Jeff Silver got his first taste of freight brokerage 30 years ago when he joined the
executive team that formed Chicago-based
American Backhaulers. Backhaulers, a
high-intensity place, would revolutionize
brokerage by applying what were then powerful information technology (IT) tools to
give participants real-time visibility into the
supply chain.
After C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc.
bought Backhaulers in 1999, Silver took
time off to pursue an M.B.A. from the University of
Michigan and a master’s degree in engineering and logistics
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
He returned to the business in 2006 by launching, along
with wife, Marianne, Coyote Logistics LLC, a broker whose
model and culture remind folks of the high-energy financial trading floors that make Chicago famous. Coyote’s
gross revenue soared to a nearly $1.4 billion full-year
run rate based on its first-quarter results and it capped
the quarter by buying privately held competitor Access
America Transport (AAT). The combination will create a
$2 billion-a-year broker that stands to capture big market
share of a deeply fragmented business.
QWhat drew you to the freight brokerage field?
A When I joined American Backhaulers in 1984, I was a day out of college; the brokerage industry seemed like
the Wild West in terms of opportunity. I spent 16 years in
the industry before taking a five-year hiatus, during which
I went back to school.
When I returned to freight brokerage in 2006, I was
more informed. I had spent a lot of time
in graduate classes at Michigan and MIT,
thinking about how to do things better.
Ultimately, the two biggest factors were the
unlimited opportunity and the “building”
nature of customer relationships. This isn’t
an industry where you sell something once
and never speak with the customer again;
one of the most rewarding aspects is that if
you take great care of a customer, you will
grow together over decades.
QThere are about 14,000 property brokers in the U.S. Most of them perform domestic transactional functions. Does Coyote’s purchase of AAT fire the first salvo in
a long-predicted consolidation, especially as shippers look
for more from their providers than domestic transportation management?
AI am not sure that I would characterize it as the first salvo, but it is significant. As a combined company
with more than $2 billion in revenue—and the resources
that accompany that level of business—we provide support
to customers that smaller brokers will struggle to bring.
QHow did your time away from the field to pursue advanced degrees influence your strategic and tactical
thinking as you started up Coyote?
A In the Backhaulers days, we didn’t have M.B.A.s, and we laughed at people who did. We liked running our
business on intuition, and it worked. But Michigan’s pro-
gram was great, and it gave me insight into how the people
with whom I interact today think and the challenges they
face—finance, marketing, accounting, legal—you name
Jeff Silver
retailer to leverage inventory, avoid capital investment, and
manage fulfillment expense. You will likely be disappointed
with the result if you don’t design your solution around the
customer.
QYou were in the Navy prior to joining Sears. Would you recommend military service as a way to prepare
young people for a career in logistics?
AThere is no doubt in my mind that military service provides a great foundation for a career in logistics.
At Sears, we actively recruit from the military for manage-
ment roles within supply chain. Many of the operational
and leadership skills developed in the military are directly
applicable to logistics. Additionally, we find that the values
and temperament of military vets are a natural fit with our
culture. My decision to pursue a career in logistics after the
military was based on looking for the same things I loved
about the Navy. I have not been disappointed.
QWhat’s your greatest accomplishment in the profes- sion to date and why?
AOur transformation from a traditional retail to an omnichannel supply chain. This, in many ways, is a
journey that we are still on, but the change is pronounced
across multiple dimensions. Going from conception to
pilot in 75 days and national rollout in nine months was
no mean feat.
Ultimately, the most important part of this accomplishment to me was changing our culture, approach, and
identity as a supply chain. We now think beyond our four
walls and trucks to the customer and the complete retail
experience. We are part of a broader retail ecosystem, and
our values and KPIs (key performance indicators) reflect
this important change.
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