A WORD FROM OUR CEO DAT PRESENTS: EASE ORIGIN STORY
EXECUTIVE UPDATES REORG RECAP
LOGISTICS OPERATIONS
SOLUTION OPERATIONS CARDINAL HEALTH PARTNERSHIP GROWTH AND PROGRESS
BUSINESS OPERATIONS CREW SPONSORSHIP DRIVEOHIO RURAL ADS PROJECT MOTION CX
QUARTERLY SPOTLIGHTS EMPLOYEE ACHIEVEMENTS NEW HIRES #GIVEWITHEASE Q1 MOMENTS TO REMEMBER EASE IN THE NEWS APRIL CALENDAR
APRIL 2023 - QUARTER 1
A WORD FROM OUR CEO
Hi team,
As we begin Q2, we also begin EASE’s tenth year! It’s exciting to celebrate this milestone during such a pivotal moment in the evolution of EASE.
Looking back at the past three months, we can see that this year has already delivered transformational growth:
As part of the DriveOhio Rural Automated Driving Systems (ADS) Project, we received our co-branded semi-trucks on 3/31, readying us to take to the roads and deploy our automated fleet across revenue-generating routes!
Our new organizational structure was implemented during Q1, enhancing our already unparalleled customer service. We welcomed the two largest new hire classes in EASE’s history during Q1, resulting in nearly 25% headcount growth and bringing us to a total of 238 EASE employees!
Looking ahead to Q2 and the rest of our year, we have a lot to look forward to:
With RFPs pending for a number of big-name and high-value customers, this promises to be another amazing quarter at EASE. We'll soon offer services and solutions out of a new warehouse in East Liberty (ELW), which boasts a 40-ton 50-foot bridge crane and adds 75K square feet of warehouse space to our holdings. Keep an eye out for the unveiling of our refreshed EASE brand. The new look and feel of EASE will elevate our position in the marketplace and launch us into the next phase in our journey to $1Billion.
Our growth and success aren’t by chance; we get the job done because of you. Your commitment to our processes and business model means that we can fulfill the EASE vision of impact on our industry and communities. Here’s to an amazing tenth year!
Pedal down and keep trucking, Peter
EVERY COMPANY HAS ITS ORIGIN STORY...
Last year, DAT approached EASE with a proposal to showcase our incredible origin story. It was both an opportunity to celebrate the successes of DAT and EASE's partnership and a chance to highlight Peter's unique story of grit and perseverance. In December 2022, after an enthusiastic, "YES!" and time spent scheduling and storyboarding, several members of the DAT team brought videographers to capture the big and small details that define us. DAT released the final video at the end of March and we’re grateful to our friends at DAT who chose to feature EASE in their first partner spotlight video.
"EASE is a bad*ss company," and you've never heard our story told like this!"
VIEW NOW!
KEITH WARD
JUSTIN YOUNG
FEATURE: REORG RECAP
this IT initiative, our email inboxes were so full they frequently crashed, disrupting our workflow.
Did you know that we use AI every single day at EASE? For more than a year now we've been using AVRL BOT technology to scan load boards and submit bids automatically. In Q1, we expanded our use to impact more customers and maximize our opportunities.
Innovation is everywhere!
On another note, bid season is in full swing. The market is softening and we need to be extremely competitive to win business. However, even in this volatile market, we are outperforming our YoY revenue and volume for the quarter. This is a true testament to customer relationships and the Sales team bringing in new business that aligns with our service offerings. We will continue to expand always, in all ways!
In 2023, we're bolstering internal resources by bringing in additional support from local vendors. These partnerships are already enhancing our businesses and helping us drive efficiencies for effective results. Read on for more detail:
IT:
In January, we completed the initial phase of our project with consultancy PwC. Our primary goal was to take a close look at EASE –everything we do, all our systems, and everything we’re working on for the future – and create a strategy to glue it all together with a seamless, unified, and adaptable platform that will enhance collaboration and customer service.
As a result of our work with PwC, we identified some short-term and long-term goals for EASE. At the moment, our focus is on positioning IT to align with current growth initiatives focused on business enablement, process automations, process efficiencies, new projects, new tools, and solidifying our foundation.
Accounting:
This quarter we completed our first ever on-site financial review! We hosted Schneider Downs (SD), our public accounting firm partner, to analyze and test the strength of our internal controls and spend. Jessica Smith and Michael Seisuphon both did an excellent job of hosting SD and knocked it out of the park with this huge step forward for our financial accounting team.
McLeod visited us in March. Their team of four was onsite for three days to work on networking and hardware optimization. We were the first of McLeod’s customers to be chosen for this testing! We’re actively searching for additional partnership opportunities that will allow us to help drive business improvement for both EASE and McLeod.
Toward the end of 2022, we rolled out a new organizational structure to better serve customers and reallocate resources. For a refresher, click HERE to walk through it with Peter. Read on for highlights, updates, and additional resources.
Keith Ward, Chief Operational Officer
"We crushed the rollout of our organizational restructure, and it’s the basis for our planned growth and future scalability! As a reminder, our new structure has two main goals:
Increase customer interaction and engagement to better serve our current customers.
Appropriately align resources to help EASE grow. Growth allows for flexibility with ebbs and flows in the market, enables us to take on more business, and lights the way for employee growth."
