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XPO Logistics (CCJ Top 250, No. 6) has appointed Meagan Fitzsimmons to the leadership team of GXO Logistics, Inc., the intended spin-off of XPO’s logistics business. Fitzsimmons currently serves as XPO’s chief compliance officer for the logistics segment. She will be responsible for GXO’s global ethics and compliance infrastructure when the planned spin-off is complete.
Fitzsimmons has 14 years of senior experience with premier global corporations and law firms. Prior to XPO, she served as chief compliance officer and assistant general counsel for Revlon, Inc., and as senior compliance counsel with the Colgate-Palmolive Company. Earlier, she was an attorney with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and with Williams & Connolly LLP. She holds a juris doctorate degree from Georgetown University Law Center and a bachelor of arts degree from Northwestern University.
As previously announced, XPO expects to spin off its logistics business as a separate, publicly traded company in the third quarter of 2021. As the second largest contract logistics provider in the world, GXO will be well-positioned to capitalize on the big three secular tailwinds of e-commerce growth, customer demand for logistics automation and the burgeoning trend toward supply chain outsourcing. The business currently includes approximately 885 logistics locations in 27 countries.
Former Coyote executive joins Flock Freight
Chris Pickett has joined trucking technology startup Flock Freight as its chief strategy officer. Pickett brings more that 14 years experience from Coyote Logistics to the shared-truckload freight matching platform.
“As I have gotten to know the Flock Freight team, I’ve been blown away by the technology solution they have brought to market, the talent they have assembled across every corner of the organization, and the mission that aligns it all. I know how difficult it is to execute shared truckload at scale – both mathematically and operationally, and Flock Freight has solved it, period,” said Pickett, chief strategy officer at Flock Freight. “The tech not only works, but it works better and better every day. I couldn’t be more fired up about this team and this opportunity to help create a more sustainable and more efficient transportation ecosystem for everyone.”
After spending his early career in distribution network design and software development and implementation, Pickett joined the early leadership team at Coyote Logistics soon after the organization’s inception in 2006. Chris was a contributor to Coyote’s legendary rise to $2 billion in global revenue before acquisition by UPS in 2015, as well as its subsequent doubling in size to become the second-largest U.S. truckload (TL) freight broker by 2020.
As chief strategy officer over much of that period, Pickett also conceived of and scaled Coyote's Collaborative Transportation Management service offering and developed an original U.S. truckload market forecasting methodology, known to many as the Pickett Curve. This method is widely used in the industry for understanding market dynamics and projecting long-term directional spot and contract pricing behavior. Along the way, he also earned degrees in Industrial Engineering, Logistics, and Business Administration from Virginia Tech, MIT, and Georgia Tech, respectively.
TCA names Erb Transport’s Director of Safety & Compliance its Safety Professional of the Year
The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has awarded Erb Transport’s Director of Safety & Compliance, Tom Boehler, as the 2021 TCA Safety Professional of the Year — Clare C. Casey Award recipient.
The honor is bestowed upon a trucking industry professional whose actions and achievements have made a profound contribution to enhancing safety on North America’s highways.
Boehler, started in the industry as a professional truck driver, and became a driver trainer for Erb Transport in 1997. He later moved into the safety space and has been the Director of Safety & Compliance for Erb since 2008. In this role, he led the committee to design, plan and implement the Erb Pro-Drive driver safety incentive program for reduced idling, speed, and hard-braking incidents. He led the analysis, selection, and implementation of event recorders in all Erb trucks to enhance driver safety and provide a means to coach safe driver behaviors. Additionally, through Boehler’s leadership, Erb has initiated regular monthly driver tailgate sessions, regular online training, and semi-annual driver meetings for broader safety topics.
"Tom is a visionary," said Erb’s Vice President of People & Culture David Dietrich. "He is always looking for new ways to improve the safety of our fleet and to better improve the ways that we support our team of drivers,” he shared. “Tom has been instrumental in implementing several things here at Erb to ensure our team’s safety and success.”
NationaLease honors top techs
NationaLease announced the winners of its 11th Annual Top Tech Challenge, a competition designed to give star technicians the opportunity to display their knowledge and technical expertise in a comprehensive written exam and hands-on competition. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year’s winners were decided on written test scores rather than a hands-on challenge. The top three winners will be sponsored by NationaLease to compete in the TMC SuperTech Competition in September.
Nathan Olson from GATR NationaLease was named the 2021 Top Tech. He was also a Regional Winner in the 2019 competition. First Runner Up was John Norwood from Aim NationaLease, a First Runner Up in 2017, Second Runner Up in 2018, and a Top Three winner in 2020.
Brian Peters from Salem NationaLease was named Second Runner Up. He was a Second Runner up in 2014, a Regional Winner in 2015, First Runner up in 2019, and a Regional Winner in 2020
The six additional Regional Winners include Keran Valji, VEL NationaLease; Matt Dove, Aim NationaLease; Jason Johnson, Bentley Truck Services, Inc., a NationaLease Member; David Petenzi, Autow NationaLease; Dave Trader, Aim NationaLease; and Adam Mendoza, Transervice Leasing, a NationaLease Member.
