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 * Home
 * About
   * About Us
   * Subscribe
   * Contact
 * Library
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   * Supply Chain Now
   * TECHquila Sunrise
   * Supply Chain is Boring
   * TEKTOK
   * This Week In Business History
   * Veteran Voices
   * Logistics with Purpose
   * Digital Transformers
   * Dial P for Procurement
   * Full Access
   * Supply Chain Now en Espanol
   * The Winning Link
 * Events
 * Blog & News
 * Start a Campaign

SUPPLY CHAIN NOW
EPISODE 1115



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Listen on Apple Podcasts


THE U.S. BANK FREIGHT PAYMENT INDEX IS A GREAT PLACE TO GO FOR A BROAD VIEW OF
THE MARKET AND TO GET SOME REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE AS WELL. IT HELPS US CHECK IN
WITH HOW WE THOUGHT ABOUT THE MARKET AND HOW OUR QUARTERLY ACTUALS MATCH UP TO
WHAT THE REPORT IS SAYING.

-MICHELLE MOORE, HEAD OF SUPPLY CHAIN AT GAF



EPISODE SUMMARY

In 2022, U.S. Bank processed $46 billion in freight payments for some of the
world’s largest corporations and government agencies. Those payments and the
data that accompanies them are analyzed quarterly by Bobby Holland, U.S. Bank
Vice President and Director of Freight Data Solutions, and his team. The FPI
report includes quarter over quarter, year over year, and full year data and
analysis.

Bobby opened the conversation by sharing his five key takeaways from the first
quarter of 2023: the trucking market continues to be soft, quarterly and yearly
metrics for shipments and spend both dropped for the first time in three years,
the Southwest outperformed while the Midwest continued to struggle, and the
Southeast saw an 8 percent increase in yearly spend despite 16 percent fewer
shipments.

In this interview, Bobby was joined by Michelle Moore, Head of Supply Chain at
GAF, to share and discuss the results of the Q1 2023 report with co-hosts Scott
Luton and Greg White:

• Why national shipment volume being lower than spend indicates there is a
capacity issue

• Signals that the drop in activity in Q1 2023 is more significant than the
regular seasonal reduction U.S. Bank would expect

• How a decline in manufacturing activity is impacting capacity at the regional
level

 

 

 



EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Intro/Outro (00:03):

Welcome to Supply Chain. Now the voice of global supply chain Supply chain now
focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the
technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues, the challenges
and opportunities. Stay tuned to hear from those Making Global Business happen
right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:31):

Hey, good afternoon, good evening, good morning, wherever you are across the
globe. Scott Luton and Greg White with you here on Supply Chain. Now, welcome to
today’s livestream, Gregory. How we doing today?

Greg White (00:43):

And happy New Hour. You’re where we’re <laugh>. That’s right. I’m doing well,
thank you. We’re enduring quite a blast of wind for the next, last few days and
next couple days here in the south. So, um, I saw that Atlanta has some sort of
wind and low humidity warning, both very odd at this wind and low humidity
we’re,

Scott Luton (01:08):

We batted down the hatches, we’ve tied down the flower pots. Even the dogs. The
dogs and cats are all secured. So we we’re not gonna leave anybody behind, but
talk about a whirlwind over the next hour. Oh, really? <laugh>, we’re gonna be
diving into all sorts of supply chain freight, business market observations.
Yeah. As we’re gonna be sharing key insights, Greg, from one of the leading
transportation industry resources, the US Bank Freight Payment Index for Q1
2023. So, Greg, we wanna invite folks to access and, and go ahead and download a
copy of the freight payment index so they can fall along and mark it up as we,
we dive into it over the next hour. And folks, as you can see there, uh, and if
you’re listening to this replay, you can check it out at Freight. It’s really
easy. Really easy freight.us bank.com to get your own copy.

Scott Luton (02:01):

All right. So Greg, uh, before we introduce our guests, so we’re gonna be, um,
uh, having one guest, one business leader, really focused heavily on what the
data is showing, right? And then we’re gonna have our other, uh, guests and
business leader focused more heavily on expertise in terms of what’s going on
out in the marketplace. Right? Right. So, before we introduce our guests, uh,
we’ve really enjoyed this ongoing collaboration with US Bank, as it’s one of the
leading financial institutions involved, empowering the transportation industry
forward, the backbone, as we all know, of the global supply chain community. Uh,
tell us more, Greg, what, what have been your thoughts of this series?

Greg White (02:42):

Well, uh, my thoughts have been the skyrocketing growth. I, I can’t even
remember what the number was, uh, in billions of transactions back in 2019. Is
that when we started this?

Scott Luton (02:55):

I think so, yeah. Yeah.

Greg White (02:56):

And now, uh, US Bank is processing 46 billion worth of transactions it did in
2022. Um, and that’s one of the biggest reasons. I mean, there are, you know,
millions of transactions in that data. And they are like, we often encourage,
and people are trying to do in the supply chain, they are taking advantage of
that data to give you insights into what has happened and let you decide what
might happen using that information, uh, in the future. Right. Uh, and this one,
this time around some really interesting, um, insights and really interesting
offsets, right? Some regions doing really great, some doing really poorly. Um,
it, it’s, you know, going through it this time, it really made me think about,
uh, how valuable this information is and what it can tell you. And, and also it
does tell you some of the reasons behind that. And we’re gonna talk about that
in just a little bit.

Scott Luton (03:59):

That’s right. The gift it keeps on giving. And really quick folks, again, uh,
focusing on shipments and spend as our graphic here indicates. And if you wanna
download a copy, Greg mentioned the five different regions that it really dives
into, coast to coast. Again, freight.us bank.com. Okay, Greg, we’ve got folks,
uh, we’ve got Juan Garza with us. We’ve got John Peterson from Marietta. Uh, man
Gore from Bangladesh. Great to see everybody. Uh, Juan is in Dubai, so welcome.
It’s definitely a, a global, uh, global conversation here today. But Greg, are
you ready? We’ve got two outstanding guests. Are you ready to bring these folks
in?

Greg White (04:39):

Let’s do it.

Scott Luton (04:39):

Let’s do it. So I gonna welcome in, uh, first Bobby Holland, director Freight
Data Solutions at US Bank. And Michelle Moore, senior vice President, integrated
supply chain at G A F. Hey. Hey, Michelle. How you doing?

Michelle Moore (04:54):

Hey, thanks for having me today.

Scott Luton (04:55):

Well, great to see you. I really enjoyed our pre-show conversations and back by
demand again, Bobby Holland. How you doing? Doing

Bobby Holland (05:02):

Well. Good morning, good afternoon,

Scott Luton (05:04):

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Uh, tell ya all the bases covered.
That’s right, Bobby. Well, you know what, Greg? Yes. Uh, Bobby just gave us a
perfect segue because we are combining two of our, how

Greg White (05:19):

Does he do it?

Scott Luton (05:20):

<laugh>? I don’t know. Uh, we’re gonna be combining two of our favorite topics
here cause I wanna pose a little fun warmup question before we get into some of
the key takeaways and the rest of our conversation. So yeah, we’re combining
sports and food. And Michelle, we’re gonna start with you because as, um, as we
learned in our pre-show conversations, you’re a big sports fan, a big
Philadelphia sports fan, man, it’s a good time to be, uh, Philadelphia sports
fan. Right? So the question is, for all three of y’all, Michelle, when you and
the family are sitting down for, uh, an Eagles game or a 76 ERs game or
whatever, what is one food dish that has to be on the table, Michelle?

Michelle Moore (05:58):

So, I thought about that question, and everybody that thinks about Philadelphia
of course thinks of cheesecakes typically from a couple of venues called Pats or
Gino’s, and Right. Usually there’s a debate about Pats or Gino’s. I’ve been to
both, to be honest. I like them both. I couldn’t tell you which one I like
better. Uh, it’s a new experience every time, but I’m gonna give a local plug.
Um, okay. We would buy chicken cheese steaks from, from a family owned business,
uh, where we know the owners not too far away in Delaware County, Pennsylvania,
Marcos. So Marcos chicken and cheese steaks would be our choice.

Scott Luton (06:33):

Marcos Mar, big shout out to the Marcos family. I’m gonna have to check that
out, Michelle. Yeah. Good market Intel and it, Greg.

Greg White (06:40):

Yeah, that’s great. Local knowledge. I love finding places like that. Also, you
wait in the line for less time than you do at Pat or Gino’s. <laugh>. I have to
ask you, Michelle, with or without.

Scott Luton (06:55):

Oh. All right. So Bobby, uh, Michelle said a high bar, but what about you when
you’re gathered with your family for sports event or whatever, what’s one food
dish that’s gotta be part of that?

Bobby Holland (07:05):

Wings, of course.

Scott Luton (07:07):

Okay. Wings where the hotter, the better, the

Bobby Holland (07:10):

Hotter, the better. Um, of course, I live in the area known for being the, the,
the home of the buffalo wing. That’s right. We live in Buffalo. I live close.

Scott Luton (07:20):

Okay. The, an the famous anchor, anchor bar, which I think has got the best
claim to the birthplace. Okay. So we’ve got, uh, uh, Philly chicken Philly
sandwiches from Michelle. We got hot, hot, hot wings with Bobby. Greg rounded
out for us. What’s gotta be part of the, the white family’s, uh, tailgating,

Greg White (07:40):

Barbecue ribs. What else? Right? Beef.

Scott Luton (07:42):

Beef or pork

Greg White (07:43):

Barbecue ribs in the, oh, beef, definitely, definitely beef. Yeah. Okay. I mean,
I didn’t even know you’d barbecued pork, honestly, until, oh my gosh, I feel
like I missed half my life. <laugh>. Um, so I, I also didn’t know that you could
use barbecue sauce. You know, when I was a kid, you got your hand slapped if you
use barbecue sauce, but yeah, if we we’re tailgating, um, or really eating at
any event, there’s gonna be hard there.

