Curtain Comes Down on Another Successful Microlise Transport Conference

It’s been an action packed month. The Microlise team has been in hyper-drive getting everything set for what has become one of the key dates in the industry calendar – the Microlise Transport Conference.

It didn’t disappoint, with more than 1,200 delegates through the doors and a refreshed extra polished look and feel for the exhibition and conference.

While the aesthetics stepped up a gear this year, so did the audience interactivity. A key aim of the conference has always been to get to the heart of the industry debate and ask important questions of our expert speakers.

This year we introduced new smartphone friendly technology which yielded stronger audience engagement than ever. We’re using this information to understand the state of the industry today and the thoughts, challenges and opportunities ahead.

Audience Polling

Throughout the conference, the number of respondents answering questions posed by our speakers and conference chair Quentin Willson frequently peaked at over 500. That’s a fantastic, large and representative sample for us to understand what the industry thinks on a whole range of topics.

It seems that the 46% majority of the audience think the “use of technology” is the biggest opportunity for the industry; and more than half expect to be introducing more mobile solutions in the coming 12 months. These findings are not a huge surprise – but it’s interesting that so many are looking at improving their mobile capability in the coming year.

You can read all of the details in our all singing all dancing Post-Conference Report, written in collaboration with media partner Motor Transport.

Anonymous Questions

Through the polling technology we were also able to ask the audience to submit questions and thoughts as the presentations unfolded. This wasn’t a new feature for 2017, but more live questions were submitted than in any previous year.

Topics included night time deliveries, data protection, the driver shortage, fuel duty and much more. Only a fraction of them could be answered on stage by the conference speakers but they certainly provide an insight into the thoughts of delegates through the day.

In the coming weeks and months we will be inviting our conference speakers to respond to some of the best questions, so keep an eye on the blog for this feedback.

In the meantime, download our post conference report, or check out a few of our favourite audience questions and statements below.


If you’re at the Brexit negotiations table representing Logistics what is your number one priority? 
If there is a driver shortage of 35,000 why have wages not increased in 10 years? Job sites are full of advertisements for £10/ hour jobs. Why do normal rules of supply and demand not apply to the driver shortage?
Would we be able to lobby the government to let haulage firms claim back the tax on fuel?
Is Quentin related to Jack Nicholson?
Are alternative fuels a necessity for express providers to address air pollution issues?
Do you think we should ban deliveries during peek shopping time and commuting?
Do you think vehicles up to 3.5t should be subject to operator license requirements?
Is there a simple test to see if someone has Sleep Apnea? 
What percentage of turnover do you think a 3PL should invest in IT?
Will those not on Earned Recognition be treated more harshly than before?
How can the industry reduce legal costs which appear to be massively inflated even with straight forward or minor claims?
That is the most I have ever seen a lawyer talk for free.
With the advances of Autonomous vehicles would they not be better placed on night work, minimising the risk for both driver and other road users as a starting point?

Download the Post Conference Report