Jessica Stewart, Senior Human Resources Generalist
"In support of the organizational restructure, the HR team was responsible for updating all reference materials, documentation, and internal platforms to reflect the changes in the new structure. This included:
Updating Paycom to include the new org chart, including departmental changes in titles, team names, etc. Updating job descriptions, titles, and departmental KPIs.
THANK YOU to Myra Barry for the immense amount of work and hours that went into this project!"
Justin Young, Chief Financial Officer
"During Q1, we launched the Corporate Accounts Payable team, and we have renamed the Accounts Payable team 'Carrier Payables.' This will allow us to better service our carrier partners and help with internal needs and communication.
Our Accessorial (ACA) team was launched at the end of 2022 and has gained a ton of momentum during Q1 2023. Susan Rutherford has been working to thoroughly document and implement our processes, all while training her first team member, Mindi McGlaughlin! Nice job, Susan!"
"Q1 of 2023 was the first full quarter of the Business Solutions team’s existence. During Q1, the team added three new project managers, two new data analysts, and one new pricing analyst.
We have created a Managed Solutions team to help recognize opportunities between customers and our fleet, warehouse, and managed solutions capabilities. The Managed Solutions team works directly with the Operations team to enhance the customer journey and maximize opportunities. They've already made an immediate impact and I am excited to see where we go from here."
"With the organizational restructure, Gov. Ops. was able to better staff and build experience with the Department of Defense (DoD). The restructure included the addition of Sr. Account Management and specialized Account Management roles, as well as a dedicated Client Services Specialist."
"We launched a new Client Services team to help our Enterprise, MidMarket, and Small Market Business (SMB) teams handle customer overflow. This team will continue to grow as we onboard new employees.
The shift to our new organizational structure has already resulted in increased productivity, more efficient operations, and enhanced customer service. This innovation in operations is one of our biggest differentiators in the market!"
SCOTT MCDOWELL
BEN BENFIELD
NICK GAMRATH
DAVID HELTON
LEAH KRACHT
TIM TASCH
DALTON HARTLEY
JEFFREY DELONG
The recent organizational restructure has led to some incredible, if underthe-radar, results.
One of the biggest changes implemented this quarter was the initiation of director meetings. Every week, the operations directors get together to talk about what the company needs and where the company is going. In the past, we have experienced disconnects between departments, and these meetings now help everyone get on the same page. It brings some incredibly constructive conversations that are allowing leaders to help each other grow!
EASE promoted 11 employees to account management roles and assessed our customers to reallocate resources and provide better service. Those promotions have allowed the company to spread out the core customers and elevate our customer engagement and interactions.
The Client Services (CS) team was created as a shared resource for our teams to help relieve the pressure when the work starts to pile up. CS took a huge jump in creating positions, from Representatives to Specialists, thus giving CS a career path within its own department. The BOG team continues to grow and retain quality talent. Overall, the team is now hitting 90% of their KPIs while learning and better understanding the logistics industry.
The competition amongst EASE employees continues to grow as Matt McNaughton challenges our newest EASE team members to drive carrier rates down through SELLING loads and not BOOKING loads.
DIRECTOR OF CUSTOMER OPERATIONS
Department Wins
We added seven new Account Managers this quarter, for headcount growth of more than 40%!
We had a great on-site meeting with Volvo that led to a potential opportunity for more than 300+ EV battery moves. Account Managers are collaborating with Project Managers and Marketing to develop customer presentations, and are therefore more prepared and strategic during customer engagements.
Accomplishments
We booked more than 600 loads per day (LPD) each day during the
I'm excited to share that the Client Services (CS) team grew by 35%, for a total of 23 employees! Eleven team members were recognized with promotions as part of the company reorganization. We've also increased productivity with the implementation of the email restructure that's allowed us to more effectively service accounts.
Did you know? The CS team (sometimes referred to as the Shared/Overflow team) is a new arrangement within the CS department that differs from the typical "vertical team." Most customer verticals (ENT, MID, SMB) are made up of a combination of account managers, flex positions, and client services - but the CS team is made up of Client Services Representatives, with two Client Services Leads among them to help with mentorship and guidance. They are centralized to the operation and can be flexible on a day-to-day basis, depending on the needs of the business. The CS team helps to cover the vertical teams when PTO and unplanned absences occur, and also supports overflow from other
I want to personally thank each member of this small but growing Government Operations team. This sector of business is an extremely tough one to break into, and it takes patience and willingness to push forward and build upon experiences to win in the long run. This team has shown that they are willing to both dig in and provide thorough solutions to the Department of Defense (DoD)-facing entities that need logistics support in this challenging environment. Each team member consistently challenges and beats all measured outputs weekly and monthly with EASE.
The Gov. Ops team continues to develop our resume as a solid logistics partner for any land-based supply chain activity with the DoD. We continue to gain credibility and recognition in our space.
Meeting with Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Land & Maritime. Defense Freight Transportation Services (DFTS) II Major Top Line DoD contract deploys for bid May 1, 2023.
National Defense Transportation Association (NDTA) provided an introduction to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) via a virtual meeting and counter-team introduction.
Crowley has introduced Gov. Ops. to their special projects team.