Scott Luton (08:13):

Okay, man. All right. So now everybody’s hungry, right? And we’re enjoying, uh,
wonderful sports seasons. We gotta get in here and jump in, uh, jump into the
freight conversation. So Bobby, uh, we value his name. Yeah, that’s right. If
you got some of his wings, Hey, shoot, shoot some to us, wouldn’t you, uh,
<laugh> we value your quarterly insights and perspective as we’ve done this,
this show going back several years, as Greg mentioned on the front end as our
global audience members, that, uh, we we’re recognizing some of those folks on
the front end as well. So I wanna start today with just sharing a quick sneak
peek of five key takeaways from the first quarter 2023 freight payment index. So
we’re gonna dive in deeper the second half of the show. So Bobby, what are those
five key takeaways?

Bobby Holland (09:00):

The five key takeaways are first, that the Q1 2023 results reflect a continued
soft trucking market. Okay. Second is that this is the first time in three years
that we’ve had both quarterly and yearly drops in both, uh, the metrics of the
shipments and spend. Yep. Uh, in this quarter we saw that the Southwest, uh,
outperforms the other regions for the third consecutive quarter. Uh, Midwest
region is still struggling, posting declines in three of the four metrics, you
know, shipments spend right quarter of a quarter year over year. And then
finally that the Southeast saw a almost 8% increase in yearly spend, despite
over 16% fewer shipments. Wow. And we’ll delve into what those mean as we go
through.

Scott Luton (09:43):

Okay. So thank you for sharing. So folks, hopefully y’all, y’all took note of
that. We’re gonna dive deeper into each of those five key takeaways, things you
gotta know that’s going on out there in the freight market. So stay tuned as
we’re diving that in 20 minutes or so from now. Um, Greg, let’s get to know both
Michelle and g a f a little better.

Greg White (10:00):

Yeah. So, uh, there’s a couple mine vendors there, Michelle. Um, but tell us,
before we get into that, tell us a little bit about what you, uh, do at G f and,
and if anybody doesn’t know what g F does,

Michelle Moore (10:14):

I’ll start with, I’ll start with G F, um, because they’ve been around a lot
longer than me at g f. So, um, if you didn’t know GF is a, a nor North America’s
largest roofing and waterproofing manufacturer. Um, it’s protected homes,
businesses, families, communities for over 135 years. That’s, so, it’s, it’s
very, very, uh, prominent mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, the fun fact is across the
United States, one in four homes are protected by a G A F roof. I did not know
that until I joined the company. I’m not sure who, I’m not sure whose roof we
have. I know we had a hailstorm a few years back and, and did get a new roof.
I’m hoping it’s J roof, jf roof. Cause we have the highest quality in the this
space. Um,

Scott Luton (10:55):

Let’s make it, so let’s just assume that is definitely a jf uh, roof. Michelle,
how about that?

Michelle Moore (11:00):

That’s, I think that’s good. I think that’s good. I think that led me to this
company. Uh, we, we have over 4,000 employees here at G A F, uh, and over 30
locations, uh, US based, so I am the senior Vice President of, uh, integrated
supply chain. Uh, I joined seven months ago yesterday. Okay. So I’m fairly new
anniversary

Michelle Moore (11:20):

To this. Thank you. Um, I spent three decades, over three decades working at
DuPont and it’s, um, chemical spinoff chemours. Um, and I had awesome
experiences and great opportunities working at that company. I, I never left. So
you might say why did, why did, why did you get into roofing, um, so late in the
game? Right. And it’s because I was looking for something new and when, you
know, when I kind of opened myself up to, to looking, um, I met with some of the
GF leadership here and I love their mission, which is to protect what matters
most. Um, I love their mission that, you know, they’re all about community and
all about planet mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And I thought if I was gonna do
something new with my life, um, it’s getting a little late so I better get
started. So, so seven months ago I joined and, uh, I’ve never looked back. It’s
been awesome so far.

Scott Luton (12:08):

Mm-hmm.

Greg White (12:08):

<affirmative>. That’s great. Appreciate it. Uh, I have to ask you, do you make
metal roofs as well, or? We do. I hope they’re windproof cuz I think I have a g
a f roof in the house.

Bobby Holland (12:19):

<laugh>.

Michelle Moore (12:20):

Well, it’s one in four, so I it might be you. So <laugh>. Yeah.

Greg White (12:24):

Yeah, I was thinking about that. I was thinking, look around. Hope it’s me,
<laugh>. Well, thanks, um, appreciate it and great to have you with us. It’s
always great to have the perspective of somebody using this data or experiencing
what this data represents firsthand. So I can’t wait to hear kind of what
you’re, you’re thinking about, um, you know, about how the industry is where
Yeah. Be going and you know, what this, uh, this index is telling us. Yeah. And
of course, Bobby, we need you to tell us how the US Bank freight payment index
works so people understand Right. The relative numbers and, and that kind of
thing.

Bobby Holland (13:04):

Gotcha. Uh, the freight payment index is our contribution of data points to, in
our perspective on the freight market. It’s a chain based quarterly chain based
index, which means we compare in a same store sales manner each quarter to the
previous quarter. And again, we find that this provides, um, our, you know, our
viewpoint of the marketplace. Again, we’re not the only data point out there,
but we are, uh, a solid one. Uh, the other thing of note is that, um,

Scott Luton (13:37):

Well, a 46 billion, you mentioned a data point Bobby. Correct. 46 billion of
transactions. That’s more than one or two data points, huh?

Bobby Holland (13:46):

Correct. Um, the other aspect of it is the regional. And so with the amount of
data that we, we have through our processing of, as Greg had stated earlier,
millions of transactions, again, we feel that we have a valuable set of data to
provide to the truck freight marketplace and the regional perspective is our,
you know, our uniqueness. And I think when we go through the numbers in this
quarter, uh, we’ll kind of see why so

Scott Luton (14:16):

Undoable Yeah.

Greg White (14:16):

And all of this is anchored back to two 1,010 q1. So 100, if it’s at 100, it’s
basically at where you started the index. Is that a fair estimation?

Bobby Holland (14:28):

Yeah, I think a, a quarterly chain based works a little bit differently, but
let’s, we can go with that and start it at one and then as you start to leapfrog
the quarters, um, with all the adjustments and things we make to make sure that
it’s more a reflection of the marketplace rather than our, our business.

Greg White (14:44):

Yeah.

Bobby Holland (14:44):

That’s how we get to where we are

Greg White (14:46):

De seasonalized and all that jazz.

Bobby Holland (14:48):

Correct.

Scott Luton (14:49):

I like how we’re just going with stuff today. That’s a good theme. Let’s just go
with it. We gotta just go with it here today. Um, alright. <laugh>, Bobby, thank
you as always. We appreciate what you and your team put into Yeah. Uh, this
report. Uh, and folks, again, it’s free to download, uh, freight.us bank.com.
Okay. Michelle, um, we, we really enjoy, appreciate your, as busy as you are,
you car some time out because we love to pair that executive leader, executive
practitioner that, that, um, uh, who, um, the organizations are out there
fighting a good fight when it comes to freight coast to coast. So how do you,
um, and other industry leaders utilize resources like the freight payment index?

Michelle Moore (15:28):

Yeah. So 46 billion in market visibility, uh, hard to come by, especially in one
place. So, mm. Companies like j a f um, it’s, it’s a great place to go for a
broad view of the market. And, and as Bobby said, to get some regional
perspective as well. It helps us check in with, you know, how, you know, how we
thought about the market, what, you know, how did our quarterly actuals match up
to what the report is saying? Mm-hmm. You know, are we making the right
assumptions about the broader market? Um, are we making the right choices around
transportation? So I think it just helps us with, okay, how did we, how did, how
does this show us how we thought about things and where were we off? Where do we
have to course correct? Um, and it just, you know, gives us that visibility. But
if you think about the value proposition for JF is about delighting our
customers, right? Mm-hmm. It’s, it’s, it’s all about being prepared. I mean, we
run supply chain, right? It’s all about being prepared. Um, the better we plan,
the better decisions we make, the better for our customers. And I think this is
a good source of information to help us do just that.

Scott Luton (16:30):

Yep. And Greg, we, we’ve heard almo different versions of that same message from
a wide variety of senior practitioners, right? Since we kicked the series off
our different Enrique Alvarez with Vector Global Logistics join us last, uh,
last quarter, right. And we talked about some delicious food there too, but
Greg, what I mean, that’s, that’s exactly what we hear from folks. When you,
when you bring in the, the freight payment index with a wide variety of other
data and insights, it does help make better decisions, right, Greg?

Greg White (16:57):

Well, I think what Michelle, you mentioned is benchmarking to determine, you
know, kind of how you compare to what the broader marketplace is. And, and
because you all are nationwide, at the very least, um, it allows you to
understand how you’re doing against, against the marketplace in general. So, um,
it’s a great benchmark to understand where you stand. A lot of companies do, you
know, they use it as kind of a jumping off point to say, okay, as Bobby can’t
say, but they can <laugh>, right? I think this is what, where we’re going from
here based on what we’ve seen, you know, this quarter or in previous quarters.
And the, and the index does a great job of giving you that historical context
whenever you see the graph, the chart. So you can do that easily.

Scott Luton (17:41):

Yep. Well said, Greg. All right. So thank y’all for that context. We wanna get
right into, so there’s, there’s a ton, uh, of data and insights from each
quarterly, um, uh, freight payment index. But, but what I l liked, what we’ve
done here is Bobby and his team has put together the five things you gotta know
from the index. So Bobby, what we wanna do is take these, you know, that you
already gave, it gave us a sneak peek, but we’re gonna take these one by one,
we’re gonna get you to expound a little bit more on each of these. And then I’m
gonna get Michelle and Greg weigh in with what they, they may be seeing related
to each of these five cake, uh, takeaways. Almost a cake. And y’all got me
thinking food now between wings and Philly cheese steaks, and you name it. Uh,
so Bobby, let’s go with the first one, right? When we talk about, uh, Q1 2023
results, let’s start there.

