Redefining the Road magazine, the Women In Trucking Association, along with TriumphPay name AGT Global Logistics one of the 2023 Top Woman-Owned Businesses in Transportation.
According to a media release from the Women In Trucking Association, “There are many reasons to recognize female entrepreneurs, which is the reason Redefining the Road magazine launched the “Top Woman-Owned Businesses in Transportation” recognition program in 2017, said Brian Everett, group publisher and editorial director of the magazine. Six years later, WIT continues to recognize successful organizations in transportation that are led or owned by women.”
In order to qualify for the award businesses must have majority ownership by a woman, financial stability and growth, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit.
Awardees were chosen based on business success and accomplishments.
The 2023 winners are listed below:
3 Sisters Logistics (Leslie Tarble, president)
AGT Global Logistics (Angela Eliacostas, founder & president)
Andy Transport, Inc. (Andreea Crisan, president & CEO)
Aria Logistics LLC (Arelis Bonilla, CEO & president)
Bennett Family of Companies (Marcia G. Taylor, CEO)
Brenny Transportation, Inc. (Joyce Brenny, founder & CEO)
Candor Expedite, Inc. (Nicole Glenn, founder & CEO)
Garner Trucking (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh, president & CEO)
Hassett Logistics (Michelle Halkerston, owner & CEO)
Lineas 1o de Mayo, S.A. de C.V. (Blanca Mondragon, president)
Powersource Transportation (Barb Bakos, president & CEO)
Rihm Family of Companies (Kari Rihm, president & CEO)
S-2international LLC (Jennifer Mead, founder & CEO)
STARS HazMat Consulting (Wendy J. Buckley, president & CEO)
Tucker Freight Lines, Inc. (Saunya Tucker, CEO)
UFL Services, Inc. (Jennifer Behnke, co-owner & president)
Youmans Transport, Inc., Evans Delivery Agent, Savannah (Sherry Youmans, president & owner)
Congratulations to everyone nominated and the award recipients.
AGT Global Logistics is a 2023 Top Woman-Owned Business in Transportation
We are the proud sponsor of the Women In Trucking 2021 Top Woman-Owned Business in Transporation award.
This award means a lot to us. AGT Global Logistics is fortunate to have been awarded this honor since its inception in 2019.
The award is given to businesses with majority-woman ownership that demonstrate financial stability, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. Each company is nominated and chosen for business success and accomplishments – including factors related to gender diversity and support of women in the industry.
As a past winner, this award has opened doors for us. Through media mentions, additional interviews, industry recognition and conference presentations – being recognized as a Top Woman-Owned Business and we want to extend that opportunity to others.
We congratulate this year’s Top Woman-Owned Businesses in Transportation who will receive their awards at the 2021 Women In Trucking Accelerate! Conference on Nov. 8, 2021 in Dallas, Texas.
Congratulations to –
Aria Logistics (Arelis Gutierrez)
Bennett Family of Companies (Marcia G. Taylor)
Brenny Transportation (Joyce Brenny)
Candor Expedite (Nicole Glenn)
Conversion Interactive Agency (Kelley Walkup)
Garner Trucking (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh)
K & J Trucking (Michelle Koch, Sharon Koch Estate, Jessica Mitacek)
Kenco (Jane Kennedy Greene)
Knichel Logistics (Kristy Knichel)
Powersource Transportation (Barb Bakos)
Rihm Family Companies (Kari Rihm)
S-2international (Jennifer Mead)
Sunset Transportation (Lindsey Graves)
Topel’s Towing Service/Topel Truck Center (Michelle Sukow)
United Federal Logistics (Jennifer Behnke)
Veriha Trucking (Karen Smerchek)
Angela Eliacostas, President and Founder of AGT Global Logistics
For the past 11 months, Angela Eliacostas served as the Women In Trucking Association’s – Influential Woman of the Year. She attended conferences on behalf of the organization. She joined Ellen Voie, President of the Women In Trucking Association at the largely attended hiring conference – Indeed Interactive in May where they discussed hiring for trucking and logistics.