EASE has also been named Crowley's 2022 Broker of the Year! We received this recognition for our consistent support to them on the Defense Freight Transportation Solutions (DFTS) Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) awarded contract.
LEAH KRACHT DIRECTOR OF SUPPORT OPERATIONS
This quarter, Support Operations promoted two Senior Support Coordinators to Account Rep positions on 1st shift. This shows other support shift employees the path for their own growth in the future. We also promoted nine Support Coordinators to Senior Support Coordinators across all support shifts.
We added 11 more people to support shifts with the March 13 hiring
We finished the month of February with a 95.7% MacroPoint compliance rate for the whole company. Throughout the quarter we sent more than 90,000 text messages to drivers and made 111,546 check calls - accomplishing 26.2% of all check calls in the company.
Our Bogota, Colombia office is fully branded and we look forward to visiting the team in the near future.
Mariana Morales has been promoted to Supervisor for the BOG Support team. She is an absolute rock star when it comes to quality, allocation, and handling team issues.
Jenny Lopez is a backup Trainer for new hires to help as the team continues to grow.
Hugo Celemin, part of the original starting class for the BOG Support team, has now trained as a backup Supervisor. He’ll celebrate two years at EASE in June 2023.
Highlights
We attended the TCA convention in Orlando where we set out to explain the benefits of being a carrier with EASE. This trip was extremely successful. We met some of the industry’s top carriers and created quite the buzz around the EASE brand with our custom Nike Jordan Ones and chocolate-covered Oreos! Together with Marketing and Devin Eichhorn, we kicked off our initiative to identify and promote carriers who are certified diverseowned businesses.
We welcomed Ian Lipps and Marianne Cummings to the Customer Solutions team as Local Carrier Solutions Representatives.
We set a new record by booking more than 1,200 loads in a weekbeating our previous record of 1,000!
The carrier admin team onboarded 4,100+ new carriers this quarter! Updated 7,800+ existing carrier records, enabling EASE to work seamlessly with our carrier partners.
Reduced EASE’s risk exposure by identifying additional resources to provide information on 1,700+ carriers and dispatch services with suspicious histories. These records have all been updated in McLeod to assist our operations team in their carrier selection.
Continued to seek alternatives to Carrier411 to eliminate the potential risks associated with the platform being down or displaying incorrect information. Worked with Carrier Solutions to enable McLeod-DAT PNN integration. allows for easy notification of our carrier partners when there is lane availability and ensures that only carriers that meet our standards are notified. Effectively educated all operational new hires on the requirements before, during, and after the process of setting up a new carrier, and continuing to ensure that all other employees meet these expectations.
Sarah Orlando, Carrier Admin Rep, has become a great asset to the team, and her contributions increase by the day.
William Snyder, Carrier Admin Rep, has taken the initiative to work with operations on cross-training to provide additional insight and perspective to his position.
Three additional support shift employees have been trained on carrier setups to ensure that EASE can continue to onboard reputable carrier partners during all shifts. Welcome, Aaron Marti, Cody Moore, and Talia Holmes!
KONRAD WARZYCHA
KYLE BORNGREBE
MIKE RILL
MAT BIRDSALL
STEPHEN SPIRES
FEATURE: CAH "INVENTORY BLITZ"
It's been a busy quarter focused on developing unique solutions and finding ways to offer more value, cost-savings, and efficiencies to our customers at every stage of the Journey. Here's a recap:
The Business Solutions team's Project Managers (PM) worked with Account Managers (AM) to support customer activity, including tracking opportunities, communication, and following customers through the Customer Journey.
Business Solutions and the Pricing team are working to revamp our RFQ process to bid smarter and track our wins and losses.
Carrier Solutions is working with our network of carriers to create a PNN network through McLeod. This network will track our top 100 lanes, point to point, and create an internal list of carriers to whom we can offer the load via email.
Our internal load board, Trucker Tools, went live in January. Preferred carriers can view and bid on any load in our system, with the exception of some loads for our automotive expedite customers.
Carrier Solutions and Managed Solutions are working with the Pricing team to identify opportunities within customer RFQs for fleet pricing and capacity recognition.
Fleet Pricing utilizes ELS capabilities and allows us to come in at a lower price point on qualified lanes.
The Business Solutions and Carrier Solutions teams also help us come in at a lower price point when we recognize positive capacity indicators or corridors for which we have high volume and solid carrier relationships
The newly assembled Business Solutions team hit the ground running this quarter, taking on and implementing several new and enhanced initiatives and processes. Our goal continues to be to enhance the customer experience, automation, standardization, process enhancements and efficiencies, and data-driven trend recognition and decision-making.
We began laying the groundwork upon which we will be able to drive a larger number of impactful customer engagements, more dynamic and effective reporting, and EASE-specific pricing strategies in the near future and for the long term.
Highlights
Completed 13 customer presentations – a special callout to the work on Volvo, Honda IAP, and Boar’s Head!
Onboarded 22 new customers.
Analytics completed 96 tickets. Rolled out CCP, Customer Progress Report (CPR), and Scorecard.
Our Marysville warehouse’s anchor client, Juratoys, has recently been acquired by Maped-Helix and we are helping them accomplish quarterly sales records with our efficiencies and dedication to customer service. We hope to continue to help them grow. Currently, they occupy approximately 65% of our available warehouse space.
