Position Summary:
The Truck Transportation Manager is responsible for maintaining relationships with all truck carriers for Lafarge Western Canada’s Cement Product Line. This role is responsible for service levels and expenditures on all freight-to-terminal and freight-to-customer truck lanes. Truck carriers are the primary mode of transportation for customer deliveries, so this role will require close coordination with Sales and with internal/external customers.
The skills that will make an individual successful in this role are listed in the job-specific skills section below. Past success in many/all of these areas coupled with an understanding of logistics and transportation management will make for a strong candidate.
Major Responsibilities:
Adhere to all Lafarge safety policies and procedures.
Maintain an effective carrier safety program. Implement Group safety advisories that relate to transportation. Take the lead on reporting/investigating any safety issues that involve truck carriers.
Manage relationships with truck carriers and oversee $65M in annual spend.
Develop and implement the long-term truck strategy for Western Canada Cement group.
Maintain a strong working relationship and open communication with Sales, Logistics, Customers, and Truck vendors. Leverage these interactions to support service strategy, manage costs, and identify and incorporate improvement opportunities.
Take leadership role in identifying and implementing changes to improve capacity utilization, improve service quality, and reduce costs.
Define requirements for procurement/RFP process for truck lanes (both multi-year contracts and new lanes). This will include rigorous preparation and analysis to support the purchasing process.
Negotiate transportation contracts and rates with truck vendors.
Tactical planning/asset management in conjunction with truck carriers to match fleet capacity with customer requirements in each market.
Track and maintain carrier service metrics. Manage carrier service to support customer satisfaction.
Analyze monthly/yearly spend to clearly understand cost drivers, variances to budget/forecast, and opportunities for improvement. Maintain strong working relationship with Finance group to closely manage costs.
Manage accessorial charges for truck carriers.
Responsible for truck carrier payables within credit terms.
Maintain a high level of quality in all interactions. High degree of knowledge of Lafarge products, services, value offerings, and methods of delivery.
Support Customer Value Center functions by identifying/consulting on areas where improvement is needed as well as filling in where required.
Support Customer Value Representatives in day-to-day carrier interactions and exception handling.
Focus on achieving individual and supporting departmental KPIs.
Adhere to Lafarge processes while continually maintaining a process improvement mindset.
Qualifications:
Education and Work Experience
Bachelor’s degree minimum in business or related field. Graduate degree a plus.
Minimum three years experience in a position with exposure to Logistics and/or Transportation Management.
Understanding of building materials industry, including product knowledge, an asset.
Strong computer literacy, including Microsoft Office suite of products.
Job-Specific Skills
Negotiation skills
Analytical skills
Leadership in planning and executing
Action-oriented with demonstrated strong problem solving skills.
Demonstrated ability to make quantifiable, fact-based decisions.
Proven ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment.
Ability to lead by influencing and generating buy-in.