The WIT speaking engagements concluding last week at the 2019 Women In Trucking Association’s Accelerate! Conference. Here, Angela shared her story with the more than 1100 conference-goers. She lead roundtable discussions on leadership, and facilitated the Influential Woman of the Year Award presentation – passing over the title of Influential Woman of the Year to Ruth Lopez of Ryder System Inc.
Indeed Interactive – Attracting and Retaining Qualified Drivers
Influential Woman of the Year
Ask Angela
Throughout the year, Angela reached out to WIT Members of the Month and also through the monthly “Ask Angela” in WIT E-News. Here Angela addressed topics such as “How do I get Started in Trucking?” to “How Important is Experience When Searching for Jobs in Trucking and Logistics?” and “Combatting Negative Stereotypes” to “How to Manage a Family/Work Life Balance.”
As Angela reflected on her experience she notes, “This opportunity allowed me to meet many amazing people. I was able to travel and speak at conferences – helping promote diversity in the industry. I met people who have dedicated their lives to trucking and those just thinking about starting a career. It’s an exciting time to join a fleet, purchase your first rig or venture off – starting a trucking or 3PL company of your own. The opportunities are out there and associations like WIT are here to answer questions and provide support and connections.
It will be bittersweet handing over the title of Influential Woman of the Year in October at the Accelerate! conference in Dallas. It will be great to pass the torch to another very-deserved woman. But, I will miss the continuous interactions I’ve had with Ellen and the entire staff. I, along with my company AGT Global Logistics, will remain a member, supporter, and sponsor of WIT. I look forward to promoting the Association’s mission and messages well into the future.
Thank you to all Women In Trucking – you keep the world turning.” ~ Angela
Outage planning can be a very complicated process that requires the coordination of available resources, tight scheduling, consideration of safety issues, and the satisfying of the seemingly endless regulatory and technical requirements. Hundreds — sometimes even thousands — of contract workers are brought on site to support the outage, allowing the utility to work continuously, around the clock, until the outage is complete. Scheduled outages are often planned up to a year in advance and can sometimes last for months.
In recent years, cost overruns for planned outages at some utilities have dramatically exceeded their original set-asides for that work. Whether you just completed an outage, are in the midst of one, or in the planning process, here are 5 things to consider before planning your next scheduled outage.
What are your biggest logistical challenges? There are a number of logistical challenges that may come into play during an outage. One example would be geographical challenges. Is your facility in a geographically isolated location? When a customer or its vendor is in a geographically isolated area, capacity may need to be sought out at the nearest metropolitan area which, dependent on region, may encounter delays in responding to a shipper and/or consignee. Also, geographically isolated areas are impacted by lack of equipment to support pickups and/or deliveries and may not be accessible by truck or plane.
What deployable resources do you have? Many of the decisions will be heavily influenced by the number of resources you have available. Do you have a small team? Are you in a situation where many of the outage tasks and responsibilities need to be outsourced to vendors? At AGT Global Logistics we train our operations team to be prepared to support stations in outages by reviewing historical data and lessons learned from past outages, and insights gained from pre-outage meetings with members of the supply chain team. In order to sufficiently support a station during its outage, 24/7 operations and additional capacity are critical, especially in the event of something unexpected arising.
What are some standard pain points with outages? Which areas has your business identified for improvement? Has your organization identified areas of improvement for the next scheduled outage? If so, it’s important to think about what steps are being taken to address those key areas that have been identified prior to the outage. At AGT, when we work with a client on a scheduled outage we use insights gained from a briefing meeting, these little tidbits are often invaluable pieces of information that we hold onto and consider as we move through the planning and execution process.