EASE has acquired a new warehouse property in East Liberty, Ohio, to be known as ELW, adding an additional 75K sq. ft. of warehouse space to our holdings and bringing our total to 143K sq. ft. of warehouse space! We anticipate operating warehousing and cross-docking out of this facility. We’re very excited to have this among our assets!
We are in the RFP process for a potentially very large win on the distribution side of the business, which we hope to report on in Q2!
GENERAL MANAGER - EASE EXPEDITED
Department Wins
Started and managing NIFCO Cross-Dock Project in partnership with EASE Honda team. Since January 2023, we have moved 2,400+ pallets! We shipped 54,190 units for anchor client, Juratoys. Additionally, we unloaded 12 containers, resulting in the addition of 104,246 units to Juratoys' inventory.
Guaranteed Horse Products signed on as a new warehouse multi-channel distribution customer.
We hired five new drivers! Thanks to Ben Hogue for recruiting top talent. Suzanne Randall managed the dispatch office successfully while her counterpart was recruited!
Welcome, Teresa Cremeans, to the team!
Milestones
Obtained 120 new trailers for a total of 250 in the EASE Expedited fleet. Developed a custom Transportation Management System (TMS) for account-specific allocation and visibility of fleet trailers.
Q1 by the Numbers
Delivered 600 shipments.
Traveled 152,516 miles.
Generated $1.3M in revenue.
Averaging 12,000 miles driven per week.
2023 Record of 21,000+ units shipped in February.
Completed 288 hours of driver training for the DriveOhio Rural ADS project.
EASE'S NEW WAREHOUSE IN EAST LIBERTY, OHIOThe Director of Transportation at Bodyarmor Sports Drink (owned by CocaCola) pitched EASE to the entire Coca-Cola transportation team in a recent meeting. Coca-Cola is extremely selective of who they use, and currently only work with approximately 10 total brokerages. This will be a monumental win for EASE if Coke decides to engage with us.
This is the definition of advocacy and a great example of what happens when you service your customer at a very high level, building personal relationships with them at the same time. It’s much easier to ask a “friend” for a favor, and that type of customer relationship is what every AM/Sales Manager should strive to achieve.
It's been a crazy quarter for the Sales team! We had a larger amount of new customer RFPs filter through compared to last year at this time, and we're starting to reap the rewards of our hard work. The last year has not been an easy environment to sell in, and the team has learned a lot about how to be more strategic when selling. The level of success they have achieved is impressive. It's going to be fun to watch the growth of each member of this team in the years to come, including the three new Sales Managers that we added to our team since the beginning of the year!
Country Pure Foods, Mars, INC, and UPS awarded EASE dedicated lanes!
Bodyarmor awarded EASE 1,000 loads per month!
Neri Bakery awarded us 10 dedicated loads per week.
Treehouse Foods/Winland Foods have approved our contracts and we are now undergoing their vendor setup process.
EASE has been invited to the following annual RFPs (all potential new customers if we are awarded dedicated lanes):
Nike
Ferrero c/o DHL
Sony c/o DHL
Samsung c/o DHL
Multi-Color Corp
Menards
Novolex
Jon Hagwood
Nick Rindler
Colby Starr
Did you know? EASE recently completed a successful “Inventory Blitz” for Cardinal Health, helping expand Cardinal’s warehouse operations by safely transferring, unloading, and depositing their inventory, relying heavily on EASE’s assets, extensive carrier network, and onsite support staff.
EASE assets and extensive carrier network were leveraged to perform this highly critical project, expanding Cardinal Health’s warehouse operations and ensuring the safe transfer of their inventory.
The success of the "Inventory Blitz" demonstrates the power of our managed solutions offering and will now be replicated for two more inventory transfers for Cardinal Health.
"Managed Solutions is playing a critical role in Cardinal Health's inventory transfer projects in partnership with Logistics Operations. During the last week of January, more than 175 loads were successfully transferred from Cardinal’s old facility in Obetz to the state-of-the-art new warehouse and distribution facility at Rickenbacker. Cardinal Health was so pleased, we’re preparing for two more inventory transfers, for an additional count of 150 loads."
"The Customer Operations department was responsible for the daily communication with Cardinal Health, ensuring any requested ad hoc changes were satisfied and that the project had minimal bottlenecks. We did a great job with our daily communication and were able to seamlessly comply with all of their needs and pivot when the warehouse had any deviations in plans."
"Throughout the Cardinal Health Warehouse 'Inventory Blitz' project, Carrier Solutions sourced reliable carriers to ensure a successful inventory transfer. Because of consistent communication with our carriers, we were able to quickly accommodate any changing needs. These strong relationships allowed for a smooth and successful project!"
VOLUME, BY SHIPPING DATE (6 MONTHS)
REVENUE, BY SHIPPING MONTH/YEAR (2020-2023)
ABBI FAILLA
ALISA ALVICH
FEATURE: CREW SPONSORSHIP
JOSH MCMULLEN
SAM ROSS
FEATURE: DRIVEOHIO RURAL ADS PROJECT
HEIDI DAVIS
JESS STEWART
JUSTEN YOUNG
FEATURE: MOTIONCX
The first quarter of 2023 has been an exciting time of growth and innovation for EASE's Business Operations!
