THE NET WORK T H AT D E L I V E R S
THE NET WORK T H AT D E L I V E R S In an industry defined by constant change, Radiant Logistics has spent 20 years building a business designed to adapt. Combining entrepreneurial expertise, global logistics capabilities, and technology-enabled solutions, the company continues to help customers navigate complexity while positioning itself for the next chapter of growth, as we find out from the leadership team Writer: Lauren Kania | Project Manager: Ben Weaver
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ew industries are as dynamic as logistics. From geopolitical uncertainty and shifting trade policies to changing sourcing strategies and customer expectations, supply chains have become increasingly interconnected and complex. “The complexity and interdependency of the supply chain and ever-changing global affairs always keep you on your toes,” opens Bohn Crain, Founder and CEO of Radiant Logistics (Radiant). Helping customers navigate that reality has been central to Radiant’s founding in 2006. After building his career in transportation, including time with Fortune 100 transportation company CSX, Crain recognized an opportunity to create something different.
Rather than building a traditional logistics company, he envisioned a platform that would connect experienced logistics entrepreneurs through shared capabilities, resources, and technology, while maintaining the responsiveness and customer focus that drive long-term success. “It was that background in transportation alongside my familiarity with capital markets that created an opportunity for me to set up Radiant,” he recalls. Founded on the belief that entrepreneurial operators could deliver exceptional value when connected through a broader network of capabilities and resources, Radiant has spent the past two decades expanding its reach while remaining focused on solving customer challenges.
Through strategic acquisitions and organic growth, Radiant has expanded its capabilities while preserving the entrepreneurial culture and customer relationships that helped build the business. “There has been a lot of hard work, dedication, and perseverance to get us to where we are today,” acknowledges Crain. “Our stability and continued growth speak to the durability of our diversified non-asset-based model and ability to weather all types of storms while still thriving.” As one of the few publicly traded, non-asset-based thirdparty logistics (3PL) providers of its size, Radiant offers a level of transparency and accountability rarely found in the middle market.
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RADIANT – AT A GLANCE Founded: 2006 Headquarters: Renton, Washington Business model: Technologyenabled, non-asset-based 3PL Public company: NYSE American: RLGT Core capabilities: • Domestic and international freight forwarding • Customs brokerage • Truck and rail brokerage • Warehousing and fulfillment • Specialized transportation solutions • Global trade management Technology platform: Navegate®
20 years after its founding, the company remains focused on the same objective that inspired its creation: helping customers move confidently through an increasingly complex supply chain landscape.
THE POWER OF THE NETWORK While Radiant’s growth over the past two decades has been significant, the company’s evolution has never been driven by scale alone. Instead, it has been shaped by a belief that customers are best served when entrepreneurial expertise, specialized capabilities, and local market knowledge are connected through a broader platform designed to support growth and collaboration. That philosophy continues to define Radiant today. 4 | Supply Chain Outlook Issue 11
Over the years, the company has expanded through a combination of organic growth and the strategic acquisition of highly respected transportation and logistics providers. Rather than simply consolidating operations, Radiant has focused on preserving the expertise, customer relationships, and entrepreneurial culture that made those businesses successful while connecting them to a broader network of capabilities, technology, and resources. For customers, that means access to broader capabilities and specialized expertise without sacrificing the responsiveness and accountability that often define strong local relationships. Organizations are often forced to choose between the personalized
service of a smaller provider and the scale and resources of a larger one. Radiant’s model is designed to eliminate that trade-off. “We are small enough that we can adapt to our customers and what they’re looking for, yet large enough to provide the rates, resources, and service capabilities associated with much larger organizations,” highlights Joe Pelletier, Senior Vice President. “Our size and capability are perfectly blended.” That balance allows Radiant to support a diverse range of customer needs, from global forwarding programs and manufacturing supply chains to government and defense logistics, healthcare shipments, timecritical transportation, and complex trade show and event moves.
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“THE COMPLEXITY AND INTERDEPENDENCY O F T H E S U P P LY C H A I N A N D E V E R - C H A N G I N G G L O B A L A F FA I R S A LWAY S K E E P Y O U O N YO U R TO E S ” – BOHN CRAIN, FOUNDER AND CEO, RADIANT LOGISTICS
adds Laurent Grousseau, CTO. The result is a model that combines the agility of entrepreneurial operators with the capabilities, technology, and global reach of a larger logistics platform, helping customers solve increasingly complex transportation and supply chain challenges. “Radiant prides itself on being extremely collaborative. We collaborate across different parts of the business to bring together everything required to deliver the best possible outcomes for our customers,”
TECHNOLOGY WITH PURPOSE As supply chains have become more data-intensive, customers increasingly need more than information – they need the ability to turn that information into action.