Bobby Holland (18:30):

So from a national perspective, uh, we see that quarter over quarter, um, there
were very slight drops in, uh, both shipments and spend. We see that the
shipments dropped, you know, almost double over double what, uh, the spend
dropped, which anytime the shipment volumes are lower than the spend, you know,
we see that as an indication of, uh, a capacity issue. You pay more to ship less
freight.

Scott Luton (18:59):

Yep.

Bobby Holland (18:59):

Um, I will say this was a mixed bag of numbers. And again, those will become
more apparent as we kind of dive into the quarters. But that’s the, the general
takeaway is that we had a soft market, uh, with drops quarter over quarter and
year over year in bull shipments and spend.

Scott Luton (19:14):

Yep. All right. So Michelle, that continued soft trucking market is what Bobby’s
talking about there. Your thoughts, Michelle?

Michelle Moore (19:21):

I’m not surprised. <laugh>. Um, I’m not surprised at all. I don’t know, Bobby,
if, if, if you are, um, you know, the, the government is rising, is raising
interest rates to slow the economy, right? Right. It’s, it’s working, right? And
so I don’t think any of this is a surprise. I think the question is how long is
it gonna take? There’s, there’s a lot of, I think, trepidation, trepidation and
uncertainty out there around how, you know, second quarter and the rest of the
year is gonna pan out. But I think where we are today and, and through the first
quarter, I, I’m not surprised at all that we see slowing <laugh>. That’s what,
that’s what it’s designed to do.

Scott Luton (19:57):

Yep. Well said. Michelle and Greg, you, uh, I think agree with, uh, as I, as do
I with Michelle, your thoughts, Greg?

Greg White (20:04):

Yeah, I think at a macro level of, of course, we’re gonna see all of that slow
down. Um, as the spot market has gotten tougher, smaller carriers have, have
dropped out. Um, mean, I think w when we talk about some of these regions,
we’ll, we’ll understand why there’s softness or strength in various parts of
the, uh, of the country. Um, but overall, I mean, this has gotta be impacting
Michelle and g a f um, you know, housing starts are down, um, manufacturing is
down, um, and you know, in retail is down as consumers start to tighten their
belts. Mm-hmm.

Scott Luton (20:42):

<affirmative>, uh, good point there. Speaking of manufacturing, one of my
favorite, one of our favorite industries manufacturing activity, contracted
again in April and numbers just released, uh, six months in a row, uh, of
contraction there. So, um, alright. So Bobby, let’s move into the second, uh,
key takeaway there. When it comes to quarterly and yearly drops.

Bobby Holland (21:02):

Well, again, that’s why we call it a continued soft softening market. Normally
there, um, are dips in q1, you know, coming out of the holiday season, going
into q1, and then things start to ramp up going into second quarter. Um, but
what we’re seeing here is that this is, uh, three years of, or the first time in
three years that we’ve had drops across the board, which shows that it’s a
little more significant than just, you know, the regular seasonal, uh, seasonal
issue. Right. Uh, it’s just something that we’re, we’re we wanna bring out there
and something that we’re gonna continue to monitor as we process our data going
forward.

Scott Luton (21:38):

And you can take that to the bank. Bobby and his team got their finger on the
pulse. That’s one of our favorite parts, this series. Okay. Michelle. Uh, that
probably doesn’t surprise you either, your thoughts here around the first time
in three years. Exactly.

Michelle Moore (21:51):

Yeah, exactly. I was gonna say, it’s not surprising at all. Um, you know, so I
worked in as a C P O in my last role in at DuPont Comor. So I lived through kind
of the last three years there. But, um, it was the most unprecedented three
years in supply chain history. I mean, I know that I’m biased and I’m only in
this century, but, um, and we don’t know what new normal is yet. Mm-hmm.
<affirmative>. And so, um, all we know is we’re, we’re kind of past some of
those larger global impacts, like covid ho, you know, hopefully, um, finding
drivers. I mean, we’ve been talking about driver shortages way be below way
before, you know, the covid, right? Covid hit us. But that was always a, a
dynamic around, you know, you know, driver shortage and folks wanting to be in
this industry in general.

Michelle Moore (22:37):

Um, but then Covid hit the ice storm in Texas, which caused, you know, crazy
disruption for year, for years. Right? Right. And, and I bet you there’s still
folks that are down and not back to normal even now in that Gulf Coast. You
know, things like that. Things like that. And, and one after the, the Suez Canal
block ports in China closing, this is all causing disruption. And what happens
in those markets is then people need to get mo things moved. And so they’ll pay
whatever it takes to move it, and they’ll do, they’ll do things that they
normally wouldn’t do. So we call that, you know, illogical freight behavior.
Right? Right. <affirmative> so that, you know, costs money. It, it spiked
prices. Um, and we had to do it cause we had no other way. So I think when that,
you know, plays out, and right now we’re in this correction period, I think is
yes. You know, what does that new normal look like? And yeah, I think some
capacity has come out. Um, I think if prices continue to soften, that’ll happen.
I mean, markets will correct. Right? That’s what, that’s what happens. But, but
I think after, you know, the, the last three years and, and, and seeing this now
for the first time, I think, again, not surprising.

Scott Luton (23:47):

So, uh, love that and love that phrase. So Greg, uh, the freight market does not
have a monopoly on illogical beha behavior. We’ve seen lots of that across
industry, uh, in recent years. Your thoughts there, Greg?

Greg White (23:58):

Yeah. Attach market to anything and expect illogical behavior, right? Stock
market, bond market, right. Materials market is, if there’s a market right,
where people are bidding on things, you’re gonna have illogical behavior. So I
like that. I’ve never really thought about it that way, but that’s really,
that’s really a good way to express it. Yes. Yeah. Look, uh, consumers are
slowing down their spill spending and retailers are, are going into the second
year of being jammed with excess inventories. So there’s every reason for, um,
for transportation to slow down, right? Because they don’t, they aren’t bringing
as much into the ports. They aren’t moving as much across the country. Uh, and
frankly, a lot of it isn’t moving outta the stores. So <laugh>. Mm.

Greg White (24:44):

Maybe we should, maybe we should take a look at individual shopper
transportation. Yes, Bobby. Um, good luck with that. Uh, <laugh> speaking of
illogical. Mm. Um, but I think that’s a, that’s a big part of it. Also, the Fed
is meeting today and it’s crashing the stock market. So there’s a lot of, um,
there’s a lot of trepidation. Great word. Um, lot of trepidation in the
marketplace today. Um, and you know, when, when frightened little bunnies do
nothing, and we’re all sort of, as you said earlier, Scott Battening down the
hatches, right? Because so many people continue. The, the number continues to
grow of people that believe that ultimately the economy is gonna slow down
dramatically. Another,

Bobby Holland (25:33):

Another medium size. Thanks Failure.

Scott Luton (25:35):

Mm. Yeah.

Greg White (25:36):

First Republic. Yeah. And, and after JP Morgan put money into him, I mean, after
several banks, I believe Bobby put like 30 billion into him.

Scott Luton (25:47):

Wow. So who would’ve thunk? Uh, Spock was a supply chain analyst with his
illogical observations. Uh, but I say that’s the state we live in here. Um,
<laugh>, uh, thank you, Michelle. All right. Fellow Trekk, maybe. Thank you very
much, uh, for that. Uh, okay, so Bobby Holland, where are we going with our
third, we’re talking about the Southwest region with our third key takeaway,
right?

Bobby Holland (26:08):

Yeah. What we saw was that the Southwest region outperformed other regions for
the third consecutive quarter. I know for there was a period of time where the
southwest was lagging behind because of the impacts due to fuel and agriculture.
But we see that right now, that’s one of the regions that’s weighing up the
index and kind of keeping that at a, at a national level, at a flat line. But
when you go into the

Scott Luton (26:35):

Gas and greens, gas and greens, uh, it’s Bobby, uh, Michelle, what’d you hear
there when, especially when it comes to the Southwest region?

Michelle Moore (26:42):

Yep. So our company moves freight, as you can imagine. We have 30, 30 sites,
right? So we move freight regionally. We use more flatbed trucks. So we’re
pretty specialized in, in, you know, the type of, of, uh, trucking that we’re
using. But, um, you know, we’re fairly specialized. Um, our carrier base tends
to be local, smaller, um, kind of, you know, because we serve the regional
areas, right? Um, and that’s, they’ve been, they’ve been a very reliable pool
for us. Um, I think we have, you know, some great local relationships. We do see
similar data though to the, the southwest data that US Bank has, has reported,
um, with that region being strong, stronger than others. Uh, but we are, I
guess, fortunate that we still have high carrier acceptance. We’re not finding
that we’re not, you know, not able to, to ship the loads that we need. Okay. So,
um, and maybe that’s just a, an artifact of, you know, the, the localness and
also the, the type of equipment that we use.

Scott Luton (27:40):

Yes. Okay. Uh, a lot of good insights. Talk about regional, uh, boots on ground
insights there. Greg and Greg, for you to get your comments. I love T squared.
It’s not a new normal, it’s a growing and evolving abnormal <laugh>, man. Isn’t
that the truth? Okay. So Greg, your thoughts here when we talk about the
Southwest and some of the things Bobby and Michelle shared?