The Marketing team has nearly doubled in size with the addition of two new employees. They've had a record-setting quarter, producing an astounding quantity of high-quality materials to support all areas of the business
Corporate Development is supporting EASE's growth by working to produce a new and enhanced Business Manual. The team is also responsible for our participation in the DriveOhio Rural Automated Driving Systems (ADS) project, which has earned EASE national recognition!
During Q1, the Training team welcomed the two largest new hire classes in EASE's history. Accounting continues to grow with hiring efforts underway and billing record amounts each week!
IT continues to provide daily support while focusing on initiatives for business enablement, including process automation and efficiencies. HR recruited and hired a record number of new employees while rolling out new partnerships to enhance employee engagement! We welcomed EASE's new Community Impact Manager, Stacie Melody, to the team! In her role, Stacie oversees everything from our corporate partnerships and sponsorships, community events, DE&I, and sustainability initiatives, to our growing relationship with the Columbus Crew!
Read on to find out more about Business Operations' amazing accomplishments during Q1 and what to watch for in Q2!
ALISA ALVICH MARKETING MANAGER
The team has been busy, and we've got a lot of big wins to share!
Marketing added two new faces to the team! Please welcome Kelly Matthews, Brand Copywriter, and Emily Wolfe, Graphic Designer. Collaboratively, we completed 216+ projects - more than doubling our quarterly average!
We received 124 Internal Marketing Tickets from nearly every department. We completed more than 24 customer pitch decks/one-pagers that have led to customer wins, new business, and greater visibility. We're getting ready to roll out the new brand refresh and are excited to share the next evolution of EASE - marketing will be busy next quarter updating existing collateral, pitch decks, templates, SOPs, and the website - just to name a few.
EMILY WOLFE | GRAPHIC DESIGNER KELLY MATTHEWS | BRAND COPYWRITERAs we enter our second season as the official logistics partner of the Columbus Crew, we have some exciting developments to share about our growing partnership!
For the 2023 season, we’ve increased our sponsorship spend to be a more engaged partner with the Crew. This is an excellent opportunity for national recognition because all MLS matches now stream live on Apple TV! Here are the new features that we’ll enjoy and offer our customers this year:
The EASE Party Deck!
Guests can experience the energy, passion, and atmosphere of the Crew stadium at the all-new EASE Party Deck, located atop the Nordecke supporter section! The Deck will feature Topgolf-style bays decked out in EASE branding. The Sales team is already extending invitations to our customers who can enjoy EASE hospitality during home matches.
The EASE Box Seats!
The new EASE Box is an EASE-branded premium seating area featuring theatre-style chairs, TVs, access to the Tipico Lounge, and more. Tickets to the EASE Box are for company use at each home match!
A New SpeakEASEy Cocktail New Signage
Leaders from EASE and the Columbus Crew once again partnered to craft a special cocktail for the Community Plaza’s SpeakEASEy!
We’ve increased and upgraded our in-stadium signage!
EASE Title Night Returns!
Once again EASE presents Fan Appreciation Day, Saturday, October 21, for the Columbus Crew vs. Montreal match!
JOSH MCMULLEN
The Corporate Development and Training teams are leading a company-wide initiative to collect and assess all internal documentation to begin a comprehensive process of updating, reorganizing, and eventually releasing a new and enhanced version of the EASE Business Manual. Our goal is to create a more efficient and direct method of accessing all documentation relevant to each individual based on their respective role.
Most notably, The DriveOhio Rural ADS Project has made incredible strides! We've completed all preliminary work from driver training, to outfitting our fleet with AI technology, to months of testing at the TRC
With no plans of slowing, the Corporate Training team successfully trained and onboarded a total of 49 new EASE employees this quarter!
EASE is constantly growing - and thankfully, so is the training team! Not only are we bolstering our presence on support shifts across 2nd, 3rd, and weekends, but we’re also bringing in an Instructional Designer to help construct training materials.
Patrick Burris, our new training coordinator, began with the March 13 hiring class. Several other team members are slated to begin with the May 15 hiring class, including a support shift coordinator, two corporate trainers, and an off-shift trainer.
These additions to our team ensure that we will be equipped to grow with the business as we continue to adapt in service of our customers.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to corporatetraining@easelogistics with any questions!
Have you heard? EASE is the host fleet partner for the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and DriveOhio’s Rural Automated Driving Systems (ADS) project. The data from the ADS project will help us demonstrate how connected and automated semi-trucks can improve safety for drivers, passengers, freight, and communities. In the future, this data could even help pave the way for more efficient and environmentally friendly logistics and supply chain solutions across the U.S.!
Abbi Failla, Vice President of Business Operations
"This is an incredible opportunity that places EASE on a national stage and positions us as leaders in transportation innovation. While testing automated vehicles is not a new concept, EASE is the first to test on revenue-generating routes! This will enable us to capture and analyze data and the real-world impacts of automated vehicles on freight safety, efficiency, and the supply chain."
Josh McMullen, Corporate Development Project Manager
"In March, two tractors were delivered to EASE that is equipped with Bosch technology for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, enabling automated and platooning capabilities. EASE drivers will operate this technology in a two-truck system that allows for Level 2 or 'Partial Automation' functionalities. This means that the lead truck’s acceleration and steering can be automatically followed by the second truck.
