The Freight Show
Starting a brokerage from scratch is hard. Starting one at 55, after a 30-year career running brokerage at Schneider, OHL, Redwood, and ITS Logistics, is a different kind of bet — and doing it 18 months before the market collapses into a multi-year freight recession is something else entirely. Greg Sanders has lived all of it. He grew up in the family business, an intermodal company his dad sold to Landstar in 1994. He spent 12 years at Schneider, helped build their brokerage division alongside Aaron Benzeland, and later sold the OHL brokerage to Brad Jacobs as XPO was just getting off the ground. After a run as CEO of ITS Logistics in Reno, Greg launched RDS Capacity Solutions in 2019 — partnered with the original RDS family (his dad's old attorney from the Landstar deal), brought in operators with skin in the game, and built a brokerage that returned all startup capital in six months and was profitable in year one. Then COVID hit, the market ripped, and the 3.5-year slump arrived. In this conversation, Greg breaks down what it actually takes to build a brokerage that survives a cycle like the one we just came through — the partner model, the pod structure, the recruiting playbook he learned from TQL, and why he believes the next three to five years will separate the brokers who integrate AI thoughtfully from the ones who don't. He also gets into his work with the TIA on broker liability, the F4A case in front of the Supreme Court, and what's broken about how FMCSA regulates carriers today. What you'll learn: * Why Greg started over at 55 and what made the RDS opportunity different from starting from zero * The partner model behind RDS: skin in the game, equity ownership, and how Jeremy Inksroom grew his book 5x after joining * Why the pod structure beats the traditional sales-and-carrier split on a big broker floor * How field generals get paid on contribution margin, not top line — and why that changes everything * What Greg learned from Brad Jacobs about M&A execution and why simplicity in the message wins on Wall Street * The recruiting philosophy he stole from Kerry Byrne at TQL: send the executives to campus, not HR * Why he hires athletes and looks for emotional intelligence over IQ * How to integrate AI without alienating the operators who built the business * The TIA's case on broker liability, the C.H. Robinson Supreme Court case, and what's at stake under F4A * Why FMCSA has failed at carrier regulation and what's driving the chameleon carrier problem Time-stamped highlights: * (00:00) Intro: filming live at TIA Capital Ideas, hosted on borrowed Freight Caviar equipment * (05:43) Greg's origin story: growing up in the family intermodal business, the two rules his dad set before he could join * (07:24) Building the Southern California office for ITCO at 24 years old * (08:28) Selling his dad's company to Landstar in 1994 and the Landstar agency model * (11:46) Why Greg joined Schneider for "his MBA in trucking" and what he learned about asset operations * (13:24) Don Schneider's playbook: deregulation, killing the unions early, doing it first class * (17:43) The come-to-Jesus moment when Schneider asked him to move to Green Bay * (19:02) Joining OHL, running North American transportation, and learning private equity from the inside * (21:22) Selling the OHL brokerage to Brad Jacobs at the very start of XPO * (23:24) What stood out about how Brad Jacobs transacts and integrates * (25:47) Building the Redwood brand from a collection of acronyms (and why the URL was still available) * (28:10) Managed trans vs. brokerage: the trade-offs and why brokerage executes better * (32:02) Joining ITS Logistics in Reno, becoming CEO, and getting "sideways with a board member" * (34:21) The dynamics of family office ownership and what changes when the board takes over * (37:11) Starting RDS Capacity Solutions at 55 — the brand, the asset connection, and the partner setup * (41:20) Why Mark Casey and Jeremy Inksroom — and how Jeremy grew his book 5x * (42:19) Returning all startup capital in six months and being profitable in year one * (43:19) Surviving the 3.5-year freight slump * (44:09) Recruiting philosophy: what Greg learned from Kerry Byrne at TQL * (46:05) Why he hires athletes and looks for emotional intelligence over IQ * (48:59) The pod model: building $PnLs around field generals and paying on contribution margin * (51:13) Why traditional sales-and-carrier splits break at scale * (56:19) Becoming an expert in an industry, not an equipment type * (59:48) Integrating AI without alienating the team — and why this is the next three-to-five-year challenge * (01:05:49) Greg's involvement with the TIA and the three legs of advocacy, education, and networking * (01:08:13) Broker liability, the C.H. Robinson Supreme Court case, and what F4A protection means * (01:11:38) The chameleon carrier problem and how FMCSA has failed to regulate it * (01:20:09) What gets Greg fired up: the movement of money, the movement of information, and what the next five years look like Guest: Greg Sanders — President, RDS Capacity Solutions Greg has spent his career building and leading brokerages, with executive roles at Schneider, OHL (acquired by XPO), Redwood Logistics, and ITS Logistics. He grew up in the family intermodal business his father sold to Landstar in 1994, and launched RDS Capacity Solutions in 2019 in partnership with the founding RDS family. He's been a member of the TIA since 1994 and serves on the board.
22 episodios
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