Brian McLaughlin, president of Minnetonka-based fleet management firm PeopleNet, has been promoted to president of parent company Trimble's new transportation division.

Trimble Transportation Mobility brings together Trimble business units including PeopleNet, Innovative Software Engineering, Trimble Oil & Gas Services, Trimble Final Mile Mobility, Trimble Mobility Solutions India and several mobile startup initiatives.

The promotion broadens his role from PeopleNet's focus on the North American trucking sector to deal with more markets and more product lines in more countries, McLaughlin said.

"It's trying to duplicate what we've done here to extend that on more of a global basis," McLaughlin said. "It's an exciting opportunity for me and the team because a lot of the team is also taking on an extended presence here with our Minnetonka group."

McLaughlin's primary responsibilities include overseeing global mobility strategy and execution for the new division.

"At the core we have to be innovative, we have to built new analytic, data and application-types of mobility solutions that achieve our mission to make fleets better, safer and greener," McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin has played a role in shaping industry policies on a federal mandate that beginning in December requires use of an electronic logging device (ELD) to replace paper logs used to record driver hours. One goal was to ensure that the policy would provide for an effective ELD today while being open to emerging technology.

McLaughlin has been president of PeopleNet since 2011, the same year California-based Trimble acquired the firm. He joined PeopleNet in 2001.

Q: Why should a fleet use Trimble technology?

A: The reality is lots of companies have come into our space with the ELD mandate. I think why we're different is we have been doing this for over 20 years. We have a deep and broad set of capabilities. It's over 25 different applications. It's a platform that fleets can build on. We can do more vs. a simpler solution.

Q: What drove creation of the new transportation division?

A: We've grown through the years through acquisitions and also geographic expansion. These had some common themes that led us to say let's put all this together to try to drive toward a common technology platform and a common value proposition.

Q: How did you get into the transportation industry?

A: I came over from Deluxe Corp., working with banks. I knew nothing about trucking transportation. In 19 years I've learned quite a bit. It's a contagious industry because of the people, from the drivers to the executives. There's a bond of wanting to do the right thing.