As we head into the busy season for freight, we are excited to announce that we have added two additional employees to help the truckload team with the influx of business. Kevin Bartolin comes to us from Marten Transport where he was an account manager. He will be joining the Customer Liaison side and will be responsible for working closely with the sales team, both direct and indirect, on rate quotes and truckload related tasks. In July we will also be adding Ashley Crawford to our Carrier Sales team. She will be responsible for growing our carrier base, sourcing trucks, tracking/tracing, and collecting paperwork once the load is completed. Once both Kevin and Ashley are up to speed we will transition them to a later shift of 9:30-7:00 CST in order to help cover the West Coast business that has been added in recent months. We know it will have a great impact on how we are able to grow our presence in those markets by having them in the office to assist the west coast sales team until 5 PM PST.
Adding two high-quality individuals like these two could not come at a better time for the truckload team as business is picking up; we have seen a recent turn in capacity across the country with trucks becoming more difficult to find at rates that we have enjoyed over the past several months during a soft market. Now that we have gotten through the first summer holiday and national DOT week, we are hopeful that the trend will swing back and we can get back to a little bit softer market allowing us to maximize margins again. Until that happens, we will continue to see an upswing in the cost of getting freight moved on schedule.
Over the past two months, we have enjoyed record months in the Truckload Department and look forward to continuing that trend over the next several months with the addition of Kevin and Ashley to the team. Over the last 12 months, we have seen tremendous growth and I can’t wait to see what the next 12 months hold for Priority1!
Jason Sheffler, Director of Truckload Operations