Greg White (28:00):

Yeah. Well, there’s lots more trade, uh, on the ground with Mexico, which moves
by trucks. Um, you know, part of, I think we’re seeing part of the myth of
reshoring being exposed. The manufacturing’s definitely not happening, happening
in the states. Our economics don’t support it. Labor’s too costly, right? Unions
deter companies from bringing, um, from bringing that, that business back. But
they may be moving some man more manufacturing into Mexico and, and certainly,
um, the U S M C A, I hope I did that right? U S M C, don’t think so. Agreement
is starting to, to get traction, if you will. And so you’re seeing more trucks
moving, uh, across the border. And, uh, Houston is a really, really busy port.
And I read in the index that, um, that, uh, some inland ports in Texas are some
up just tremendously. So, um, you, you know, Laredo is on, it’s on the Texas
side of the border. So, uh, because of all of that trade with Mexico, you’re
seeing a lot of that, um, you know, a lot of that go through Laredo. Yep.

Scott Luton (29:10):

Good stuff there. Uh, Greg and those inland ports been valuable parts of, uh,
our infrastructure. Um, alright, so Bobby, we’re moving from the southwest to
the Midwest with our fourth key takeaway. Your thoughts, Bobby?

Bobby Holland (29:22):

So, with the Midwest still struggling, as we said post, they post declines in
three out of the four index metrics. I, again, have, the only metric that was up
was the quarter over quarter shipment volume. And again, it was very slight at
1.3%, but for that 1.3% the spend was down 5.3. So basically we’re seeing that
as an evidence of a very soft market capacity wise, uh, in the Midwest and
Midwest. Uh, one of the things that, that voids them up is manufacturing. Uh,
but in this case, manufacturing is, has been slowly on the decline. And again,
we think we’re seeing that as an impact on the data. Uh

Scott Luton (30:05):

Hmm. Michelle, we moved to the Midwest. Some of your thoughts there,

Michelle Moore (30:09):

So I read, can’t tell you where I read this, but the march manufacturing,
purchasing manage man manufacturer’s index was down at the lowest levels in
three years. Um, so of course again, that’s translating into longer, longer
freight longer.

Greg White (30:28):

That was in, that was in the, that was in the index. Oh, that

Michelle Moore (30:30):

Was you. That’s,

Bobby Holland (30:34):

That’s awesome.

Michelle Moore (30:35):

I’m sorry, Bobby. That’s

Bobby Holland (30:37):

All good.

Greg White (30:37):

Know what he does, he does that stuff on purpose. He puts those little tidbits
in there to find out if you’re actually reading it. So good.

Michelle Moore (30:43):

I did. I read it and it stuck with me.

Scott Luton (30:46):

<laugh> quiz coming up.

Michelle Moore (30:48):

I read a lot cause I’m, I’m new here, so I’m reading a lot of good things, so
I’m sorry, I,

Scott Luton (30:54):

But you make a great point, Michelle. Uh, you know, manufacturing, it’s a big
theme, right? It touches so much so, so many parts of not only the freight
market, but the economy. Yeah. Uh, please continue your thoughts there,
Michelle.

Michelle Moore (31:06):

So the long freight market obviously is, is moving into, you know, more
competitive freight rates is, which is what Bobby’s reporting. Um, you know, for
us we just, we need to be really careful and like everyone else around capacity
coming out, especially permanently because we’re using smaller carriers, you
know, that are more local to our markets. And so, you know, it’s incumbent, I
think, on all of us to understand what that cost position is for our carriers
and to support them, um mm-hmm. <affirmative>, because rates that keep declining
are just, aren’t gonna be sustainable. And we all know what happens when that,
when that happens. And so, um, you know, we can all, we can all avoid that by
helping out the, the mom and pop, you know, trucker trucking companies to make
sure that they at least are covering their costs.

Bobby Holland (31:51):

Our observations from last quarter is, it looks like, again, in the data that a
lot of very small carriers are leaving the market cause of the downward
pressure.

Scott Luton (32:01):

Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, that’s a good point. Uh, Bobby, and thank you for that,
Michelle. Uh, I’m with you. I like that. Your final challenge there to find ways
to provide smart business to, to mom and pop, uh, companies out there. All
right, Greg, I know you’re chomping that in a bit, your thoughts when it comes
to the Midwest. Yeah,

Greg White (32:19):

I love that notion as well because at some point, I mean, it’s not just doing it
for them, it’s doing it for you, right. And g f Michelle, because if those
carriers go away, right, capacity tightens, um, prices go up because you use
specialty carriers also. That’s, that can be a problem if they go out of the
marketplace. Um, then you’re in a bad way in some of these regions. But look,
let’s face it, manufacturing runs on rust in the rust belt and that’s the
Midwest. And you know, we just talked about this a little bit on the previous
point that, you know, if as manufacturing goes, so goes the Midwest and
therefore so goes the transportation therein, that was almost a legal statement,
wasn’t it? <laugh>. Um, so, so I, um, I have to say in the Midwest especially
that I’m not not terribly surprised by this. I am a little bit concerned about
it, uh, because of the, you know, the length, uh, of the, of the potential
downturn here. So, um, but yeah, it’s, you know, it’s something that’s gonna
happen until we, what I don’t know, adapt the economy of the Midwest, frankly.
Yep.

Scott Luton (33:29):

Hey, you, you know, um, speaking of manufacturing, some of these themes, auto
sales, you know, auto cells, this is interesting. Auto cells are picking up
steam. March, 2023 was the best month for auto cells since May, 2021.

Greg White (33:44):

Now you know why they’re picking up.

Scott Luton (33:46):

Please.

Greg White (33:46):

They actually have cars to sell, right?

Scott Luton (33:48):

Well, yeah, certainly. Right? Uh, we’ve got logos, we’ve got, we’ve got all the
parts. Cause Greg, how many parts does it take to, to make a a car?

Greg White (33:59):

All of them. That’s

Scott Luton (34:00):

Right. <laugh>. So, but great signs there. Um, alright, so Bobby, we’ve gone
through four key takeaways with the last couple being really focused on certain
regions. I think number five, we’re talking about kind of home base for us here,
the Southeast mm-hmm. <affirmative>, tell us more.

Bobby Holland (34:14):

Yeah. What we saw in the Southeast again, was that it had a almost 8% increase
in yearly spend, even though according to our data there was over 16% fewer
shipments. Uh, which means that they’re paying a lot to move freight down in the
southeast. Um, it has a, a soft housing market, but you know, again, um, with
interest rates and import volumes changing again, it’s, it’s still more
expensive to move less freight.

Scott Luton (34:43):

That’s right. Um, and you mentioned the ports Yeah, the, uh, ports of Georgia
mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, the ports of Charleston and South Carolina. Um, up,
up really the whole east, east coast ports, uh, for obvious reasons have been,
been gaining big time market share in volume. Michelle, when it comes to the
southeast, your thoughts,

Michelle Moore (35:03):

Uh, the capacity data lines up to, you know, anecdotally what we’re hearing as
well. Um, and I think to, to Greg’s point, and we’ve kind of belabored this one
now, is, you know, the, I think the, one of the experiences from Covid or the,
you know, that we, we do have choices. The other thing is, is that, uh, trucking
companies understand now where they’re, I’ll say rate entitlement is they, they
understand now what, what folks will pay for if supply, if supply is
constrained. I’m not saying that this is a game, but they’re gonna set their
equipment right to get those margins versus, versus, you know, operating under
costs. And I think maybe in the southeast we’re seeing that they’re moving it,
but they’re not, they’re not gonna cave on on price or they’re gonna sit their
equipment. So, yeah. Um, I think there’s a lot of, a lot of, uh, industry have
learned, has learned that since those peaks that, you know, what, what they,
they, what they could actually achieve in terms of, you know, revenue, right?
Um, if they were, if they were more, um, I guess thoughtful about, you know, how
they serve the market

Scott Luton (36:05):

Rate entitlement. Uh, good stuff there, Michelle. All right, Greg, uh, your
thoughts when it comes to the southeast? Yeah,

Greg White (36:13):

Well, since I had a minute, I thought I would try to verify some of the, some of
the pot potential. My, one of my assertions for the data. So you can’t see this
very well, but this is my marine traffic app. Um, I’m, I’ve literally, you’ve
been seeing me look over this direction. There is one ship waiting outside the
port of Savannah and I can see it right there and it is empty. Yep. Um, and
there are no ships waiting outside Charleston, one in Brunswick and zero in
Jacksonville. So, um, this is a dramatic shift from, from where we have been. So
I think some of the traffic has started to move back towards, uh, Houston
because it’s closer to California, which they were avoiding. And also, as Bobby
reported also in, in the index, um, California has largely, uh, you know,
eliminated their backlogs. So they’re starting to take most of the imports from
China and the, and the far east. So it’s just not, I guess, enough to go round,
right? Mm-hmm.

Michelle Moore (37:14):

And maybe we’re moving back to freight logical

Greg White (37:17):

<laugh>. Well, I think we have been for a while, Michelle. You’re right. And I,
I think this is sort of the settling out period where all of this, you know,
even coming back to logical starts, uh, to create disrupt disruptions for a
period of time, and then those will eventually settle out. We just dunno

Michelle Moore (37:36):

Until another normal

Greg White (37:37):

Is

Scott Luton (37:38):

<laugh> what’s next? Something

Michelle Moore (37:39):

Else happens and we all, you know, we go back into the tizzy we just came from,
so, right, right,

Greg White (37:43):

Right.

Scott Luton (37:44):

Uh, but maybe we’ll live long and prosper for at least a, a little stretch here.
We’ll see. Um, alright, so Greg, Michelle, Bobby, Bobby, actually, I’m not gonna
ask you. Yeah, there you go. Thank you, Greg. I’m not gonna ask your question,
this question to you Bobby, but really for Michelle and Greg, when we look, when
we think about what’s to come, right? Michelle, I wanna start with you. You
know, what might we see in the freight market in the months ahead?

Michelle Moore (38:08):

I wanna say, who the hell knows? <laugh>. <laugh>.

Scott Luton (38:12):

Yeah.

