The Transportation Industry has been in my family for as long as I can remember. I was introduced to it through my father who was the Office Director of the Motor Vehicle Enforcement division of the Iowa Department of Transportation for many years. I became interested in the compliance aspect of the industry – Federal Motor Carrier Regulations, Safety, etc.
After attending classes at the University of Northern Iowa, I was given the opportunity to go to work for one of the biggest transportation companies in the country; based right here in Iowa. As a Management Trainee I was introduced to other aspects of the industry and learned dispatch procedures, driver hiring/qualification, asset management, and brokerage. My path took me to Los Angeles, CA where I became a Terminal Manager supervising an operation of 15 -20 local and regional drivers.
Growing weary of the hustle and bustle of Southern California, I returned home to the Midwest and took a chance on a small startup 3rd Party logistics company. As a part of this organization, I used my knowledge of FMCSA Regulations and Transportation Safety to develop a consulting service that was used by several large trucking companies around Iowa.
The opportunity of being a part of a small business continued to intrigue me so I joined another fledgling 3rd party provider. It was here that I was re-introduced to the Quality Management Method – Developed by W. Edwards Deming. We realized the principles of Quality Management that have been applied to manufacturing in the early part of the last century can also help improve and guide a service based organization. By using these methods, we helped increase productivity of our business by identifying constraints and working as teams to reduce and/or eliminate them.
These past experiences, a desire to continue learning, and the aspirations of building a small business from scratch led me to join my partners in developing the framework that would become Integer Logistics Group. Our recipe for success is our deep seeded desire to listen to our People, our Carriers and our Customers and work together to find solutions.