Career Tracks: Former Freightquote COO Tapped To Lead VeriShip

VeriShip, an SaaS-based business optimization and spend management platform, has hired logistics industry veteran and former company adviser Shawn McCarrick (pictured above) as Chief Executive Officer.

VeriShip said it has been controlling shipping expenses for small and midsize businesses for 15 years, with data and analysis on 70 million packages shipped annually through DHL, FedEx, UPS, and Fulfillment by Amazon. 

McCarrick spent nearly a decade with freight services broker Freightquote. He joined the company as chief information officer in 2006 and transformed the IT function from a small startup staff to a 50-member organization. He became chief operating officer in 2008 and directed customer operations, marketing, and the 650-person sales organization.

Most recently McCarrick led the digital transformation technology team as senior vice president for Broadridge Financial Solutions.

McCarrick takes over at VeriShip from acting CEO Michael George, who said, "The current environment reinforces the need for our software and services and exponentially increases our value proposition to our customers. Shawn has tremendous experience scaling companies, even during the recession of 2008, and he will be supported by a remarkably strong leadership team and the backing of Summit Partners. The combination promises a bright future."

George will continue to serve as executive chairman of VeriShip's board of directors.

McCarrick said VeriShip offers "new technology products in the emerging field of data science, all within industry sectors — shipping and e-commerce — in the midst of a paradigm shift. It's a remarkable convergence of factors and I'm exhilarated by the opportunity."

Lillian Dukes joined Atlas Air. (Photo: Atlas Air)

Atlas Air

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc. has appointed Lillian A. Dukes as the Senior Vice President of Technical Operations. 

Dukes will oversee all maintenance and engineering activities. She will be responsible for technical operations, including safety and airworthiness of the aircraft fleet, and the related maintenance of test equipment and facilities. 

She has more than 25 years of technical operations and supply management experience in the aviation industry. She has held leadership positions at such companies as American Airlines, Spirit AeroSystems, Beechcraft Corp. and General Electric. 

Dukes has been named to several prestigious lists, including the Network Journal's 25 Influential Black Women. She also sits on a number of boards, including AWESOME (Achieving Women's Excellence in Supply Chain Operations, Management and Education), and is a lecturer for the University of Tennessee's aerospace and defense MBA program.

Dukes' appointment follows the announcement that Larry Gibbons, senior vice president of technical operations and chief procurement officer, will transition to an advisory role on July 1.

Matt McAluney has joined Elemica. (Photo: Elemica)

"Larry has guided the company's fleet growth from eight aircraft to where we are today at 119, through highly strategic aircraft purchasing, maintenance, and returns," said James A. Forbes, Atlas Air's executive vice president and chief operating officer. 

Elemica

Cloud-based digital supply network Elemica has hired Matt McAluney as Chief Commercial Officer. 

With more than 20 years of sales and executive leadership experience, McAluney will build programs focused on increasing value for clients and help his team maximize success against performance goals. 

McAluney previously was the CEO and senior vice president of sales and services for ID Analytics. Before that, he was the vice president of sales at Equifax. He also has held sales and business development roles with Proficient Systems, Yodlee and Parametric Technologies.

Will McKnight chairs the GPA board. GPA

Georgia Ports Authority Board

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) board last week elected officers for the coming fiscal year and selected Will McKnight to serve a second year as Chairman.

Joel Wooten Jr., the current secretary-treasurer, was elected Vice Chairman. Kent Fountain was elected secretary-treasurer.

"Our ports and the logistics industry we serve are playing an integral role in moving the goods necessary to get America back to work," McKnight said. "Our team has done a tremendous job keeping our ports active and working safe and smart throughout the COVID-19 crisis."

The president of McKnight Construction Co., he has served on the GPA board since 2014.

Wooten is a founding member of the law firm of Butler Wooten & Peak LLP. Fountain is the president and CEO of Southeastern Gin & Peanut Inc.

Hapag-Lloyd

The supervisory board of Hapag-Lloyd AG has extended the contract of Joachim Schlotfeldt, the Chief Personnel and Global Procurement Officer, by two years, until March 31, 2023.

"The supervisory board was unanimous in its view that, especially in challenging times like these, a leader like Joachim Schlotfeldt is needed as an important guarantor of continuity on the management board," said Michael Behrendt, chairman of the supervisory board.

Joachim Schlotfeldt got a contract extension. (Photo: Hapag-Lloyd)

Schlotfeldt joined Hapag-Lloyd in 1979. Over the course of his career, he has held various positions in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Spain, Portugal and, most recently, China. He has been a member of the executive board since April 2018.

NCBFAA customs counsel

The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) has appointed Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg PA (ST&R) as its customs counsel.

Headquartered in Washington, the NCBFAA represents more than 1,000 member companies with 110,000 employees working in international trade.

Larry Feldman, based in ST&R's Miami office, will serve as lead counsel.

"For more than 40 years, ST&R has worked side by side with brokers and forwarders on the customs and trade issues they deal with, and we've built effective relationships with the federal departments and agencies whose actions impact that community," Feldman said. "The ST&R team looks forward to an even closer partnership with the NCBFAA as it responds to current challenges and innovates for the global trade environment of the future."

Feldman also co-chairs the 20-member U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee, providing strategic recommendations to CBP and the departments of Homeland Security and Treasury on issues such as e-commerce policy, trade partnerships, enforcement and facilitation mechanisms, and regulatory reform. 

Prior to joining ST&R, Feldman was a senior attorney with the U.S. Customs Service, now CBP, in Washington from 1991 to 2000.

ST&R succeeds Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP, which provided counsel to the NCBFAA for more than 12 years. 

Tax-Air

Tax Airfreight Inc., (Tax-Air), a privately owned, asset-based transportation and logistics company headquartered in Milwaukee, has appointed Brandon Pearson as CEO.

Pearson, who began his career in transportation and operations as a dockworker in 1996, joined the company last August as director of operations. 

Greg Groth, chairman and founder of Tax-Air, said Pearson is "a true freight guy, has strong sales acumen, financial expertise and understands people. He has the natural ability to look at each situation with logic and compassion, patience not to react too soon or overreact, and the respect of employees and his peers.

"It is for these reasons and more than I have decided to move Brandon into the position of CEO. He has already taken on the role with his actions, so the title only cements his leadership with customers, freight partners, his peers and his managers," Groth said. 

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