Michelle Moore (38:13):

Well, with all the, you know, we just talked about, you know, the Fed and stuff
too. So there’s, there’s still a lot of uncertainty around demand and
manufacturing. Um, but if it, if it broadly continues to slow and there is no
kind of course correction, um, we’re gonna see capacity coming out. We’re gonna
see rates going up and can we, we’ve been to this play before, and so I think we
know the end. Um, it, you know, as Bobby’s been reporting, it’s a regional,
regional phenomenon. I think it’s kinda region to region. Um, our business
maybe, thankfully is weather de depend. It’s much weather dependent of as
anything. So, um, I hate to say we love a good hailstorm, but the weather lately
in this, I mean, you see there’s, I think there was, I don’t know if golf balls
are bigger down in Florida, right? There’s places that are getting hail that
don’t normally get hail. I mean we’re, no, we’re used to, you know, we’re used
to Texas hail, which is always, you know, good, good business. Yep. Um, but from
kind of Minnesota to, to Texas all the way over to the east every day there’s
another storm somewhere. And so, um, for us, we can’t just look at, you know,
macro manufacturing trends. It’s more about, you know, how are we feeling right
now? We’re feeling pretty good only because, you know, the weather’s helping us
in 2022. Yeah.

Scott Luton (39:33):

You know, Greg, I like how Michelle really keeps it real. We’re gonna have to
have Michelle back with us here. I really enjoy her insights. Uh, but Greg, what
about you? You know, Michelle’s answer in many ways was, who the hell knows
Greg, what are you thinking in the months ahead? She took

Greg White (39:49):

My answer. I, um, <laugh>,

Greg White (39:51):

I mean, I, I, truthfully, I’ve never been less confident in, in where we could
be going than right now. The, the thing that really shocked me was the data
about the Southeast, what a stunning drop that is and, and for how long, um,
that’s been, that’s been going on. So, um, yeah, I’m, I I think my tizz is, is
this, it’s really hard to figure out where we do go from here. So I think it’s
good, Bobby. It is in a great place, not being able to give forward looking
predictions cuz it’s really hard to right now, really hard. Um, you know,
there’s just a lot of transition. What the Fed does today is going to impact
and, and affect, um, the economy one way or the other. Uh, you know, there are a
ton of people who think they still ought to be doing half point, um, lifts.

Greg White (40:44):

There are a lot of people who think that they’re jeopardizing banks, mid-size
and unstable banks, mostly not US Bank. Congratulations on being, uh, voted as
one of the most ethical companies in the world. That’s very impressive. So, um,
but, uh, you know, it’s, it’s tough because the, the economy is in a very
fragile state, much like the supply chain is or was, uh, some, you know, some
months and years ago. Mm-hmm. So, uh, I will give you the same, I will give you
any prediction that an economist will give you and I will be absolutely as
correct as they are, which is almost not at all <laugh>.

Scott Luton (41:27):

So,

Greg White (41:28):

Um, yeah, I, I would say we’re gonna start, we’re gonna see continued shifting,
but can’t tell you where, what direction, any of that. You know, there’s gonna
be a lot of path measures put in place to try and stabilize things. So we’ll
just have to see what the effects of those are.

Scott Luton (41:45):

Hmm. Michelle, you’re about add.

Michelle Moore (41:46):

Yeah, I will say that it’s a really good time to stay connected, really close to
customers, to, to your, you know, your transportation carriers to the suppliers.
I think everyone that’s in the value chain, cuz we don’t know, you know, cuz
we’re all connected at some point and who’s gonna feel it first, but it’s, it’s
a really good time to stay very connected.

Scott Luton (42:04):

Yeah. Michelle, I I, I’m really, uh, appreciative that you mentioned customers
and suppliers, right? It’s really important, uh, on both sides, upstream and
downstream, so to speak. Um, okay, well, we are coming to a fast and furious
finish. I wanna share this one again, once more with folks. Uh, Q1 2023 US Bank
Freight Payment Index is now available. You can get it@freight.us bank.com and
give us your take on, on what you see. Um, all right, so let’s make sure folks
that, uh, that our audience, our global audience, knows how to connect with our,
both of our esteemed guests. And then who knows, I’ll get maybe Greg’s key
takeaway here after we thank Bobby and Michelle for their time. Bobby Holland
with US Bank, how can folks connect with you?

Bobby Holland (42:51):

Uh, my LinkedIn information is current, uh, so it’s easy to contact me, uh,
through my, through email and I’ll answer any questions that I can.

Scott Luton (43:01):

Just that easy, right? Easy. And, uh, just like it’s easy to download the, uh,
freight payment index, right? Uh, and I really appreciate how, you know, that’s,
um, not only is the resource, it doesn’t, it doesn’t cost you anything, but it’s
really easy to access and that is not always the case. So, uh, Bobby, uh, kudos
to you and your team. And by the way, that title or that award that Greg
mentioned, congratulations man. We, we need more ethical business leadership,
uh, during these times. So Bobby, congrats. Great place

Bobby Holland (43:30):

To work.

Scott Luton (43:31):

All right, so Michelle Moore, really have enjoyed, uh, your, uh, takes on supply
chain freight and then some here. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, looking forward to
reconnecting with you. How can folks, you know, maybe they want to have you in
as a keynote, maybe they wanna, uh, talk business talk shop with you. How can
folks connect with you?

Michelle Moore (43:49):

Gft, maybe New Roof,

Scott Luton (43:50):

Right?

Michelle Moore (43:51):

New roof, right. So same. So you can reach me on, on LinkedIn. Um, and if you
wanna follow G A F I, we’re on all the social media outlets. So Twitter,
Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, um, awesome. Any of those you can follow G f

Scott Luton (44:07):

Okay. Wonderful, wonderful one. We’re dropping some links in the chat as well
cause we wanna make it easy too. Wanna click away from connecting with our pe
our guests here today. So I wanna thank both of our guests. So Michelle Moore,
senior vice President, integrated supply chain at G A F. Thanks for your time,
Michelle.

Michelle Moore (44:25):

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Scott Luton (44:26):

You bet. And of course, Bobby Holland, as always, director Freight data
solutions at US Bank. Thank you Bobby, for all you and your team do. Well,

Greg White (44:34):

Thank you guys as

Scott Luton (44:35):

Well. All right. We’ll see you both of y’all back again soon. Have a great rest
of your day. Yeah,

Greg White (44:39):

Thanks everybody.

Scott Luton (44:41):

All right, Greg, we got a couple minutes here cause I’m gonna get your, uh, one
of your key takeaways or two. I wanna share a couple quick comments here. Uh,
Dan, appreciate this, um, this feedback, very informative, nice to meet the
guests. Thank you for that. Thank you for joining us. I appreciate you. You’re
welcome. Your thoughts here, a one thank you as well. Great conversation as
always. Juan says very interesting insights. Thank you Scott, Greg and supply
chain, now team. Wait, big thanks also to US Bank and g a f for, for, you know,
not only creating, um, the index right, and sharing all that information, but
being, being able to get a, a senior supply chain leader, you know, to take some
time out from their crazy schedule, uh, to marry it with, with what’s going on
in the market. Um, great. Yeah.

Greg White (45:21):

And, and what is already a crazy time, right? Uh,

Scott Luton (45:24):

Wow. Yeah.

Greg White (45:25):

As, as Michelle, uh, explained very, very well.

Scott Luton (45:28):

Illogical. Illogical. Yes. Um, alright, so Greg, before we wrap here today, uh,
out of everything, we covered all the ground, we covered the data, the views,
the prac, uh, the practitioner insights, you name it. What’s one thing folks
gotta keep front and center from this conversation?

Greg White (45:46):

Well, the staying connected is really important. Um, and Michelle said it, and
I, and uh, it made me harken back to the early days of the pandemic when
somebody on one of these shows said, whenever there’s a crisis, it’s too late to
make friends. Mm. Right. So, um, now is a good time to get aligned with,
connected with be fair too, as Michelle talked about, um, your customers, your
suppliers, uh, your, any of your trading partners, frankly, um, your neighbors
in the, in, in the, uh, industrial complex, whatever. Uh, I think that’s a
really important thing to think about. And also, I think from a very tactical
standpoint, let’s keep an eye on, um, the thing that came up as an issue in
every single region really. I know we didn’t go through every region
individually, but every single region, region does have some impact of, of
tightening capacity because these smaller carriers are, are dropping out. So
keep an eye on that situation. As that happens, as capacity reaches its tightest
point, that’s when you’ll start to see things stabilize and, and, um, normalize
and, and maybe even start to recover. Yeah. So, um, that to me is the key to the
stabilization of the market is, is what happens with those smaller carriers.
Yeah.

Scott Luton (47:11):

Well said, Greg and I would just, uh, double down on the first party response
there, man, get out, shake hands, break bread in person. You know, I know
travel’s blowing up right now, but there’s a reason for that. And as Michelle
and Greg and even Bob, you’re pointing to, Hey, take it off Zoom, get out there,
meet, sit down. Uh, really invest in those relationships, both on the customer
side, which may seem very intuitive, but also the supplier side, right? You
never, it’s really important that, um, you, you have regular discourse with
what’s going on both in their business with you in terms of suppliers and what
else is going on in their business. You can uncover opportunities undoubtedly.
And as John says, Greg, excellent point, Greg. Make friends when you don’t need
’em so you can leverage them when you do need ’em. John, excellent point. Uh, I
appreciate you joining us and of course T squared as always holding down the
Fort force on YouTube. Appreciate your great feedback as well. Looking

Greg White (48:05):

At adaptation of Glen Gary, Glen Ross. Always befriending, right?

Scott Luton (48:09):

<laugh>. That’s right. All right. With that, folks, uh, Greg, always a pleasure
to knock out these conversations with you. It’s one of my favorite shows. Um,
lots of action insights, right? Lots of actual insights, but whatever you do,
folks, yeah, you gotta you gotta act, you gotta act on those actionable
insights, right? Uh, because taking no action is also a strategy, a poor one at
times. Uh, but <laugh>, this, that’s, that’s a decision to be made. But whatever
you do, hey, deeds, not words. Put it into action. And whatever you do, on
behalf of Greg and our, our entire team here at Supply Chain now, Scott Luton
challenging you to do good, to give forward and to be the change that’s needed.
And we’ll see you next time, right back here at Supply Chain now. Thanks
everybody.

