the Transportation Policy Forum.
Those relationships enable the type of collaboration necessary for a multi-state push to apply tech solutions to helping truck drivers find parking.
“It happened under Allison's leadership,” Millar said. “Those are the kinds of things she's been engaged in, the kind of change agent the administration was looking for.”
