Forward Air Corp logo

Terminal Manager

Forward Air Corp

  • Fort Wayne, IN
  • 3 days ago

    Highlights

    Certification/Licensure: Valid forklift certification/licensure (or ability to obtain before operating equipment) required, including operation of applicable material handling equipment (MHE) such as sit-down/stand-up forklifts, reach trucks, order pickers, pallet riders, or other specialized MHE as required by the site. Technical: Proficient with common office technologies, including Windows PCs, Microsoft O365 (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) and web conferencing (Teams, Zoom, Webex, etc.).

    Numbers & Facts

    LocationFort Wayne, IN
    IndustryTransport and Storage - Materials
    Company Size2,500 to 4,999 employees
    Year Founded1981
    Websitehttps://www.forwardair.com/content/careers-0

    Description

    The Terminal Manager is responsible for leading all aspects of terminal operations. This role provides strategic and day‑to‑day leadership to ensure safe, compliant, and efficient movement of freight from inbound receipt through final delivery. The Terminal Manager ensures operational performance aligns with contractual, service, financial, and regulatory commitments across all supported modes. They drive workforce planning, capacity management, cost control, and terminal productivity through strong operational discipline and data‑driven decision‑making. They partner with transportation providers, carriers, customers, and internal teams to ensure seamless handoffs and service delivery.

    Responsibilities

    • Lead all operations across the terminal's transportation flows from inbound receipt through final delivery.
    • Ensure service, financial, safety, quality, and regulatory requirements are met across all transportation modes.
    • Coach operations and support teams to drive consistent execution, operational discipline, and process accuracy.
    • Own terminal P&L performance, including labor, variable costs, period expenses, and cost-to-serve across modes.
    • Lead workforce planning, volume forecasting, transportation capacity alignment, and cross‑mode resource allocation based on network and customer demand.
    • Monitor terminal operational and financial performance, identify variances, and implement corrective actions.
    • Manage terminal capital expenditures tied to approved investments, terminal improvements, and all operational handling needs.
    • Sponsor and lead initiatives that improve productivity, quality, velocity, safety, and cost performance.
    • Establish and manage terminal KPIs aligned with safety, regulatory compliance, on‑time performance, mode accuracy, cost, and productivity.
    • Lead regular operational, transportation, and performance reviews to assess results and identify improvement opportunities.
    • Proactively manage employee relations through communication, coaching, performance feedback, and team development.
    • Ensure robust safety practices and full compliance with DOT, OSHA, TSA, FMC, IATA, rail, and other mode-specific regulations.
    • Collaborate with carriers, drayage providers, freight forwarders, brokers, linehaul partners, and regulatory authorities to ensure smooth multimodal operations.
    • Support and promote continuous improvement methodologies using data, structured problem-solving, and transportation analytics.
    • All other duties as assigned to meet evolving business needs.

    Qualifications

    • Education: Undergraduate degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Transportation, Logistics, or a related field preferred; High School Diploma or GED/equivalent required.
    • Certification/Licensure: Valid forklift certification/licensure (or ability to obtain before operating equipment) required, including operation of applicable material handling equipment (MHE) such as sit-down/stand-up forklifts, reach trucks, order pickers, pallet riders, or other specialized MHE as required by the site. Additional equipment certifications may be required depending on facility needs.
    • Training in Lean, Six Sigma, DOT compliance, IATA/IMDG familiarity, or similar is preferred.
    • Experience: 5+ years of leadership experience in multimodal transportation, 3PL, contract logistics, or operational environments involving ground, air, ocean, or rail.
    • Strong working knowledge of multimodal transportation processes, carrier operations, freight flow management, and terminal/linehaul coordination.
    • Strong functional understanding of TMS, WMS, ERP (McLeod, SAP, Oracle, etc.), and reporting/data tools.
    • Proven ability to manage operational KPIs, labor planning, transportation capacity, and cost performance.
    • Experience developing and using dashboards, scorecards, and transportation KPI reporting to manage terminal performance.
    • Ability to create, track, and interpret safety, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity metrics across multiple transportation modes.
    • Demonstrated discretion and confidentiality in handling and protecting sensitive information.
    • Technical: Proficient with common office technologies, including Windows PCs, Microsoft O365 (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) and web conferencing (Teams, Zoom, Webex, etc.).
    • Environment: Comfort commuting to/from and working in a 100% on-site setting (listed in this posting), with travel for related meetings/events.

    #LI-Onsite #LI-KB1

    About Company

    Since 1990, Forward Air has been a leading provider of ground transportation and related logistics services to the North American air freight and expedited LTL market. We offer surface shipping on an accelerated “time-definite” basis, delivering cargo at a specific time, but under less time-sensitive situations – supplying you with a cost effective, reliable alternative to air transportation. We work with companies of all sizes to develop tangible advantages and build the best products to meet your specific needs. Forward Air presents to the wholesale transportation community (logistics companies, freight forwarders, integrated air cargo carriers, passenger/ cargo airlines, and non-traditional shippers), a single-source provider that can deliver more supply chain services and a superior menu of choices. Throughout the years we have added supplementary lines to our linehaul service, such as full truckload operations (Truckload Services), final-mile coverage (Complete® Cartage), and an Airline Logistics program, and we will continue to expand our services to meet the changing needs and growth of our customer base.

    Forward Air is structured to optimize both savings and service to our customers. Direct partnerships with owner-operators and other surface transportation providers, enable us to remain cost-competitive. The Forward Air network is designed with over 90 facilities located at or near major U.S. and Canadian airports, 12 regional sort centers and over 300 beyond points (secondary airports provided through our Complete Cartage service), creating one of the most comprehensive linehaul networks in the industry.

    The foundation product for Forward Air is our expedited linehaul service, offering consistent and reliable transit and on-time, damage-free deliveries. By locating terminals on or near airports and maintaining a scheduled transportation network, we are able to arrange for convenient and consistent service with broad geographic coverage. Shipments of varying sizes (TL/LTL) are received at our terminals and transported by contracted service providers either (1) on a direct truck to the destination terminal, (2) through our Columbus, Ohio central sorting hub, or (3) through one of our 12 regional hubs, where they are unloaded, sorted, and reloaded in rapid fashion. After reloading the shipments, our contracted service providers deliver them to the destination city for early morning recovery. Through our Forward Air Complete® cartage service, customers also can have shipments picked up from the shipper, delivered to the final consignee, or transferred at the airport, simplifying the freight management processes. These options allow us to maximize handling efficiency of each shipment while minimizing freight loss and damage, improving transit times over traditional ground transportation.

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