Intro/Outro (48:54):

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain now, community. Check out all of our
programming@supplychainnow.com and make sure you subscribe to Supply Chain now,
anywhere you listen to podcasts. And follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter,
and Instagram. See you next time on Supply Chain. Now.





WOULD YOU RATHER WATCH THE SHOW IN ACTION?






FEATURED GUESTS




Bobby Holland leads the Freight Data Solutions team at U.S. Bank where he
focuses in analytics and data-related product management for the freight
industry. Bobby has more than 36 years of broad-based data processing, software
engineering and consulting experience. He has leadership in multiple industries
including insurance, large-scale billing, customer care services and banking. At
the bank, Bobby leads efforts to produce the U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index.
The often-cited Index is a barometer for freight shipping trends on both the
national and regional level. The index source data is based on actual freight
payment transactions from across the country. The pioneer in electronic freight
payment, U.S. Bank Freight Payment processes more than $46 billion in freight
payments annually for corporate and federal government clients. Connect with
Bobby on LinkedIn.



Michelle Moore leads GAF’s Supply Chain Planning and Operations, Procurement and
Supply Chain Risk teams to drive process optimization, functional excellence and
improve supply chain resiliency. Michelle has more than 30 years of supply chain
and business transformation experience as well as extensive experience leading
global cross-functional teams. Before joining GAF in 2022, Michelle held several
positions at The Chemours Company, a global leader in industrial and specialty
chemicals, including Chief Procurement Officer and Chief Transformation Officer.
Previously, she spent over 25 years at DuPont in a variety of business and
functional leadership roles, including Regulatory Affairs, Technical Marketing
and Ore Ventures. Michelle earned a BS in Marine Science and Biology from East
Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania and a MS in Environmental Science from
Drexel University. Connect with Michelle on LinkedIn.




HOSTS



SCOTT W. LUTON

Founder, CEO, & Host


Read Bio


GREG WHITE

Principal & Host


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SAVE & ACCEPT



DEMO PEREZ



Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol



Demo Perez started his career in 1997 in the industry by chance when a relative
asked him for help for two just weeks putting together an operation for FedEx
Express at the Colon Free Zone, an area where he was never been but accepted the
challenge. Worked in all roles possible from a truck driver to currier to a
sales representative, helped the brand introduction, market share growth and
recognition in the Colon Free Zone, at the end of 1999 had the chance to meet
and have a chat with Fred Smith ( FedEx CEO), joined another company in 2018 who
took over the FedEx operations as Operations and sales manager, in 2004 accepted
the challenge from his company to leave the FedEx operations and business to
take over the operation and business of DHL Express, his major competitor and
rival so couldn’t say no, by changing completely its operation model in the Free
Zone. In 2005 started his first entrepreneurial journey by quitting his job and
joining two friends to start a Freight Forwarding company. After 8 months was
recruited back by his company LSP with the General Manager role with the
challenge of growing the company and make it fully capable warehousing 3PL. By
2009 joined CSCMP and WERC and started his journey of learning and growing his
international network and high-level learning. In 2012 for the first time joined
a local association ( the Panama Maritime Chamber) and worked in the country’s
first Logistics Strategy plan, joined and lead other associations ending as
president of the Panama Logistics Council in 2017. By finishing his professional
mission at LSP with a company that was 8 times the size it was when accepted the
role as GM with so many jobs generated and several young professionals coached,
having great financial results, took the decision to move forward and start his
own business from scratch by the end of 2019. with a friend and colleague
co-founded IPL Group a company that started as a boutique 3PL and now is gearing
up for the post-Covid era by moving to the big leagues.



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ALEX BRAMLEY



Sales Support Intern



Alex is pursuing a Marketing degree and a Certificate in Legal Studies at the
University of Georgia. As a dual citizen of both the US and UK; Alex has studied
abroad at University College London and is passionate about travel and
international business. Through her coursework at the Terry College of Business,
Alex has gained valuable skills in digital marketing, analytics, and
professional selling. She joined Supply Chain Now as a Sales Support Intern
where she assists the team by prospecting and qualifying new business partners.



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JOSHUA MIRANDA



Marketing Specialist



Joshua is a student from Institute of Technology and Higher Education of
Monterrey Campus Guadalajara in Communication and Digital Media. His experience
ranges from Plug and Play México, DearDoc, and Nissan México creating unique
social media marketing campaigns and graphics design. Joshua helps to amplify
the voice of supply chain here at Supply Chain Now by assisting in graphic
design, content creation, asset logistics, and more.  In his free time he likes
to read and write short stories as well as watch movies and television series.



DONNA KRACHE



Director of Communications and Executive Producer



Donna Krache is a former CNN executive producer who has won several awards in
journalism and communication, including three Peabodys.  She has 30 years’
experience in broadcast and digital journalism. She led the first production
team at CNN to convert its show to a digital platform. She has authored many
articles for CNN and other media outlets. She taught digital journalism at
Georgia State University and Arizona State University. Krache holds a bachelor’s
degree in government from the College of William and Mary and a master’s degree
in curriculum and instruction from the University of New Orleans. She is a
serious sports fan who loves the Braves. She is president of the Dave Krache
Foundation. Named in honor of her late husband, this non-profit pays fees for
kids who want to play sports but whose parents are facing economic challenges.



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VICKI WHITE



Controller



Vicki has a long history of rising to challenges and keeping things up and
running. First, she supported her family’s multi-million dollar business as
controller for 12 years, beginning at the age of 17. Then, she worked as an
office manager and controller for a wholesale food broker. But her biggest feat?
Serving as the chief executive officer of her household, while her entrepreneur
husband travelled the world extensively. She fed, nurtured, chaperoned, and
chauffeured three daughters all while running a newsletter publishing business
and remaining active in her community as a Stephen’s Minister, Sunday school
teacher, school volunteer, licensed realtor and POA Board president (a title she
holds to this day). A force to be reckoned with in the office, you might think
twice before you meet Vicki on the tennis court! When she’s not keeping the
books balanced at Supply Chain Now or playing tennis matches, you can find Vicki
spending time with her husband Greg, her 4 fur babies, gardening, cleaning (yes,
she loves to clean!) and learning new things.



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BEN HARRIS



Host



Ben Harris is the Director of Supply Chain Ecosystem Expansion for the Metro
Atlanta Chamber. Ben comes to the Metro Atlanta Chamber after serving as Senior
Manager, Market Development for Manhattan Associates. There, Ben was responsible
for developing Manhattan’s sales pipeline and overall Americas supply chain
marketing strategy. Ben oversaw market positioning, messaging and campaign
execution to build awareness and drive new pipeline growth. Prior to joining
Manhattan, Ben spent four years with the Georgia Department of Economic
Development’s Center of Innovation for Logistics where he played a key role in
establishing the Center as a go-to industry resource for information, support,
partnership building, and investment development. Additionally, he became a key
SME for all logistics and supply chain-focused projects. Ben began his career at
Page International, Inc. where he drove continuous improvement in complex global
supply chain operations for a wide variety of businesses and Fortune 500
companies. An APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP), Ben holds an
Executive Master’s degree in Business Administration (EMBA) and bachelor’s
degree in International Business (BBA) from the Terry College at the University
of Georgia.



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PAGE SIPLON



Host, The Freight Insider



Prior to joining TeamOne Logistics, Page Siplon served as the Executive Director
of the Georgia Center of Innovation for Logistics, the State’s leading
consulting resource for fueling logistics industry growth and global
competitiveness. For over a decade, he directly assisted hundreds of companies
to overcome challenges and capitalize on opportunities related to the movement
of freight. During this time, Siplon was also appointed to concurrently serve
the State of Georgia as Director of the larger Centers of Innovation Program, in
which he provided executive leadership and vision for all six strategic
industry-focused Centers. As a frequently requested keynote speaker, Siplon is
called upon to address a range of audiences on unique aspects of technology,
workforce, and logistics. This often includes topics of global and domestic
logistics trends, supply chain visibility, collaboration, and strategic
planning. He has also been quoted as an industry expert in publications such as
Forbes, Journal of Commerce, Fortune, NPR, Wall Street Journal, Reuters,
American Express, DC Velocity, Area Development Magazine, Site Selection
Magazine, Inbound Logistics, Modern Material Handling, and is frequently a live
special guest on SiriusXM’s Road Dog Radio Show. Siplon is an active industry
participant, recognized by DC Velocity Magazine as a “2012 Logistics Rainmaker”
which annually identifies the top-ten logistics professionals in the Nation; and
named a “Pro to Know” by Supply & Demand Executive Magazine in 2014. Siplon was
also selected by Georgia Trend Magazine as one of the “Top 100 Most Influential
Georgians” for 2013, 2014, and 2015. He also serves various industry leadership
roles at both the State and Federal level. Governor Nathan Deal nominated Siplon
to represent Georgia on a National Supply Chain Competitiveness Advisory
Committee, where he was appointed to a two-year term by the U.S. Secretary of
Commerce and was then appointed to serve as its vice-chairman. At the State
level, he was selected by then-Governor Sonny Perdue to serve as lead consultant
on the Commission for New Georgia’s Freight and Logistics Task Force. In this
effort, Siplon led a Private Sector Advisory Committee with invited executives
from a range of private sector stakeholders including UPS, Coca-Cola, The Home
Depot, Delta Airlines, Georgia Pacific, CSX, and Norfolk Southern. Siplon
honorably served a combined 12 years in the United States Marine Corps and the
United States Air Force. During this time, he led the integration of encryption
techniques and deployed cryptographic devices for tactically secure voice and
data platforms in critical ground-to-air communication systems. This service
included support for all branches of the Department of Defense, multiple federal
security agencies, and aiding NASA with multiple Space Shuttle launches.
Originally from New York, Siplon received both a bachelor’s and master’s degree
in electrical and computer engineering with a focus on digital signal processing
from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He earned an associate’s degree in
advanced electronic systems from the Air Force College and completed multiple
military leadership academies in both the Marines and Air Force. Siplon
currently lives in Cumming, Georgia (north of Atlanta), with his wife Jan, and
two children Thomas (19) and Lily (15).



