What My Layoff Taught Me About Trust and Control in Logistics

How leading with passion builds a company worth trusting.

Haversack's model gives teams everything they need to run their own freight operation.

TL;DR

In 2016, I chose a layoff over uprooting my family, and used that decision to build a logistics company that treats clients as trustworthy partners, not billable accounts. Haversack, an engineered logistics solution, has since saved clients over $327 million in freight costs, typically 13 to 22% in year one, by giving clients control.

I have a saying: lead with passion and the rest will follow.

In 2016, that meant choosing a layoff over relocating my family for a company that only cared about its own convenience, and it's why I built Haversack, an engineered logistics solution, to give clients the trust and control they deserve.

Here's the story behind that decision, what we believe in, and why we do what we do.

The Ultimatum That Started Haversack

Back in 2016, I was running a service center for a large national carrier. One morning, I was given a decision to make by the end of the day: move to Kentucky or clear out my desk. I had a wife and three little kids at home in a new house, so it was a tough call to make.

But a company that gives you hours to uproot your family doesn't have your back, so I took the layoff and the uncertainty that came with it.

I started applying for jobs, and every time one fell through, I felt relieved. Stepping back into the same role meant stepping back into the same problems, inefficiencies, bureaucracy, and the very real chance of standing in the same situation again.

Instead, I decided to do something different: build a company I could believe in, and one that solved the glaring issues I saw because I believe the logistics industry can and must be better.

What's Broken in Logistics

I saw huge structural and personal problems in the logistics industry. On one side, systems were outdated, slow, and unnecessarily complicated. Teams were running modern supply chains on spreadsheets and manual inputs.

On the other side was how the industry treated the people who depended on it. For example:

• Customers weren't told the true cost of transportation, only to be charged significantly more later.

• Loads were dropped without an honest explanation when the margins weren't good enough.

• Clients were billed for services they never used, on the assumption they were too busy to push back.

• You'd call for a shipment update and wait days for an answer, if you got one at all.

• Every carrier relationship was its own manual process, with no single view of what was moving.

That's not right. After spending 26 years in the military before working in logistics, I'd learned that some things weren't negotiable. Integrity. Accountability. Respect. If something goes wrong, customers deserve to know the truth. If costs change, they deserve to understand why.

If you've ever worked with a partner who treated your freight the way I described above, you already know why I built Haversack differently.

What Do Trust and Control Look Like in Logistics?

Here's a secret: in logistics, whoever holds the control wins, and for too long, that control has sat with vendors and brokers, not the businesses paying for it. I built Haversack to hand that control back to clients.

To date, our clients have saved more than $327 million in freight costs, typically saving 13 to 22% in their first year alone.

Think of our solution like an actual haversack, a bag soldiers carry that has everything in it they need to operate on their own. That's the model: your team runs the freight operation with the tools we give you, and when you need backup, it's there in two forms, day-to-day support from our client services team for the operational and shipping questions that come up, and strategic support where we sit down directly with your leadership.

Let's Keep in Touch

If you're tired of how logistics have always been done, I get it. I was too. I'm not looking for another account to manage, I'm looking for partners: people who are proactive about fixing what's broken, courageous enough to try something different, and genuine about wanting to get better.

If that's you, we're already speaking the same language. Connect with me on LinkedIn to learn more about how we work.