VP of Operations
Vice President of Operations - Port Drayage
Location: Los Angeles / Long Beach, California
This is a senior leadership opportunity for an experienced drayage professional with deep knowledge of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, strong relationships across the Southern California transportation community, and a proven ability to build and lead high-performing operations teams.
The VP of Operations will have responsibility for operational performance, dispatch, customer service, team development, fleet productivity, and customer relationships. This individual will play a key role in strengthening the operational platform and positioning the business for continued growth.
Responsibilities:
- Lead day-to-day port drayage operations across dispatch, customer service, drivers, and supporting operational functions.
- Build, develop, and retain a high-performing operations team with clear expectations and accountability.
- Strengthen dispatch processes to improve truck utilization, driver productivity, service levels, and overall execution.
- Oversee container pickups and deliveries, terminal appointments, empty returns, chassis coordination, and operational exception management.
- Improve communication and coordination between dispatch, drivers, customer service, fleet operations, and customers.
- Establish and monitor operational KPIs including utilization, cost per move, on-time performance, driver productivity, and service quality.
- Develop processes and operating procedures that improve efficiency, consistency, and scalability.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with customers while ensuring a high level of service and responsiveness.
- Identify opportunities to expand existing customer relationships and support new business growth.
- Maintain strong relationships across the Los Angeles and Long Beach port community, including terminals, ocean carriers, BCOs, freight forwarders, NVOCCs, warehouses, and other industry partners.
- Partner with executive leadership to improve profitability, manage operating costs, and support the long-term growth of the business.
- Develop managers and employees while building greater leadership depth throughout the organization.
Requirements
- Significant leadership experience within port drayage, intermodal transportation, trucking, or a closely related logistics environment.
- Strong knowledge of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and the Southern California drayage market.
- Proven experience leading dispatch, customer service, driver, and/or transportation operations teams.
- Established relationships within the Southern California port, drayage, shipping, and logistics community.
- Demonstrated ability to improve operational performance, service quality, and team effectiveness.
- Strong understanding of fleet utilization, driver productivity, transportation costs, and operational profitability.
- Experience developing employees, building teams, and establishing accountability across an organization.
- Strong customer relationship management and business development capabilities.
- Excellent communication, leadership, negotiation, and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to operate both strategically and hands-on in a fast-paced transportation environment.
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