Recognizing that shift, Radiant has made technology a central component of its strategy, helping customers gain greater visibility, control, and insight across their operations. At the center of that strategy is Navegate®, the company’s proprietary global trade management and collaboration platform. “Navegate® is a truly differentiated service offering that empowers our associates to engage with customers in a unique and meaningful way,” notes Crain.
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BUILT FOR COMPLEXITY Radiant supports customers across a wide range of industries and supply chain requirements, including: • Manufacturing and industrial • Government and defense • Healthcare and life sciences • Retail and consumer goods • Trade shows and events • Time-critical transportation • Global freight forwarding By combining specialized expertise with global transportation capabilities, Radiant helps customers navigate some of the most demanding logistics challenges in the world.
teams,” Grousseau tells us. “There’s a constant exchange of ideas so we can better understand what the business needs and deliver the best possible experience and results for customers.” By combining digital capabilities with experienced logistics professionals, Radiant continues to help customers move from reacting to disruption toward anticipating it.
LOOKING AHEAD The platform connects orders, inventory, shipments, and supply chain events in a single environment, helping customers identify potential issues, respond more quickly to disruption, and make more informed decisions. “It’s a natural fit because customers are looking for greater visibility and a deeper understanding of what’s happening throughout their supply chains,” says Pelletier. 6 | Supply Chain Outlook Issue 11
“By combining technology with the expertise that exists across the Radiant network, we’re able to help customers make better decisions and improve overall supply chain performance.” Importantly, Radiant views technology as an extension of operational expertise rather than a replacement for it. “We have many discussions between the business and technology
As Radiant enters its third decade, the company’s focus remains remarkably consistent with the principles that guided its founding: invest in people, embrace innovation, and help customers solve increasingly complex logistics challenges. Through its ongoing partnership with the University of Washington Foster School of Business, Radiant has explored practical applications for artificial intelligence (AI) while creating a pipeline for the next generation of
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“RADIANT PRIDES ITSELF ON BEING E X T R E M E LY C O L L A B O R AT I V E . W E C O L L A B O R AT E A C R O S S D I F F E R E N T P A R T S O F T H E B U S I N E SS TO B R I N G TO G E T H E R E V E RY T H I N G R E Q U I R E D TO D E L I V E R T H E B E ST P O SS I B L E O U TCO M E S FO R O U R C U STO M E R S ” – L AU R E N T G R O U S S E AU, C TO, R A D I A N T LO G I ST I C S
technology and business leaders. “We started our partnership two years ago and provided students with a problem statement as a proof of concept of how we might use AI within the business,” Crain outlines. The program gained so much interest and was so successful that Radiant ultimately hired a number of those students to continue carrying forward that initiative. “We have already established live AI agents, including RAY, our
AI-powered logistics assistant, and believe this is going to be the next big transformation within our sector in the next couple of years,” insights Grousseau. “We are finding new ways to connect the old with the new to be more efficient and provide more accurate information for customers.” For Radiant, innovations such as RAY are designed to enhance expertise, not replace it. At its core, logistics is a people business.
“We’re positioned in a manner where we don’t bring technology to customers where they were, but rather where they are going,” states Pelletier. “We’re not applying yesterday’s technology to tomorrow’s problems; we’re applying tomorrow’s technology to today’s problems.” Supply Chain Outlook Issue 11 | 7
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INVESTING IN WHAT’S NEXT • University of Washington Foster School of Business partnership focused on practical AI applications. • Graduate student innovation projects addressing real-world logistics challenges. • Hiring pipeline supporting the next generation of transportation, technology, and business leaders. • Deployment of live AI agents to improve efficiency and customer outcomes. • Continued investment in Navegate® and customer-facing technology solutions.
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20 years after its founding, Radiant has grown into a diversified global logistics platform serving customers across industries, geographies, and modes of transportation. More importantly, it has built a foundation designed to evolve alongside the needs of the market. “We ultimately aspire to be the
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“ W E ’ R E N O T A P P LY I N G Y E S T E R D AY ’ S T E C H N O L O G Y TO TO M O R R OW ’ S P R O B L E M S ; W E ’ R E A P P LY I N G T O M O R R O W ’ S T E C H N O L O G Y T O T O D AY ’ S PROBLEMS” – J O E P E L L E T I E R , S E N I O R V I C E P R E S I D E N T, RADIANT LOGISTICS
preferred platform for logistics entrepreneurs,” concludes Crain. That ambition is rooted in the same philosophy that inspired the company’s founding: empower great people, connect them through a stronger network, and create better outcomes for customers. As Radiant looks toward the future,
that belief remains unchanged: bring together the right people, capabilities, and technology to help customers move forward. It is a philosophy that has defined the company for the past 20 years – and continues to prove why it is, and always has been, the ‘Network that Delivers’.
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