Driverless Trucks - Truckload Associates Will Decide

The American Trucking Association reports that over 70% of all the freight tonnage in the U.S. - 10.5 billion tons - goes on trucks. This movement requires the work of over 3.5 million truck drivers. But what about the people working behind the scenes?

Think of Truckload Associates as the person behind the curtain in The Wizard of Oz. While you may not see them on the highway, you can see the work they perform in getting those trucks filled with products for consumers every day. They are the maestros of selecting carriers, determining the type of equipment to be used, ensuring compliance, and negotiating expectations for all parties involved. The transportation and business support given by Truckload Associates ensures each freight movement is a smooth ride.

Our Truckload Associates are already using an incredible amount of data to make millions of dollars in decisions. Soon they also be deciding on trucks with or without drivers. Here’s an example of one of our positions:

As CaseStack’s Truckload Associate you will help develop the truckload capabilities of the Transportation, Logistics Services and Sales departments of CaseStack by providing support to internal team members, developing reporting metrics and managing carrier relations. Provide excellent transportation support by determining business needs with regard to mode and equipment and sourcing capacity for CaseStack’s Transportation, Logistics Services and Sales teams. Determine types of equipment to be used and mode of transportation to service request. Interview and select carriers. Obtain required documentation to establish business relations including regulatory and insurance documentation. Work with CaseStack Transportation Manager and/or Director of Finance to ensure carrier meets CaseStack guidelines for acceptability or facilitate exceptions between CaseStack and the carrier. Hire and plan carriers. Ensure regulatory compliance and negotiate service expectations, terms and rates with service providers through CaseStack’s booking, tendering and load confirmation process. Maximize outcomes of this position as well as those of the CaseStack team. Represent CaseStack in complaint resolution, rate disputes and service issues between outsourced transportation providers and internal CaseStack’s Transportation and Logistics Services team members. Develop and publish comprehensive reports on service provider performance, including industry trends both regionally and nationally. Support CaseStack Transportation Manager’s analysis and development of carrier infrastructure and current offerings and recommend options for TL carrier base. Seek alternative, complementary service provider relationships to ensure capacity for CaseStack’s Transportation, Logistics Services and Sales teams. 

And, thanks to our millennial team members...

We’ve embraced a more millennial-friendly culture here, so we can include the hearts and minds of today’s great people. You’ll find more food and drinks in the offices, health & wellness programs, sports teams (sometimes volleyball, softball or soccer), holiday events (Halloween contests, potlucks and parties). Your colleagues are dressed casually, and we’ve sourced discounts at health clubs, movies theaters, cultural events, and even apartments in some areas. ...more to come. 

Millenials or not, the whole team appreciates the more significant elements of the CaseStack culture that have seen the Company recognized as a "Best Places to Work" in two states for over five years running. The organization is known for:

• Freedom to be creative, take initiative and make things happen
• Direct access to company executives regardless of title
• Employee feedback surveys (that actually implement suggestions)
• Transparency and open communication
• Freedom to share opinion and respect for differing opinions
• Mentorship to grow and improve with a “never stop learning” mentality
• Encouragement and feedback
• Family atmosphere that feels more like home than work
• Ability to be part of decision-making processes
• Dedication to educating employees
• Support of entrepreneurial efforts and outside projects
• Challenging and rewarding work
• Fun work environment

It may sound unusual, but the whole team should thank millennials. When CaseStack started in Santa Monica in early 2000, it sought to replicate the usual large-company environment. After all, although CaseStack was always a highly tech-enabled company, it was still in a staid vertical (i.e. Supply Chain Management). 

Fast-forward to now, and times have changed. CaseStack has embraced its tech-centric and people-centric culture. Now that we are larger, we don't need to act large. We need to foster the entrepreneurial, can-do, merit-based attitude that got us here. None of it would be remotely possible without the pioneers who worked as early-CaseStack led changes in the industry. But, more recently, the millennials are shaking up the place.

Thanks to the early pioneers at the Company, everyone has a strong set of typical corporate benefits, but the new generation isn't wowed by that stuff. They are interested in how the culture of a business speaks to them. They've grown up with a startup mentality and embrace iteration and even fast-failure that leads to learning and results. They understand and embrace collaborative technologies. And, what looks like impatience translates into a demand for quick organizational action. More important, millennials are a driving force towards significant, scalable, and lasting social change that will benefit everyone, whether it’s about the environment, socioeconomic diversity, or just a healthier work-life integration.

Dan is the President and CEO of CaseStack, Advisory Director to SupplyPike, and the author of Collaborate: The Art of We. You can check out Dan's Instagram.