Benjamin McNeal
Madison,AL
Summary
Insightful Manager with experience directing and improving operations through effective employee motivational strategies and strong policy enforcement. Proficient in best practices, market trends and regulatory requirements of industry operations. Talented leader with analytical approach to business planning and day-to-day problem-solving.
Overview
1
1
Certification
13
13
years of professional experience
Work History
Manager I, Operations
J.B. Hunt
Athens, AL
09.2019 - Current
- 7+ years of management and logistics experience at various companies that partnered with J.B. Hunt including Central Garden & Pet, Carlisle Syntec, Alabama Paper, Aviagen and currently Steelcase.
- Use a strategic approach, successfully promote, manage and maintain a positive work environment to improve operational efficiency, employee engagement and driver retention.
- Create and execute a plan for forecasted freight volumes and power/equipment needs; adjust capacity to ensure fleet/carrier and equipment coverage is seamless.
- Train on and audit all processes and procedures needed to execute the day-to-day operations while seeking to identify and implement process enhancements.
- Communicated with customers and internal departments to identify and resolve issues with ramp and driver operations throughout the day.
- Manage assigned fleet operations, including, but not limited to driver board coverage, customer service, safety, compliance, driver retention and employee scorecard management.
- Manage financial performance, including, but not limited to cost control decisions, expense management, and maximizing profitability; evaluate and present on design versus actual data analysis for each customer through mid-year business reviews, annual account assessments, preparing and presenting a final presentation, etc.
- Compile reports pertaining to operational, financial and service metrics on a regular cadence and as needed; monitor and resolve deviation from key performance indicators.
- Ensure fleet compliance with all safety and DOT training; partner with applicable internal personnel to address any specific safety needs that arise for individual fleets or drivers.
- Facilitate employee training and development; monitor ongoing performance progress to promote, engage and retain employees in positions of increasing responsibility by optimizing job performance through evaluations, individual development plans and employee recognition programs.
- Serve as the initial point of contact with the assigned customer in order to provide exceptional service and trouble-free account safety, efficiency and profitable operation.
- Provide input in the creation of an annual budget, audit current year performance of actual versus budgeted expenses and provide feedback to internal stakeholders regarding required updates to the budget as a result of operational changes.
- Highlights
- Was able to increase able to increase overall outbound miles at Central Garden & Pet by 15%, overall annual deliveries by 20% and doubled our operating area, all while operating under peak COVID conditions from 2020-2022.
- Successfully managed and profited accounts with budgets ranging from $1,000,000-$5,000,000 through efficient route planning, strategic maintenance scheduling and seizing opportunities for generating increased revenue through backhauls to cover deadhead miles and creating new lanes for account growth.
Operation Supervisor
J.B. Hunt
09.2016 - 09.2019
- 3+ years of management and logistics experience at various companies that partnered with J.B. Hunt including Toys-R-Us, Corsicana Bedding and YKK.
- Built and maintained positive professional relationships with drivers and safety to minimize turnover and maximize ongoing productivity.
- Filled in for absent or unavailable personnel and on special projects related to optimizing fleet operations and achieving profitability.
- Utilized personnel management including training and orientation of drivers and/or employees including the training and assistance with internal and third-party (customer) systems.
- Conducted analysis of fleet operations and profitability and made recommendations for continuous improvement, determined and measured key performance indicators and created, maintained and presented customer-specific reporting and financial analysis through face-to-face and/or virtual interactions at customer locations.
- Managed inventory, assets, customer pools and/or assignment of drivers to balance equipment in market.
- Performed administrative duties such as payroll, driver counseling, accident reviews, filing and documenting, resolving pay issues, invoicing and/or creating operational or financial reports.
- Managed yard including checking/inspecting equipment, replacing parts, completing repairs, etc. and coordinated with maintenance to ensure all regular preventative maintenance services were scheduled on time and all safety-related mechanical issues were fixed for account equipment (as required).
- Worked with drivers, customers and company personnel to resolve service issues, routing and/or planning, mechanical problems, accessorial pay-related issues, etc. as they occurred throughout the day and, where necessary, on-call.