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KRISTI PORTER



Host, Logistics with Purpose



Kristi Porter is VP of Sales and Marketing at Vector Global Logistics, a company
that is changing the world through supply chain. In her role, she oversees all
marketing efforts and supports the sales team in doing what they do best. In
addition to this role, she is the Chief Do-Gooder at Signify, which assists
nonprofits and social impact companies through copywriting and marketing
strategy consulting. She has almost 20 years of professional experience, and
loves every opportunity to help people do more good.



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SOFIA RIVAS HERRERA



Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol



Sofia Rivas Herrera is a Mexican Industrial Engineer from Tecnologico de
Monterrey class 2019. Upon graduation, she earned a scholarship to study MIT’s
Graduate Certificate in Logistics and Supply Chain Management and graduated as
one of the Top 3 performers of her class in 2020. She also has a multicultural
background due to her international academic experiences at Singapore Management
University and Kühne Logistics University in Hamburg. Sofia self-identifies as a
Supply Chain enthusiast & ambassador sharing her passion for the field in her
daily life.



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KATHERINE HINTZ



Sales and Marketing Coordinator



Katherine is a marketing professional and MBA candidate who strives to unite her
love of people with a passion for positive experiences. Having a diverse
background, which includes nonprofit work with digital marketing and start-ups,
she serves as a leader who helps people live their most creative lives by
cultivating community, order, collaboration, and respect. With equal parts
creativity and analytics, she brings a unique skill set which fosters refining,
problem solving, and connecting organizations with their true vision. In her
free time, you can usually find her looking for her cup of coffee, playing with
her puppy Charlie, and dreaming of her next road trip.



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KIM WINTER



Host, Supply Chain Now



The founder of Logistics Executive Group, Kim Winter delivers 40 years of
executive leadership experience spanning Executive Search & Recruitment,
Leadership Development, Executive Coaching, Corporate Advisory, Motivational
Speaking, Trade Facilitation and across the Supply Chain, Logistics, 3PL,
E-commerce, Life Science, Cold Chain, FMCG, Retail, Maritime, Defence, Aviation,
Resources, and Industrial sectors. Operating from the company’s global offices,
he is a regular contributor of thought leadership to industry and media, is a
professional Master of Ceremonies, and is frequently invited to chair
international events.

He is a Board member of over a dozen companies throughout APAC, India, and the
Middle East, a New Zealand citizen, he holds formal resident status in Australia
and the UAE, and is the Australia & New Zealand representative for the UAE
Government-owned Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), the Middle East’s largest Economic
Free Zone.

A triathlete and ex-professional rugby player, Kim is a qualified (IECL Sydney)
executive coach and the Founder / Chairman of the successful not for profit
humanitarian organization, Oasis Africa (www. oasisafrica.org.au), which has
provided freedom from poverty through education to over 8000 mainly orphaned
children in East Africa’s slums. Kim holds an MBA and BA from Massey & Victoria
Universities (NZ).



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ADRIAN PURTILL



Host, Logistics with Purpose



Adrian Purtill serves as Business Development Manager at Vector Global
Logistics, where he consults with importers and exporters in various industries
to match their specific shipping requirements with the most effective supply
chain solutions. Vector Global Logistics is an asset-free, multi-modal logistics
company that provides exceptional sea freight, air freight, truck, rail, general
logistic services and consulting for our clients. Our highly trained and
professional team is committed to providing creative and effective solutions,
always exceeding our customer’s expectations and fostering long-term
relationships. With more than 20+ years of experience in both strategy
consulting and logistics, Vector Global Logistics is your best choice to
proactively minimize costs while having an exceptional service level.



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KEVIN BROWN



Host, Logistics with Purpose



Kevin Brown is the Director of Business Development for Vector Global
Logistics.  He has a dedicated interest in Major Account Management, Enterprise
Sales, and Corporate Leadership. He offers 25 years of exceptional experience
and superior performance in the sales of Logistics, Supply Chain, and
Transportation Management. Kevin is a dynamic, high-impact, sales executive and
corporate leader who has consistently exceeded corporate goals. He effectively
coordinates multiple resources to solution sell large complex opportunities
while focusing on corporate level contacts across the enterprise. His
specialties include targeting and securing key accounts by analyzing customer’s
current business processes and developing solutions to meet their corporate
goals. Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn.



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JOSE MIGUEL IRARRAZAVAL



Host, Logistics with Purpose



Jose Manuel Irarrazaval es parte del equipo de Vector Global Logistics Chile.
José Manuel es un gerente experimentado con experiencia en finanzas
corporativas, fusiones y adquisiciones, financiamiento y reestructuración,
inversión directa y financiera, tanto en Chile como en el exterior. José Manuel
tiene su MBA de la Universidad de Pennsylvania- The Wharton School. Conéctese
con Jose Manuel en LinkedIn.



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NICK ROEMER



Host, Logistics with Purpose



Nick Roemer has had a very diverse and extensive career within design and sales
over the last 15 years stretching from China, Dubai, Germany, Holland, UK, and
the USA. In the last 5 years, Nick has developed a hawk's eye for sustainable
tech and the human-centric marketing and sales procedures that come with it.
With his far-reaching and strong network within the logistics industry, Nick has
been able to open new avenues and routes to market within major industries in
the USA and the UAE. Nick lives by the ethos, “Give more than you take." His
professional mission is to make the logistics industry leaner, cleaner and
greener.



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ALLISON GIDDENS



Host, Logistics with Purpose



Allison Krache Giddens has been with Win-Tech, a veteran-owned small business
and aerospace precision machine shop, for 15 years, recently buying the company
from her mentor and Win-Tech’s Founder, Dennis Winslow. She and her business
partner, John Hudson now serve as Co-Presidents, leading the 33-year old company
through the pandemic.

She holds undergraduate degrees in psychology and criminal justice from the
University of Georgia, a Masters in Conflict Management from Kennesaw State
University, a Masters in Manufacturing from Georgia Institute of Technology, and
a Certificate of Finance from the University of Georgia. She also holds
certificates in Google Analytics, event planning, and Cybersecurity Risk
Management from Harvard online. Allison founded the Georgia Chapter of Women in
Manufacturing and currently serves as Treasurer. She serves on the Chattahoochee
Technical College Foundation Board as its Secretary, the liveSAFE Resources
Board of Directors as Resource Development Co-Chair, and on the Leadership Cobb
Alumni Association Board as Membership Chair and is also a member of Cobb
Executive Women. She is on the Board for the Cobb Chamber of Commerce’s
Northwest Area Councils. Allison runs The Dave Krache Foundation, a non-profit
that helps pay sports fees for local kids in need.



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BILLY TAYLOR



Host of Dial P for Procurement



Billy Taylor is a Proven Business Excellence Practitioner and Leadership Guru
with over 25 years leading operations for a Fortune 500 company, Goodyear. He is
also the CEO of LinkedXL (Excellence), a Business Operating Systems Architecting
Firm dedicated to implementing sustainable operating systems that drive
sustainable results. Taylor’s achievements in the industry have made him a Next
Generational Lean pacesetter with significant contributions.

An American business executive, Taylor has made a name for himself as an
innovative and energetic industry professional with an indispensable passion for
his craft of operational excellence. His journey started many years ago and has
worked with renowned corporations such as The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT)
leading multi-site operations. With over 3 decades of service leading North
America operations, he is experienced in a deeply rooted process driven approach
in customer service, process integrity for sustainability.

A disciple of continuous improvement, Taylor’s love for people inspires
commitment to helping others achieve their full potential. He is a dynamic
speaker and hosts "The Winning Link," a popular podcast centered on business and
leadership excellence with the #1 rated Supply Chain Now Network. As a
leadership guru, Taylor has earned several invitations to universities,
international conferences, global publications, and the U.S. Army to demonstrate
how to achieve and sustain effective results through cultural acceptance and
employee ownership. Leveraging the wisdom of his business acumen, strong
influence as a speaker and podcaster Taylor is set to release "The Winning Link"
book under McGraw Hill publishing in 2022. The book is a how-to manual to help
readers understand the management of business interactions while teaching them
how to Deine, Align, and Execute Winning in Business.

A servant leader, Taylor, was named by The National Diversity Council as one of
the Top 100 Diversity Officers in the country in 2021. He features among
Oklahoma's Most Admired CEOs and maintains key leadership roles with the
Executive Advisory Board for The Shingo Institute "The Nobel Prize of
Operations" and The Association of Manufacturing Excellence (AME); two
world-leading organizations for operational excellence, business development,
and cultural learning.  He is also an Independent Director for the M-D Building
Products Board, a proud American manufacturer of quality products since 1920.



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LORI SOFIAN



Marketing Coordinator



Lori is currently completing a degree in marketing with an emphasis in digital
marketing at the University of Georgia. When she’s not supporting the marketing
efforts at Supply Chain Now, you can find her at music festivals – or working
toward her dream goal of a fashion career. Lori is involved in many
extracurricular activities and appreciates all the learning experiences UGA has
brought her.



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CHANTEL KING



Social Media Manager



My name is Chantel King and I am the Social Media Specialist at Supply Chain
Now. My job is to make sure our audience is engaged and educated on the abundant
amount of information the supply chain industry has to offer.

