UPDATE: Nov. 6, 2024: Turns out, Forward Air’s mystery hire will be the latest in a series of former CEVA Logistics executives joining the company. Eric Brandt, EVP of business development CEVA Logistics, North America, will be chief commercial officer, the carrier announced Wednesday. Brandt, an Agility, Kraft Foods and Panalpina veteran, worked with Forward Air CEO Shawn Stewart and board member Jérôme Lorrain at CEVA.
Dive Brief:
- Forward Air has hired a chief commercial officer with more than 20 years of experience in global logistics to lead a new sales strategy for the carrier next year, CEO Shawn Stewart said on a Q3 earnings call Monday.
- The executive, whom Stewart did not name upon announcing the hire on the call, is “incredibly well versed with our customer base and the strategy that we have laid out,” the CEO said. The hire is effective in January.
- “Adding this individual and others like him in key leadership around the world puts us in a best position for long term growth once the freight market improves,” Stewart said.
Dive Insight:
The chief commercial officer joins an embattled carrier that has seen turnover at the top levels, with a new CEO and CFO taking the reins since this spring.
The new executive’s first responsibility will be correcting a sales strategy put in place by previous leadership that prioritized volume rather than profitability and “did not charge enough for the level of service that we provide,” Stewart told investors.
“We are addressing this issue and are focused on getting the right mix of freight into the network to execute a sales strategy that is befitting of a global, diversified service provider that we now are,” he said.
Nine months after Forward Air’s messy acquisition of Omni Logistics, the company is focused on integrating the businesses and reviewing non-core assets for potential sale.
“We expect that the magnitude and complexity of this integration will put us well into 2025 before it is substantially complete, and certain work streams may continue into 2026, but we will not lose our focus on the customer and their needs,” Stewart said.
Amid the integration, the company opened a new warehouse and freight station in Miami to provide customers with easy import and export access to Miami International Airport and the Port of Miami.
The facility will serve as Forward Air’s gateway to Latin America, providing direct air and ocean service to South and Central America, the company said. Forward Air opened offices in Santiago, Chile, and Bogotá, Colombia, earlier this year.