What does success look like for your outage? Success can come in many different forms, it’s important to determine what is most important to you and your organization. Is staying on timeline most important? Is not going over the allocated budget a key outcome? Is your outage a high-risk operation where safety of all workers is paramount? Whatever your goals are, its critical that you set a benchmark as to what success would be and gear all efforts towards reaching that goal.
Are there any new laws or regulations that will impact your outage planning or execution? As mentioned in the opening, there are endless regulatory and compliance issues that can impact an outage. It’s important to stay up to date on new laws and regulations to assure your outage won’t be affected, and if it is, being informed will allow enough time to adjust and prepare for impending changes. One example of this is the recent ELD mandate. With electronic logs, delays at the shipper and/or consignee can result in delays to current transit or subsequent transportation. With efforts to load and unload in a timely manner, and being prepared with appropriate resources from shippers and consignees, the effect can be lessened. Not understanding the new ELD mandate and the impact it will have could prove to be a costly oversight.
There are certainly many other factors to be taken into consideration but starting with these five will put you on the path to a successfully planned outage.
Regardless of where you land on the debate regarding the ELD mandate or its merits, the reality is that the time for implementation has arrived and transportation and logistics professionals must adhere to these new measures.
As you all know, the efforts made to delay or halt the decision on ELD’s were ultimately unsuccessful, and the smartest thing anyone in the industry can do at this point is to be knowledgeable about the new regulations and be prepared for the effects its implementation will have on us all.
We know two things for sure:
1. The effects of the ELD regulations will ripple across all sectors of the trucking and logistics industries
2. The amount of information on this topic is pretty staggering
With those points in mind, we’re going to break it up into three small sections and provide insights on how this mandate will impact third party logistics providers, Drivers, and the supply chain as a whole.
Third Party Logistics Providers
First, lets discuss the effect that the new regulations will have on third party logistics providers like AGT.
● In order to play a part in proper use of Hours Of Service (HOS), 3PL’s will need to work with carriers to properly schedule and communicate the pickup and delivery schedule to the shippers and receivers.
● As productivity will decrease, 450-600 mile one day trips will result in 2 day trips and 900-1200 mile 2 day trips will likely become 3 day trips – as a result rates will increase.
● AGT plans on strategically working with carriers of various fleet sizes and markets to mitigate the effects of the ELD mandate on shippers & 3PL’s.
Drivers
This is where the rubber literally hits the road, and our drivers will certainly feel this mandate the heaviest out of all parties involved.
● Though the intended impact of the ELD Mandate is to increase the safety of drivers by reducing “driver fatigue,” many still face the daunting decision of whether to comply or cease operations altogether.
● There will be many drivers who have been moving shipments with accelerated transit who will now be forced to operate according to legal hours. This will impact the frequency with which a truck is available for use and change how long it takes some shipments to deliver.
● With these new hours restrictions, it is important for carriers to work with shippers and 3PL’s to make sure loads are ready and driver selection is based on best HOS for that specific trip.
Here’s some of the responses from owner-operators’ when asked about the ELD mandate in a recent poll:
Overall Supply Chain
Lastly, let’s finish by pointing out what this new mandate will do to the overall supply chain.
Communication between all parties will be critical to the efficiency of supply chains. HOS will become a hot commodity and will need to be maximized.
Rate increases are also likely to impact shippers/receivers who have slow loading or unloading times. This is something that can’t be overlooked. Shippers and receivers need to be prepared with resources to load & unload shipments.
● Shippers that are prepared with resources to load, all necessary paperwork completed and an accurate time for loading will prevent delays resulting in less wasted drivers HOS.
● In that same respect, if the receiver is also prepared, the driver can promptly unload the freight, possibly reserving HOS for the next shipment and allowing for more capacity to other shippers and/or 3PL’s.
● Delays in loading and unloading could now be more costly than ever before.
While the ELD mandate is not “the end of the world” it does create a number of new pitfalls and considerations that need to be navigated carefully if your company is going to thrive in the new logistics landscape – particularly if you own/operate/manage a smaller fleet.
We hope this information was helpful. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.