With our Portland, Oregon headquarters, Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) was very much in the center of our nation’s response to the 2020 racial tensions. Conversely, as a manufacturer of heavy-duty commercial vehicles, our industry has rarely taken a stance on social or political topics.

We used the attention we receive from both our employees and our trade press to take a very public stand, by running an external and internal communications campaign. DTNA is keenly aware that our industry traditionally has been very homogenous, and historically not as reflective of the diversity that exists in our society today. While we are proud of our accomplishments, we also want to honor the promise of an even brighter future, one where all people are truly valued and no group is underrepresented or marginalized. It was our goal through these campaigns to communicate our strong sentiment that racism is never acceptable.

Additionally, we communicated that diversity is what makes us stronger. Daimler Trucks North America is the leader in the trucking industry because of the creativity and contributions of thousands of employees, whose diverse backgrounds enrich both our workplace and the communities in which live and do business. It is important to speak up and condemn any attacks against people of color in our nation, and we ask all of our employees to acknowledge that these are not random, isolated events but instead a reflection of deeper issue that we must all address with not only words, but our actions.

These campaigns gave a new energy to our diversity, equity and inclusion program, and initiated a variety of new actions. Some of these actions include company-wide diversity, equity and inclusion training, executive diversity coaching, expanded diversity recruiting efforts, and by honoring MLK Jr. Day as a paid day of service for employees.