Page 21 - Inbound Logistics | April 2017 | Digital Issue

working for. At Coyote, our motto has always been to do IL: What projects top your agenda at Coyote right now?
things the right way every time, no matter who is looking. No Automation is at the head of the list. Over the past several
shortcuts. No hiring our competitors’ employees and using years, the ability to use the latest technologies to eliminate
their customer lists or screenshots of their software. non-value-added tasks from our employees’ workloads has
Also, I have always been willing to do every job in the become paramount. What exactly we plan to implement is
company until I could find someone who was better at that top secret. But we look at this from the perspective of new
role; then I was willing to leave it in their hands. Delegating competitors that have sprung up. We ask: If we were a new
to the right person is the most liberating thing you can do company today, would we still do this task? And if we would,
as a leader. Control freaks always have a hard time getting how would we do it in the most efficient possible way, while
businesses to grow larger than the span of their control. remaining committed to our promises to customers?
This plan is not different from what we have already tried to
IL: How has Coyote, and your role in it, changed since do. But with the rapid advance of inexpensive technological
the company became part of UPS? capabilities, the opportunity has been magnified immensely.
As we sold the company, I moved my chief financial officer
Jonathan Sisler into the role of president. He and his team IL: How do you like to spend your time outside of work?
have done a great job running the company, which has My wife and I have seven children. Enough said. n
allowed me to spend a great deal of time learning about the
much bigger, broader organization that is UPS.
I’ve been amazed by the UPS facilities and the people Tough Decisions,
who work in them across the globe, and by the absolute
commitment to their mission that the 430,000 “UPSers” Exciting Prospects
display every day. It’s funny how little importance outsiders—
the analysts who look at the company from outside and the “In a rapidly growing business, one of the hardest
startups trying to find a way to compete—place on this core things a leader has to do is acknowledge that some
company attribute. Coyote works by the same principles. original team members, who helped you lead at
Startups that claim they can move freight without any the beginning, are not the right people to help you
people have no idea about the heart and soul of a business, lead at scale,” says Jeff Silver. “Dealing with the
and how customers appreciate and reward that spirit with emotional impact of finding them smaller jobs that
more business. they will still be happy doing, or being willing to let
them move on, is critical for the organization and for
IL: What are the most difficult challenges your them. But it is always difficult.”
customers face these days, and how does Coyote help? Much easier for Silver is naming the two things
Since the economic collapse in 2008 and 2009, every one that make him happy and excited to head for work
of our customers has been trying to do more with less. We in the morning. “First, if you hire great people
have been helping them not only by moving freight expertly, and they are working on important projects,
at the prices we’ve committed to, but more and more by it’s a pleasure to be around them,” he says.
providing consulting services. We do that largely through our “Second, I love to win. Even now, when many of
Collaborative Transportation group, led by Chris Pickett. our competitors have ramped up their service to
Now, as part of UPS, we are able to offer global solutions meet ours or come close, we continue to win by
covering all modes, including freight forwarding, customs offering that service combined with great people
clearance, and dedicated contract warehousing. and technology services, and now with the global,
integrated abilities of UPS.”

April 2017 • Inbound Logistics 19