March 22, 2017 Vol. 14 No. 06

I’m writing this issue of the newsletter in absentia, so to speak, as it will be published while I’m away from computers and unable to stay in touch. To be more precise, I’m a week early in posting this so forgive me if giant events occur between now and the 22nd and they’re not covered here. Then again, this report isn’t intended as a news vehicle.

One of the more momentous things to happen in the last while arose on the first of the month when Martin Daum left his post as head of Daimler Trucks North America, which he’s held since 2009. He’s now the global chief of the whole kit and kaboodle, as my mother used to say.

I have no idea what a ‘kaboodle’ might be, incidentally, just to forestall any questions.

In official terms Daum’s new title is Member of the Board of Management with responsibility for the Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses divisions. As of March 1 he took on responsibility for all of Daimler’s commercial vehicle operations, in charge of the largest such enterprise on the planet. In his own words, he has reached “the pinnacle”, now based in Stuttgart, Germany.

The 57-year-old Daum has taken over the position recently vacated — for “personal reasons” — by Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard.

PEOPLE IN SUCH POSITIONS often display a good measure of arrogance, and mostly with good reason. You don’t climb that high without being uber confident in your skills. While certainly confident, Martin Daum is also uncommonly down to earth, with a healthy sense of irony and a rather charming ability to laugh at himself. Haughty he is not.

Want proof? During a farewell phone interview in early March I asked him about his favorite moment while at DTNA and he said it was opening for Paul McCartney. Really. A few minutes worth of belly laughs ensued, I can tell you, not least because as the one-man warm-up band he played his recorder.

This happened at the Freightliner customer appreciation dinner held during the 2015 American Trucking Associations conference in Philadelphia, PA. An annual affair, that dinner always features a surprise entertainer, never revealed until they take the stage. Last year it was the Rolling Stones, believe it or not, and in years past it’s been Elton John, the Eagles, and other such mega-stars.

But Paul McCartney was special for Herr Daum.