James Hunter Middleton

Senior logistics leader oscillating between inbound and outbound operations, owning everything from international freight and customs clearance to parcel carrier strategy. Known for polished communication skills up and down the chain of command, aligning directors, the CEO, and private equity stakeholders around data-driven decisions and clear logistics strategy.

• Reduced outbound parcel spend by 28% by restructuring carrier mix, renegotiating rate cards, and optimizing service levels.
• Implemented Cargobase for international freight procurement, delivering $200K+ in annual savings and improving shipment visibility.
• Navigated the evolving 2025 tariff environment by building landed-cost calculators, creating China+ 1 sourcing recommendations, and guiding a successful shift to DDP terms.
• Delivered monthly global logistics market updates to executive leadership and investors, covering de minimis changes, freight indices, macro trends, and supply chain risk.
• Developed comprehensive inbound and outbound analytics: PO transit times, carrier on-time delivery,
  SLA performance, cost-per-order, and complete order-to-delivery metrics.
• Built and maintained KPI dashboards and daily pivot-driven reporting used by Operations, Finance, Inventory Planning, and leadership.
• Authored SOPs for associates and area managers, standardizing receiving, routing, freight booking, and escalation workflows.
• Led cross-functional logistics strategy calls with directors, the CEO, and private equity partners, aligning stakeholders and driving clear, executable decisions.
• Designed and implemented comprehensive vendor compliance and routing guides, collaborating with cross-functional teams to define requirements, streamline workflows, and reduce logistics errors.

• Orchestrated all international operations for Grupo customers; air freight, air charters, hand carries, sea freight, drayage, parcel services, as well as custom-related activities.
• Developed a global network of contacts working closely with freight forwarders, brokers, steamship lines and other relevant parties to get freight moved during difficult times
• Proposed many cost-saving initiatives and regularly performed route optimization, whether it be through shipment consolidations in Europe or creative container sourcing in Asia.
• Strategically engaged with material managers and supply chain supervisors to evaluate needs, ultimately enabling Tier-1 suppliers to successfully launch new production facilities during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Processed $21M+ worth of invoices, saving our clients over $750K through invoice audits alone.
• Generated weekly/monthly freight spend reports for customers and statements of accounts for forwarders. Executed freight studies, handled daily tracking and tracing, as well as claims processing.

• Built a book of business through relentless prospecting efforts and persistent sales tactics; over 100 cold-calls daily.
• Coordinated with shippers and negotiated with carriers to help facilitate the movement of customer freight throughout North America. I moved any and everything; reefer units with strawberries from Mexico into Canada, interstate flatbed loads of shingles on the West Coast, to full truckloads of paper in the Midwest. This diverse book of business helped me to gain experience with all different types of over the road equipment, requirements, restrictions and so on.
• Managed sales cycle from first contact to established customer sale and maintained solid customer base.
• Identified customer needs and achieved service levels that met and exceeded expectations.
• Developed creative and proactive communication techniques, cultivating lasting relationships in the domestic trucking industry.

• Gained holistic exposure to the supply chain environment and supply chain issues while working with both purchasing and accounting departments.