Managed transportation provider Uber Freight announced Wednesday it has hired two key executives to leverage their expertise in growing the company’s commercial operations and final-mile network.
The leadership of the company’s commercial organization will now be entrusted to Dan Annunziata. With a track record spanning 15 years at legacy brokerage C.H. Robinson (NASDAQ:CHRW), he brings extensive experience in various sales roles. He has served as vice president of the North American Surface Transportation division at C.H. Robinson for the past 3 1/2 years.
“My Dad put 45 years into [logistics], my grandfather was in the industry for 40 years, and I have an opportunity to leave a mark on this space as well,” Annunziata told FreightWaves. “I like being on the front lines of innovation and being considered a disrupter, and shippers are becoming very interested in what Uber Freight has to offer and its talent as well. … I want to be a part of that.”
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Hany Elkordy, an expert in final-mile and parcel logistics, will bring his expertise to the Uber Freight team as head of Logistics and Last Mile Solutions. He has been instrumental in shaping last-mile solutions during his tenure at various industry giants.
Elkordy played a pivotal role at Amazon for three years, spearheading initiatives in this segment. His contributions extended further during his two-year stints as vice president of logistics and last-mile delivery at Walmart’s eCommerce segment (NYSE:WMT), as well as vice president of logistics for the pet supply site Chewy (NYSE:CHWY).
“From a shipper’s perspective, Uber Freight is in a unique position. They built out this middle-mile network over the past few years, and now they have this great coverage map. Yet, it doesn’t go the whole distance,” Elkordy explained. “Uber Freight unlocks this interesting end-to-end opportunity for shippers. … We have this modality that is sitting out on an island that could be interesting from a product development perspective.”
During his interview with FreightWaves, Annunziata elaborated on the growing demand from shippers for innovative partners to navigate their technological-logistics transition. Joining the Uber Freight team presents an opportunity for him to fulfill this demand by providing shippers with a long-term partner who approaches the industry through a technological lens.
“These shippers probably have five years worth of work in front of them to fortify, make visible and digitize their supply chains. I think about that opportunity that is in front of us and helping shippers answer the question: Who do I align with in the future knowing that supply chain is a critical component of our company’s business?”
For Elkordy, he hopes to expand on Annunziata’s plans and bring that same enthusiasm to his work in the last-mile offering.
“Small and medium-sized businesses are under pressure to speed up their networks to try to get to customers quicker, closer to the two-day delivery that is now table stakes,” he told FreightWaves. “I can help with how we actually stitch our network together to take full advantage of the scale and the coverage of Uber Freight. For small shippers, it’s about speed and coverage, and they don’t have a lot of alternatives right now.”
Elkordy explained that Uber Freight has built the infrastructure to connect all the geographies and the carrier networks that cover them. Now his focus is adding the final-mile connection for shippers that want the same Uber Freight experience across all modes.
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From Annunziata’s perspective, having played a pivotal role at such a prominent logistics player in North America, he is excited to share with shippers his increasing knowledge about Uber Freight.
“Uber Freight, for the most part, was just not on the list of competitors for us. Now I am learning more about this company, and my mind is blown by the solutions Uber Freight has to offer that the marketplace still does not know about,” he said.
Uber Freight also made public a few more members of the team that it has brought on in Q1, including its head of intermodal, D’Andrae Larry, a former executive at Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE:NSC); Vice President of Mid-Market Sales Alec Getschow, former PalletTrader and C.H. Robinson sales lead; and Vice President of Emerging Products and Business Development Brooks McMahon, a former Convoy executive.
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Will be interesting to watch UF’s continued evolution in the space. The TP deal came at a good time for them to continue to shore up margins and move towards profitability, and this leadership group will bring a fresh take I feel on how to approach their business. Cheers to the UF team