Travis Walden
La Fayette
Summary
Dynamic leader and out of the box leader in everything I do - Because I have real life experience demonstrating it when there were no directions to follow or someone to hold my hand. I have always been a leader with a proven track record for each professional endeavor. I've driven significant growth in every area I've ever pursued and become an expert in several different fields of business. My strategic vision and commitment to excellence have consistently delivered outstanding results in all types of business.
Overview
22
22
years of professional experience
Work History
Branch President Chattanooga
SAA Logistics Inc.
Hauppauge
06.2015 - Current
- · SAA Logistics Inc. was founded as one of the first freight forwarders in the country. Once their Motor Carrier Authority was established, SAA began a brokerage firm and selected Me to be one of only three in the country to operate a satellite branch. I provided our new hires a much more streamlined and efficient business model then other brokerages with split business models and over complicated software. SAA Logistics Corporate Office in Hauppauge, NY chose me to establish our Chattanooga branch and made it my sole responsibility. I was tasked with and took care of locating office space, arranging the lease agreements, furnishing the offices, keeping up the property and completely building our satellite office from scratch. I grew our Chattanooga Branch to twelve employees. We organically and successfully developed a very profitable customer base and once again recruited, hired and trained all of my staff, from Office Manager down to the Bullpen Cold Callers. I have years of experience in not only every aspect of managing a supply chain and logistics business but also building the team, organizing an office and holding us accountable as a company to be profitable and reflect positively on our ownership. Each week I was implemented with setting sales goals for our team, training new hires, helping my brokers with customer related issues and assisting managers in the event an executive level associate needed to become involved. Over 3,000 loads a year and there was never an issue that went over my head requiring assistance from my partners in New York. This position was truly the highest level of Third Party Logistics Leadership and Management just short of starting a Brokerage myself.
Head of Flatbed Carrier & Customer Operations
Coyote Logistics LLC
Chicago
06.2015 - 06.2017
- Chicago-based Coyote Logistics merged with us at AAT. I oversaw New Account Development, Customer Sales, Project Estimating, Trucking Rates, Carrier Vetting, Load Posting, Covering, Load Building and Tracking. We had a Customer Side (for sales and rating) and a Carrier Side (for covering and load tracking). Out of over 2000 employees, only two men were assigned to structure and build a third department to service Coyote’s Open Deck and Power Only Customer Base - Myself and another. We grew our new department to 24 employees and substantially increased Coyote’s sales and service for all Flatbed, Stepdeck, Specialized and Power Only customers serviced by the 2.5 billion dollar a year company. My colleague and I were in control of all recruiting, interviews, hiring and training. I gave all new hires clinics on every aspect of supply chain management from equipment type and large projects down to cold calling. I was responsible for not only team building but reporting to executive management all Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) and Metrics on a daily, weekly and monthly basis for the individuals on my team and our department as a whole.
National Account Manager
Access America Transport
Chattanooga
06.2010 - 06.2015
- Recruited personally from outside the company by Vice President Ronald Ramsey. Prospected and developed new accounts from cold calls, telemarketing and exceeding all required KPI’s to the level of Pod Leader / National Account Manager for many large companies such as Kioti Tractor, Sunbelt, and Mears Group along with several others related to the Oil & Gas Industry. As one of the the original 50 employees, for years I was able to perfectly execute our “cradle to the grave” business model by organically growing my team where we handled both sides of the logistics supply chain as the one point of contact for our customer’s sales and operations. Growing our business to nine branches and 1200 employees
Owner / President
Tusco Enterprises LLC
La Fayette
06.2003 - 06.2011
- Walden Outfitting Inc. and Tusco Enterprises LLC was formed in 2003 as my Truck Accessory, Off-Road & Diesel Performance Company. I also operated Walden Log Home Construction for my family business (around for over 40 years) which consisted of manufacturing and building custom log homes. Along with 10 years of experience in log home manufacturing and construction, I also oversaw the logging and transporting divisions of the family business giving me the knowledge and expertise to start my own trucking company, Tusco Enterprises LLC. This has allowed me a much better understanding of all that being a logistics provider is truly about and all that an owner operator must do to service their customer base while maintaining their DOT, MC, Commercial Insurance, MCS-90 Form, CDL, Very Expensive Equipment and a very long list of additional requirements to be profitable. I served several customers locally around Chattanooga and my Cab Card covered me for all of the lower 48 states and some Canadian Provinces
Education
BBA - Business Administration And Management
University of Tennessee At Chattanooga
Chattanooga, TN06-2000
Skills
- Project management
- Supply chain management
- Employee training
- Customer relationship management
- Sales strategy
- Team building
- Contract administration
- Trade negotiations
- Partnership development
- Team motivation
- Social media proficiency
- Integrity and ethics
- Negotiation tactics
- Conflict resolution
- Political savvy
- Process improvement
- Team leadership
- Budgeting and cost control
- Risk assessment
- Process optimization
- Cost reduction
- Creating and delivering presentations
- Vendor sourcing and negotiations
- Public speaking
- Operations management
- Consulting
- Coaching and mentoring
- Strategic visioning
- Business administration
- Organizational leadership
- Negotiation
Timeline
Branch President Chattanooga
SAA Logistics Inc.
06.2015 - Current
Head of Flatbed Carrier & Customer Operations
Coyote Logistics LLC
06.2015 - 06.2017
National Account Manager
Access America Transport
06.2010 - 06.2015
Owner / President
Tusco Enterprises LLC
06.2003 - 06.2011
BBA - Business Administration And Management
University of Tennessee At Chattanooga