Social Media and Communications has been my niche ever since I graduated from
college at The Academy of Art University in San Francisco. No, I am not a West
Coast girl. I was born and raised in New Jersey, but my travel experience goes
way beyond the garden state. My true passion is in creating editorial and
graphic content that influences others to be great in whatever industry they are
in. I’ve done this by working with lifestyle, financial, and editorial companies
by providing resources to enhance their businesses.

Another passion of mine is trying new things. Whether it’s food, an activity, or
a sport. I would like to say that I am an adventurous Taurus that never shies
away from a new quest or challenge.



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TRISHA CORDES



Administrative Assistant



Trisha is new to the supply chain industry – but not to podcasting. She’s an
experienced podcast manager and virtual assistant who also happens to have 20
years of experience as an elementary school teacher. It’s safe to say, she’s
passionate about helping people, and she lives out that passion every day with
the Supply Chain Now team, contributing to scheduling and podcast production.



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CLAY PHILLIPS



Business Development Manager



Clay is passionate about two things: supply chain and the marketing that goes
into it. Recently graduated with a degree in marketing at the University of
Georgia, Clay got his start as a journalism major and inaugural member of the
Owl’s football team at Kennesaw State University – but quickly saw tremendous
opportunity in the Terry College of Business. He’s already putting his education
to great use at Supply Chain Now, assisting with everything from sales and brand
strategy to media production. Clay has contributed to initiatives such as our
leap into video production, the guest blog series, and boosting social media
presence, and after nearly two years in Supply Chain Now’s Marketing Department,
Clay now heads up partnership and sales initiatives with the help of the rest of
the Supply Chain Now sales team.



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AMANDA LUTON



Vice President, Production



Amanda is a production and marketing veteran and entrepreneur with over 20 years
of experience across a variety of industries and organizations including Von
Maur, Anthropologie, AmericasMart Atlanta, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Amanda currently manages, produces, and develops modern digital content for
Supply Chain Now and their clients. Amanda has previously served as the VP of
Information Systems and Webmaster on the Board of Directors for APICS Savannah,
and founded and managed her own successful digital marketing firm, Magnolia
Marketing Group. When she’s not leading the Supply Chain Now production team,
you can find Amanda in the kitchen, reading, listening to podcasts, or enjoying
time with family.



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CONSTANTINE LIMBERAKIS



Host



Constantine Limberakis is a thought leader in the area of procurement and supply
management. He has over 20 years of international experience, playing strategic
roles in a wide spectrum of organizations related to analyst advisory,
consulting, product marketing, product development, and market research.

Throughout his career, he's been passionate about engaging global business
leaders and the broader analyst and technology community with strategic content,
speaking engagements, podcasts, research, webinars, and industry articles.

Constantine holds a BA in History from the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, and an MBA in Finance & Marketing / Masters in Public &
International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.



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MARY KATE SOLIVA



Host, Veteran Voices



Mary Kate Soliva is a veteran of the US Army and cofounder of the Guam Human
Rights Initiative. She is currently in the Doctor of Criminal Justice program at
Saint Leo University. She is passionate about combating human trafficking and
has spent the last decade conducting training for military personnel and the
local community.



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KELLY BARNER



Host of Dial P for Procurement



Kelly is the Owner and Managing Director of Buyers Meeting Point and
MyPurchasingCenter. She has been in procurement since 2003, starting as a
practitioner and then as the Associate Director of Consulting at Emptoris. She
has covered procurement news, events, publications, solutions, trends, and
relevant economics at Buyers Meeting Point since 2009. Kelly is also the General
Manager at Art of Procurement and Business Survey Chair for the ISM-New York
Report on Business. Kelly has her MBA from Babson College as well as an MS in
Library and Information Science from Simmons College and she has co-authored
three books: ‘Supply Market Intelligence for Procurement Professionals’,
‘Procurement at a Crossroads’, and ‘Finance Unleashed’.



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ENRIQUE ALVAREZ



Host of Logistics with Purpose and Supply Chain Now en Español



Enrique serves as Managing Director at Vector Global Logistics and believes we
all have a personal responsibility to change the world. He is hard working,
relationship minded and pro-active. Enrique trusts that the key to logistics is
having a good and responsible team that truly partners with the clients and does
whatever is necessary to see them succeed. He is a proud sponsor of Vector’s
unique results-based work environment and before venturing into logistics he
worked for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). During his time at BCG, he worked
in different industries such as Telecommunications, Energy, Industrial Goods,
Building Materials, and Private Banking. His main focus was always on the
operations, sales, and supply chain processes, with case focus on, logistics,
growth strategy, and cost reduction. Prior to joining BCG, Enrique worked for
Grupo Vitro, a Mexican glass manufacturer, for five years holding different
positions from sales and logistics manager to supply chain project leader in
charge of five warehouses in Colombia.

He has an MBA from The Wharton School of Business and a BS, in Mechanical
Engineer from the Technologico de Monterrey in Mexico. Enrique’s passions are
soccer and the ocean, and he also enjoys traveling, getting to know new people,
and spending time with his wife and two kids, Emma and Enrique.



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KEVIN L. JACKSON



Host of Digital Transformers



Kevin L. Jackson is a globally recognized Thought Leader, Industry
Influencer and Founder/Author of the award winning “Cloud Musings” blog.  He has
also been recognized as a “Top 5G Influencer” (Onalytica 2019, Radar 2020), a
“Top 50 Global Digital Transformation Thought Leader” (Thinkers 360 2019) and
provides strategic consulting and integrated social media services to AT&T,
Intel, Broadcom, Ericsson and other leading companies. Mr. Jackson’s commercial
experience includes Vice President J.P. Morgan Chase, Worldwide Sales Executive
for IBM and SAIC (Engility) Director Cloud Solutions. He has served on teams
that have supported digital transformation projects for the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) and the US Intelligence Community.  Kevin’s formal
education includes a MS Computer Engineering from Naval Postgraduate School; MA
National Security & Strategic Studies from Naval War College; and a BS Aerospace
Engineering from the United States Naval Academy. Internationally recognizable
firms that have sponsored articles authored by him
include Cisco, Microsoft, Citrix and IBM.  Books include “Click to Transform”
(Leaders Press, 2020), “Architecting Cloud Computing Solutions” (Packt, 2018),
and “Practical Cloud Security: A Cross Industry View” (Taylor & Francis,
2016). He also delivers online training through Tulane University, O’Reilly
Media, LinkedIn Learning, and Pluralsight.  Mr. Jackson retired from the U.S.
Navy in 1994, earning specialties in Space Systems Engineering, Carrier Onboard
Delivery Logistics and carrier-based Airborne Early Warning and Control. While
active, he also served with the National Reconnaissance Office, Operational
Support Office, providing tactical support to Navy and Marine Corps forces
worldwide.



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TYLER WARD



Director of Sales



Tyler Ward serves as Supply Chain Now's Director of Sales. Born and raised in
Mid-Atlantic, Tyler is a proud graduate of Shippensburg University where he
earned his degree in Communications. After college, he made his way to the
beautiful state of Oregon, where he now lives with his wife and daughter.

With over a decade of experience in sales, Tyler has a proven track record of
exceeding targets and leading high-performing teams. He credits his success to
his ability to communicate effectively with customers and team members alike, as
well as his strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.

When he's not closing deals, you can find Tyler on the links or cheering on his
favorite football and basketball teams. He also enjoys spending time with his
family, playing pick-up basketball, and traveling back to Ocean City, Maryland,
his favorite place!



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CHRIS BARNES



Principal, Supply Chain Now
Host of Supply Chain is Boring



Talk about world-class: Chris is one of the few professionals in the world to
hold CPIM-F, CLTD-F and CSCP-F designations from ASCM/APICS. He’s also the APICS
coach – and our resident Supply Chain Doctor. When he’s not hosting programs
with Supply Chain Now, he’s sharing supply chain knowledge on the APICS Coach
Youtube channel or serving as a professional education instructor for the
Georgia Tech Supply Chain & Logistic Institute’s Supply Chain Management (SCM)
program and University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Center for Professional
Education courses.

Chris earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from Bradley University, an MBA with
emphasis in Industrial Psychology from the University of West Florida, and is a
Doctoral in Supply Chain Management candidate.



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GREG WHITE



Principal & CMO, Supply Chain Now
Host of Supply Chain Now and TECHquila Sunrise



When rapid-growth technology companies, venture capital and private equity firms
are looking for advisory, they call Greg – a founder, board director, advisor
and catalyst of disruptive B2B technology and supply chain. An insightful
visionary, Greg guides founders, investors and leadership teams in creating
breakthroughs to gain market exposure and momentum – increasing overall company
esteem and valuation.

Greg is a founder himself, creating Blue Ridge Solutions, a Gartner Magic
Quadrant Leader in cloud-native supply chain applications, and bringing to
market Curo, a field service management solution. He has also held leadership
roles with Servigistics (PTC) and E3 Corporation (JDA/Blue Yonder). As a
principal and host at Supply Chain Now, Greg helps guide the company’s strategic
direction, hosts industry leader discussions, community livestreams, and all in
addition to executive producing and hosting his original YouTube channel and
podcast, TEChquila Sunrise.



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SCOTT W. LUTON



Founder, CEO, & Host



As the founder and CEO of Supply Chain Now, you might say Scott is the voice of
supply chain – but he’s too much of a team player to ever claim such a title.
One thing’s for sure: he’s a tried and true supply chain expert. With over 15
years of experience in the end-to-end supply chain, Scott’s insights have
appeared in major publications including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and
CNN. He has also been named a top industry influencer by Thinkers360, ISCEA and
more.

From 2009-2011, Scott was president of APICS Atlanta, and he continues to lead
initiatives that support both the local business community and global industry.
A United States Air Force Veteran, Scott has also regularly led efforts to give
back to his fellow veteran community since his departure from active duty in
2002.



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