- Maintained company's safety culture to include daily driver safety messages, monthly driver safety briefings, quarterly driver safety training, annual reviews and enforced company policies to ensure DOT compliance and company safety requirements were being met.
- Assigned loads and planned, routed and monitored freight movement to provide safe, on-time service and meet customer requirements, including managing exceptions on that freight and driver ETA adjustments based on pick-up and delivery schedules and other environmental factors on the road.
- Highlight
- Was able to help extend operation during the last days of Toys-R-Us by successfully coordinating the shipment of 50+ containers of baby products for Puerto Rico in a three week period while the territory was recovering from a hurricane that had wiped out all power to the island for over a month. This last push helped extend the lifespan of Toys-R-Us by roughly six months before they finally ceased operations in June 2018.
Set-up Technician
Inline Plastics Corp.
McDonough, GA
05.2013 - 09.2016
- Organized and oversaw assignments to enhance operational excellence.
- Operated multiple plastic molding machines simultaneously.
- Analyzed and performed regular and unscheduled maintenance repairs to plastic molding machinery.
- Conducted diagnostics on robotic stacking system to maintain optimal operational performance.
- Highlight
- Advanced from temp employee to Set-up Technician in under 24 months while attending college full time.
Education
MBA - International Business
Louisiana State University
Shreveport, LA08-2027
Bachelor of Science - Criminal Justice
Clayton State University
Morrow, GA12-2014
Skills
- Logistics Operations (10 years)
- Fleet maintenance (10 years)
- Risk management (10 years)
- Data analysis (10 years)
- Warehouse experience (10 years)
- Supervising experience (10 years)
- Communication skills (10 years)
- Route planning (10 years)
- SAP (3 years)
- Microsoft Office (10 years)
- Fleet management (10 years)
- Logistics (10 years)
- Client relations (10 years)
- Leadership (10 years)
- Project management (10 years)
- Microsoft Word (10 years)
- Technical proficiency (10 years)
- Materials handling (10 years)
- Financial oversight (10 years)
- Supply chain (10 years)
- Microsoft Excel (10 years)
- Microsoft Outlook (10 years)
- Safety Management (10 years)
- Lean Six Sigma (2 years)
- Budgeting (10 years)
- Supply chain management (10 years)
- Customer service (10 years)
Certification
- VantageClear Defense Compliance Certification (December 2025): This certification acknowledges that I have completed the required training for handling classified information in a military or defense contractor workplace setting.
- Pallet Jack Certification (May 2025 to May 2028): Completion of the required training to operate a manual and electric pallet jack per OSHA standards.
- Forklift Certification (May 2025 to May 2028): Completion of the required training to operate a forklift per OSHA standards.
- Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification (March 2025 to Present): This certification acknowledges that I have completed the mastery level for Lean Six Sigma training.
- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification (January 2025 to Present): This certification acknowledges that I have completed the expert level for Lean Six Sigma training.
- Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification (December 2024 to Present): This certification acknowledges that I have completed the intermediate level for Lean Six Sigma training.
- Lean Six Sigma White Belt Certification (December 2024 to Present): This certification shows that I have completed the introductory level for Lean Six Sigma training.
- Leadership 201 course completion (February 2018 to Present): This certificate was for the completion of the intermediate leadership course offered by the university of Arkansas specifically for J.B. Hunt personnel.
- Leadership 101 course completion (May 2017 to Present): This certificate of completion was for taking and passing the introduction to leadership course offered by the university of Arkansas specifically for J.B. Hunt personnel.
Timeline
Manager I, Operations
J.B. Hunt
09.2019 - Current
Operation Supervisor
J.B. Hunt
09.2016 - 09.2019
Set-up Technician
Inline Plastics Corp.
05.2013 - 09.2016
Bachelor of Science - Criminal Justice
Clayton State University
MBA - International Business
Louisiana State University
Awards
- 10-Year Service Award (October 2026): Service award from J.B. Hunt for ten years of service with J.B. Hunt.
- Accident and Injury Free Award (January 2021): While managing for J.B. Hunt at Central Garden & Pet in Cullman, AL, my fleet and I were awarded for going an entire calendar year without having any accidents or injuries.