After obtaining my CDL top of my class, I began working for Avalon as a delivery driver. Delivering a load of 5-7 boats to dealerships across the country and Canada. This was very rewarding and an adventure I wish everyone could experience. It did not take long for management to start depending on me for more and more responsibilities including training. After training 5 drivers and having a better understanding of the drivers perspective mixing with the companies perspective I sent an email to the owner of the company. Simply explained how I would manage our shipping department in a different way. 1 week later and a 2.5hr phone call I was in the front office about to put what I had learned to the test. In the last 5 years of being up front my team has been able to lower our cost per mile by 45% equating to over $1.5mil/year. This took looking at multiple different expense reports and creating processes and procedures for the drivers that not only made their job easier but saved money. Of course staying compliant with all DOT rules and guildelines is important also. I do have experience going through a DOT audit and making corrective actions based on their findings. Since our audit our CSA scores have been on a decline falling well under DOT thresholds. Today I maintain all of the day to day operations and safety policies as it relates to the compliance of our fleet of 35 vehicles and the DOT both at a state and federal level.

Freight broker for a 3rd party logistics solutions company. This position allowed me to create great contacts within the industry that I still talk to today. I worked on a team of 4 and we rocked the LTL business. Most business was generated from cold calling which then lead to word of mouth. Echo had great LTL contracts at the time with common carriers such as R&L, Saia, Fed-Ex, UPS, etc. As time went on I began speaking with drivers through our daily operations and I realized I had a lot to learn about what we were really asking these drivers to do. Learning about their challenges and successes and stories of the road ultimately had me hooked and I had to do it. About the same time Echo's contracts weren't any longer lucrative for our customers, they were able to move their freight cheaper somewhere else so business suffered.

Started in the warehouse picking orders after moving to Saginaw. After learning how to operate all of the machinery, process different style of orders, prepare orders for shipments, load the trucks, create BOL - I was promoted to Warehouse Manager where a team of 5 employees and myself worked hard to reduce costs, be more efficient, and process more orders than ever before. This was a great learning experience for me but ultimately wanted to then see how the process worked from there. A few friends of mine are freight brokers so I left this position to go work for them.

Accounting always intrigued me. Took multiple classes in high school including Accounting, Business Law, Business ethics, and also worked in the school store as an accountant. After High School I met my wife in Northern Michigan and moved up there getting a job at the local bank as a teller. I was bonded and federally insured with this position. After showing my work ethic and knowledge with numbers I was promoted to a "floater" position where they would send me to multiple branches depending on who needed help. Although I would help members of the bank, most of my time was spent helping the managers exchange tills, count incoming and outgoing deposits with the federal reserve, and overall providing managerial support. This experience allowed me to have a more personal interaction with business owners and the transactions they encounter doing business. I did enjoy this job and the people I worked for but we moved to Saginaw, MI when we purchased our first home. At which time I took the opportunity to explore other career opportunities.