Starting this month (April of 2023), EASE will officially deploy our automated trucks on revenue-generating routes across the project service area in Southeast Ohio!"
Mat Birdsall, General Manager, EASE Expedited
"Four drivers completed Automated Driving Systems (ADS) training at the Transportation Resource Center (TRC) track: Mike Vannatta, Dan Gregory, Bart Cooper, and Justin Montgomery. Each EASE driver completed 80 hours of training over five weeks including classroom learning, on-track driving, and on-road driving!"
Thank You!
Thank you to everyone involved in this project, especially, Abbi Failla and Josh McMullen for managing all aspects of our participation and collaboration with DiveOhio and our project partners, Mat Birdsall and Ben Hogue for their work leading driver training, and the marketing team for their continued support through content creation, messaging, and generating local, regional, and national awareness and recognition around this initiative."
Follow along and help us spread the word! Join the conversation by using the hashtag #InnovateWithEASE
HEIDI DAVIS
DIRECTOR OF ACCOUNTING
CHELSEA LEPORT, SR. ACCOUNT RECEIVABLE SPECIALIST, VISITED THE OFFICE WITH HER PUP, MJ!
The Human Resources team had a very productive and exciting Q1 focused on several initiatives to support EASE's continued exponential company growth.
Focused on implementing and revamping streamlined processes and procedures to continue to ensure the best employee experience that EASE can deliver.
Recruited 53 outstanding new hires in 2023 so far.
HUGE shoutout to Ashley Dunning an Ashley Comstock - this represents 43% of the total new hires recruited to EASE in 2022.
GREAT WORK, LADIES!
Continued to partner with new local businesses to provide employees with convenient onsite resources such as HappyNest (laundry service), Liberty Cleaners (dry cleaning service), and 401k Consulting with The Seikmann Company.
HR AT THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY CAREER FAIR
HR AND THE EASE CAREER FAIR DISPLAY
NOT-SO-UGLY SWEATERS DURING THE HOLIDAYS
As we close out Q1 and roll into the vacation season, here is a review of EASE’s paid time off (PTO) policies and procedures.
What does accrued PTO mean?
Does my PTO roll over?
No. PTO at EASE is accrual-based, so employees continue to earn PTO indefinitely (while employed by EASE) on a per-pay period cadence. The ONLY time employees do NOT earn PTO is when they have hit their PTO bank ceiling (the maximum total amount of PTO employees are allowed to accrue until they use some PTO). If employees hit their PTO bank ceiling they must take some time off before beginning to accrue additional PTO.
How do I request PTO?
It's best practice to do a full restart of your computer at least once a week. The IT department regularly pushes out updates across our network to continue to keep your systems in compliance, both for proficiency and security reasons, or to fix underlining issues that IT may be unaware of or actively working on.
In order to process any updates, you must do a full restart of your computer – so please plan to do so every week.
Please welcome new hire, Christian Peterson! Chris joined the team this quarter as our new EDI Coordinator. In his role Christian works to integrate our systems into our carrier and customer's network through automation with EDI.
This enables us to reduce the manual touch points between software systems. Chris has already begin improving efficiencies for established accounts and integrating EASE with new customers requiring EDI capable carriers.
Being EDI capable gives EASE a competitive edge and enables us to win bigger business with Enterprise level clients!
Find the triangle on the bottom right of your screen.
Right click on the Trend Micro Security Agent and select
IT is aware that many users have recently had an issue with Outlook/Microsoft applications, receiving notifications of “need password,” “trying to connect”, and “disconnected.” IT has been working with our vendor to reach a resolution, and as of March 6, we have pushed out an update that should resolve this issue permanently. To implement this fix, please do a full restart of your device. If that doesn't fix the issue, follow these instructions to update your Trend software: “update now.”
If a full device-restart and a Trend software update don't resolve the issue, please submit a ticket to our service desk from the EASEOne portal.
Great work, Christian!
Congratulations to IT and all of EASE for completing the transition to our new MotionCX phone system! We successfully adapted to this new customer service tool in record time, and as a result, we’ve already improved communication and streamlined operations! Read on for details of the new system’s functionality and the impact we’re seeing on our business.
What is MotionCX?
"A cloud-based phone system that enables EASE to route calls based on predefined rules, such as the caller's location, previous call information, and the availability of the person/team being called."
Why Motion CX?
"This system ensures that customers are connected with the right person as quickly as possible, reducing the need for transfers and improving first-call resolution rates."
How does MotionCX factor into our plans to grow and scale EASE?
"We can easily scale the system to meet our changing needs, whether that means adding new employees, departments, or customers, or adapting to seasonal changes in call volume."
Why do we love MotionCX?
"Overall, MotionCX is a game-changer for EASE, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and loyalty and expanded business opportunities. We're excited about the potential for this system to continue to improve our logistics operations, and we look forward to exploring its full range of capabilities in the coming year. We would also like to give a shout out to the Carrier Solutions team for their thorough testing and endless patience with some of the first versions!"
"MotionCX is already proving to have a huge impact in reducing abandoned calls and allowing the use of logic, dispositioned numbers, and smart routing to connect calls to the correct team immediately."
