Job Title: Head of Transportation

Location: Fontana, CA
Salary Range: $163,500 - $261,000 + Annual Bonus
Employment Type: Full-Time

Position Summary

The Head of Transportation Operations is responsible for leading and scaling JDL's U.S. transportation network, with primary ownership of the middle-mile transportation operation while overseeing the strategic integration of first-mile, cross-border, and last-mile transportation. This leader will drive transportation strategy, network planning, carrier management, dispatch operations, transportation engineering, and operational excellence across domestic and international freight movements.

The ideal candidate has extensive experience building and managing complex transportation networks, including domestic linehaul, cross-border transportation between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, port drayage, and last-mile distribution. This individual will develop scalable transportation solutions that improve service reliability, optimize costs, and support JDL's rapidly expanding logistics network.

What You'll Do:

Middle Mile Network Strategy

• Design and continuously optimize transportation lanes connecting ports, fulfillment centers, cross-docks, sortation centers, regional distribution facilities, and customer locations.
• Build scalable middle-mile transportation networks that balance cost, transit time, capacity, and service reliability.
• Identify opportunities for network redesign, shipment consolidation, pool distribution, continuous moves, and trailer optimization.
• Develop contingency plans for capacity shortages, weather events, and operational disruptions.
• Establish transportation standards and operating models to support rapid business growth.

Last Mile Transportation

• Develop scalable last-mile delivery strategies supporting B2B and B2C customer fulfillment.
• Partner with regional delivery providers, parcel carriers, and dedicated delivery partners to improve service coverage and customer experience.
• Monitor last-mile KPIs, including on-time delivery, failed deliveries, cost per stop, customer satisfaction, and service quality.
• Evaluate final-mile delivery models, including parcel, dedicated fleet, and third-party delivery providers.

Cross-Border Transportation

• Oversee cross-border transportation operations between Asia and the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
• Partner with customs brokers, drayage providers, and international carriers to ensure compliant and efficient freight movement.
• Develop transportation solutions supporting international import/export operations and bonded freight.
• Improve cross-border transit time, visibility, customs compliance, and transportation reliability.
• Collaborate with Customs Compliance and Trade teams to ensure adherence to all applicable regulations.

Carrier & Capacity Management

• Develop strategic relationships with trucking companies, brokers, dedicated carriers, parcel providers, and international transportation partners.
• Secure transportation capacity during seasonal peaks and high-volume events.
• Evaluate dedicated fleet versus outsourced transportation strategies.
• Monitor carrier scorecards, on-time performance, claims, safety, and compliance.

Leadership

• Build and lead a high-performing transportation organization consisting of transportation managers, dispatchers, planners, carrier managers, transportation analysts, and network optimization professionals.
• Develop transportation SOPs, operational KPIs, and performance management programs.
• Mentor transportation leaders and build organizational capability as the network scales.
• Foster a culture of operational excellence, accountability, safety, and continuous improvement.

Compliance & Safety

• Ensure compliance with DOT, FMCSA, OSHA, ELD, Hours of Service (HOS), customs regulations, and all applicable federal, state, and international transportation requirements.
• Lead transportation safety initiatives and carrier compliance programs.
• Support accident investigations, cargo claims, insurance matters, and corrective action planning.
• Maintain transportation compliance across domestic and cross-border operations.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with Warehouse Operations, Fulfillment, Customer Success, Planning, Procurement, Sales, Finance, and Engineering teams.
• Coordinate transportation capacity with fulfillment planning and customer demand.
• Support new warehouse launches, transportation implementations, and network expansions.
• Collaborate with international logistics teams to improve end-to-end supply chain performance.

About You:

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, Business, Engineering, or a related field.
• 10+ years of progressive transportation leadership experience.
• 5+ years leading regional or national middle-mile, linehaul, or transportation operations.
• Strong experience designing and optimizing large-scale transportation networks.
• Extensive knowledge of U.S. trucking operations, freight procurement, carrier management, and transportation planning.
• Experience managing high-volume transportation operations within a 3PL, eCommerce, parcel, retail, or distribution environment.
• Experience overseeing cross-border transportation between the U.S., Mexico, and/or Canada.
• Familiarity with last-mile delivery operations and parcel transportation strategies.
• Strong understanding of transportation KPIs, cost modeling, and network optimization.
• Experience leading multi-site transportation teams and managing cross-functional operations.
• Experience with TMS, WMS, YMS, routing software, and transportation analytics tools.
• Bilingual in English and Mandarin is a plus.

Ready to apply?

Take the next step in your career, apply now and explore the opportunities we have to offer.