Forward Air announced a new chief commercial officer Wednesday after the market closed. Eric Brandt has joined the embattled company following its messy merger with freight forwarder Omni Logistics.
Brandt has more than 20 years of experience in transportation and logistics, most recently serving as executive vice president of business development at Ceva Logistics (North America). He has also served in other customer-facing leadership roles at Agility and Panalpina.
Brandt is tasked with leading the commercial strategy and business development efforts for the newly combined Forward-Omni entity.
“We are well-positioned to be a leader on the global logistics stage, and Eric has the experience and vision to help us get there,” Forward CEO Shawn Stewart said in a news release. “His expertise in strategic leadership and large-scale transformation initiatives will be invaluable as we continue to enhance our service offerings and deliver outstanding customer experiences.”
Stewart was the president and managing director of Ceva’s North American operations before joining Forward in April. He arrived at Forward shortly after the ouster of CEO Tom Schmitt, who was the architect behind the merger that ran afoul of shareholders as it sidestepped an approval vote.
Forward (NASDAQ: FWRD) has refreshed its leadership team in recent months as it continues to integrate the acquisition that doubled its size. It hired former YRC Worldwide, now bankrupt Yellow Corp. (OTC: YELLQ), CFO Jamie Pierson in May. Pierson’s expertise is in restructuring and strategic planning.
It remains to be seen how much runway the current management team has, however, as some investors have publicly called on its board to engage in a sales process. FreightWaves reported last month that the company has retained investment bankers to help lead a potential sale.
The company teased the addition of a chief commercial officer on its third-quarter call earlier this week. That was the first full quarter during which the company was cash-flow positive since the deal closed in January.