"Since Motion CX automatically directs calls to the correct parties, it has removed the heavy burden from the CSR and Flex positions of answering ALL phone calls, enabling them to focus on more business-critical tasks. Our call abandonment has dropped below 10%!"
EMPLOYEE ACHIEVEMENTS
NEW HIRES
EMPLOYEES ON THE MOVE
#GIVEWITHEASE
STACKING FREIGHT AND AWARDS
Q1 MOMENTS TO REMEMBER
EASE IN THE NEWS
FEATURE: NEW ASSETS
APRIL CALENDAR
Q1 NEWSLETTER
David was recently named the 2023 G.I. Jobs Veteran Champion of the Year in Corporate America. This award acknowledges a veteran leader in corporate American who serves the Department of Defense and is highly involved with veteran activities. Look for the award announcement in the June edition of G.I. Jobs!
DAVID SAYS:
“I am humbly honored to be presented with this award. To have your peers and colleagues nominate you is beyond special to me. I am so thankful to all of my friends, peers, and colleagues for their continued support and their belief that what I have to offer truly means something for the greater benefit of everyone. To every veteran and veteran family, I am thankful for your time, your bravery, and your sacrifice to this country.”
Thank you for your service, David!
Larissa Dianovsky was chosen to travel to Washington, D.C. with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). IAVA, an organization that advocates for veterans, hosts an annual fly-in event on Capitol Hill, during which the selected members meet with policymakers to discuss issues that matter to veterans.
LARISSA SAYS:
“We met with members of Congress to discuss the implementation of the PACT Act, and we advocated for the Major Richard Star Act and the Afghan Adjustment Act. This was important to me because I worked with many Afghan nationals while overseas, and also because my grandfather was able to come to the U.S. after World War II because of a similar program the U.S. had with Polish Soldiers.”
Thank you for your service, Larissa!
Catie Casto
February: Justin Arciaga, Nick Rindler, Brian Barnett
Javon Wright, Melissa Gadd, Sue Rutherford, Kade Davis
"Kade Davis showed himself to be incredibly resilient and adaptable as our team faced several challenges that stretched us to capacity on 3/21. Kade stayed on top of all tracking, updated the customer, built loads, and resolved numerous issues – and to top it off, at the end of the day the Kade stayed until 1900 in order to help a customer with a portal issue. Great job Kade!"
SUBMITTED BY PAUL RICCA
GOVERNMENT SR. ACCOUNT MANAGER"I wanted to shoutout Javon Wright as he is always quick to respond and ask if he can help in any other ways! His continued support for the accounting team is appreciated. THANK YOU, JAVON!"
SUBMITTED BY CHELSEA
LEPORT SR. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE SPECIALIST
"I’d like to submit a KUDOS for my teammate Justin Arciaga! He played a pivotal role in compiling pricing for our Condado Tacos project. He put a lot of work and thought into building out the Routing Guide, though it’s not necessarily a task his role should be delivering. His industry expertise and knowledge are so greatly appreciated!"
NATALIE CARROLL PROJECT MANAGEREMPLOYEESOFTHEMONTH
JANUARY: Connor Christopher
FEBRUARY: Chelsea Leport
IAVA STAFF AND MEMBERS AT THE JOINT HOUSE AND SENATE VSO HEARING Larissa Dianovsky - 2nd from rightCasey Appleton | CS Support Coordinator (Wknd AM)
William Boatright | CS Support Coordinator (2nd Shift)
Keaton Boggs | CS Support Coordinator (3rd Shift)
Clyde Boswell | CS Support Coordinator (2nd Shift)
Patrick Burris | Training Coordinator
Kaitlyn Carr | Weekend Logistics Operations Coordinator
(AM shift)
David Cowgill | Van Driver
Teresa Cremeans | Carrier Sales Rep
Marianne Cummings | Local Carrier Operations Rep
Casey Daniels | Accounts Receivable Specialist
Kim Danner | Client Services Rep
Larissa Dianovsky | Carrier Payables Specialist
Marquis Drayton | CS Support Coordinator (2nd Shift)
Nick Frary | Client Services Rep
Jason Hole | Truck Driver
Charlie House | Client Services Rep
Danny Irving | Data Analyst
Grant Jackowski | Carrier Sales Rep
Austin Johnson | CS Support Coordinator (2nd Shift)
Brittany Jordan | Client Services Rep
Kyle Karns | Truck Driver
Crashaun Kelly | CS Support Coordinator (2nd Shift)
AJ Kullman | Carrier Sales Rep
Ian Lipps
Hannah Lowe | CS Support Coordinator (2nd Shift)
Kelly Matthews | Brand Copywriter
Miranda McElroy | Client Services Rep
Mindi McGlaughlin | ACA Specialist
Tonia Midili | Carrier Sales Rep
Alex Mixson | CS Support Coordinator (2nd Shift)
Justin Montgomery | Truck Driver
Christon Moss-Jackson | CS Support Coordinator (Weekend AM)
Christian Peterson | EDI Coordinator
Joel Rapp | Carrier Sales Rep
Zerrica Rucker | Client Services Rep
Rusty Sidle | Carrier Sales Rep
Brooke Snare | Carrier Payables Specialist
Colby Starr | Sales Manager
Daniel Stimson | Carrier Sales Rep
