Young third-party logistics (3PL) company Waggon has plans to continue expanding its workforce in 2024, looking to add 20 new hires across its sales and customer service departments. This ambitious double-digit percentage growth target comes even as the logistics industry faces economic uncertainty and a potential downturn.
Founded just two years ago in 2022 by Robert Rajfer and Tyler Sala, Waggon has strived to differentiate itself through a focus on integrity, transparency and best-in-class customer service. After a successful 2022 fourth quarter during which the company saw increased demand for its services, Waggon is looking ahead to 2023 and laying out its goals for the coming year.
Chief among these priorities is enhancing Waggon’s expedited shipping capabilities to provide faster delivery speeds for time-sensitive freight. The company also aims to establish itself as a premier 3PL partner in key verticals like food and beverages, hazardous materials (HAZMAT), pharmaceuticals, and other high-value, specialized shipment categories.
Seeking Customer Service Fanatics
Achieving these growth plans requires staffing up with talented logistics professionals who embrace Waggon’s obsessive customer-centric ethos. Vice President of Customer Success Pat Stradinger noted that while many logistics companies pay lip service to the importance of customer focus in principle, specifics around actual behaviors and values often remain vague or non-existent.
At Waggon, leadership has precisely defined what “best-in-class customer service” means in their view. This starts with experts being readily available to provide support and advice at all hours when urgent shipping needs arise. It also entails aiming to offer prices that are fair and sustainable yet competitive within the bounds of market conditions. Additionally, there is an expectation for all employees to have an “owner’s mindset” – treating each customer’s business as their own. Rather than just the executive team preaching this customer-first mantra, the entire organization must live these values moment to moment.
Curiosity & Resilience are Key Traits
In their hiring, Waggon’s founders emphasize that in addition to fully embracing the company’s high service standards, candidates must demonstrate core traits like intellectual curiosity and personal resilience.
Co-founder Tyler Sala notes that “I found a lot of success in my career in the early days when I became more curious.” Such curiosity fuels initiative in understanding the intricacies of the global supply chain environment. Sala calls this developing “A to Z thinking” – going beyond comprehending just the basic origin and destination points or times of a shipment. Waggon needs team members with curiosity leading them to actively connect these dots and understand the full story and journey.
Similarly, the drive and grit to build a company from infancy also matters tremendously. Stradinger said Waggon seeks “people who have been in the trenches” operationally and can wear multiple hats while ambiguity remains high in the organization’s developmental phase.
For ambitious logistics and customer service professionals who resonate with Waggon’s vision of intellectually curious, proactive and dedicated customer experts, much room for growth and leadership development exists at the company. Waggon invites those eager to apply their skills in a fast-paced environment while co-creating the future.
By leveraging their expertise and resources, Lading Logistics aims to provide efficient and reliable international shipping and logistics solutions for their clients.