Sufi Sufi | Carrier Payables Specialist
Terii Taylor | Carrier Payables Specialist
Charles Thomas | CS Support Coordinator (3rd Shift)
Charlie Tomblin | Solutions Manager
Ross Vendetta | Carrier Sales Rep
Robynne Watson | CS Support Coordinator Weekend AM
Chad Wheeler | Carrier Sales Rep
Emily Wolfe | Graphic Designer
JOSHUA BOYER Client Services Spec
CHRISTOPHER BRADY Client Services Spec
JACK BRIM Account Manager
MICHELE COMBS Senior Support Coordinator
PHILLIP CRAIG Senior Support Coordinator
KADE DAVIS Client Services Spec
JENNIFER DELROSARIO-GLOVER Senior Support Coordinator
AUSTIN DOUBIKIN Logistics Flex Support
BRYAN DRAUGHON Client Services Spec
ERIC FRY Account Representative
PAYGE GALPIN Senior Support Coordinator
MICHELE HICKS Senior Support Coordinator
AUSTIN KELLY Account Representative
BECKY LARGE Senior Support Coordinator
TAMERA LINDSAY Logistics Flex Support
GAIGE LINVILLE Logistics Flex Support
BENJAMIN MONEYPENNY
MOORE
JACOB NEWMAN-BLACK Account Representative
PAUL RICCA Senior Account Manager
COREY ROBERTSON Senior Account Manager
VICTORIA ROBERSON
OLMNI ROLLISON Senior Support Coordinator
HANNAH SCHILLING Account Manager
TANNER SEYMOUR
Services Lead
DYLAN VANOVER
HARRISON VANTILBURG Logistics Flex Support
MICHAEL VIETA
AARON MARTI Senior Support Coordinator
CAMRON MAXWELL Client Services Lead
CHRIS MILLER Logistics Flex Support
STERLING WHITE
BRETT D WILLIAMS
DAVID WILLIAMS
Services Lead
JAVON WRIGHT
EASE HEROES!
When Michael Somerville and Kim Danner delivered Meals-on-Wheels in March, they found a senior having a medical emergency. They called the squad, stayed until the client was taken to the hospital, and notified LifeCare Alliance (Central Ohio’s Meals-on-Wheels provider). From LifeCare Alliance: "We’re so thankful
SUPPORTING THE MID-OHIO FOOD COLLECTIVE
JANUARY
OneDublin Clothing Drive
FEBRUARY
Sponsorship: Columbus Chamber of Commerce
Annual Meeting
Valentine's Day outreach to nursing home residents
MARCH
Sponsorship: Dublin Firefighters Ball
Sponsorship: Columbus Region Logistics Council
Women in Supply Chain & Logistics event
Collection of canned goods and other essentials for the Dublin Food Pantry
SPREADING LOVE ON VALENTINE'S DAY
EASE SPONSORS THE COLUMBUS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ANNUAL MEETING
EASE SPONSORS THE CRLC WOMEN IN SUPPLY CHAIN & LOGISTICS EVENT
DONATION TO THE DUBLIN FOOD PANTRY
STACKING FREIGHT & AWARDS
2023 SBLA FINALIST AND SPONSORED GET READY TO GROW (CBUS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE)
THE 2023 ROCK STARS OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN AWARD
INC. REGIONALS NO. 53 FASTEST-GROWING COMPANY IN THE MIDWEST
DUBLIN CHAMBER - BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR - PETER CORATOLA JR.
DESCARTES MACROPOINT
FORTUNE'S LIST OF AMERICA'S MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES
CROWLEY'S 2022 BROKER OF THE YEAR
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OHIO READY TO TEST AUTOMATED SEMI-TRUCK PLATOONS ON RT. 33
DriveOhio's Rural Automated Driving Systems (ADS) project begins two deployments to gather data that will help define future technology needs.
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DRIVEOHIO DEPLOYS AUTOMATED VEHICLES
Drivers may soon see automated vehicles on rural roadways in central and southeast Ohio as DriveOhio's Rural Automated Driving Systems (ADS) project begins two deployments to gather data that will help define future technology needs.
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Central Ohio firms that move goods around the world are seeing huge gains while they push the economy forward.
When Ease Logistics CEO Peter Coratola was deciding last year where his Dublin-based firm should expand, he looked outside Ohio. But Coratola, like many in the logistics space, decided the Columbus region was the best location for his company.
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EASE AND JURATOYS PARTNERED TO DELIVER MORE THAN 1600 TOYS
Santa isn’t the only one who delivered toys over the holidays. Dublin-based EASE Logistics and French toy company Juratoys partnered to bring joy to kids in need across Central Ohio throughout the month of December. The two companies delivered 1,626 high-quality books, wooden toys, and educational games to six charities around EASE’s home- region of Central Ohio.
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EASE IS TOP IN TRANSPORTATION ON FORTUNE’S INAUGURAL LIST OF AMERICA’S MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES
EASE Logistics has been named one of America’s Most Innovative Companies, ranking #143 on Fortune’s list of U.S. companies transforming industries from the inside out. EASE notably came in first in the transportation category, above Delta Air Lines, FedEx, American Airlines Group, Allegiant Travel Company, and UPS.
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