Saying good-bye to Manning’s Truck Brokerage — now FitzMark
Yesterday was a big day for me. It was a day full of emotion, some reminiscing, and extreme excitement. Yesterday I said good-bye to my team at Mannings Truck Brokerage (Fitzmark).
In November of 2018, I packed my wife and three boys up into our minivan (pictured) and left our home in San Diego to move to our new home in Omaha, Nebraska. Many people thought we were crazy, and maybe my wife did too. But ultimately, I was setting out to build a business in Omaha. In February of 2019, I took over as CEO of Manning’s Truck Brokerage. This 50-year-old truck broker had one or two significant customers, some great people (staff and drivers), and a fantastic reputation around town as a trusted Cornbelt transport company. The day I walked into the business with my partner, Dan Tamkin, the reality of my decision set in. There was a lot of work to do. I needed to de-risk the business by eliminating the customer concentration issues, create a team culture, grow, fix things and the list went on and on.
Our thesis was we could leverage Dan’s brainpower and experience in building transportation technology and my passion for freight to digitize a brokerage and grow the valuation through organic growth, acquisitions, and technology development. The theory made sense on paper, and we were eager to roll up our sleeves. I immediately got to work ~ getting to know the team, building trust, and assessing our situation as a business. The walls were adorned with Taxidermy and truck pictures, and there was not one but two gun safes in the bullpen. Culture shock doesn’t adequately describe what I was feeling. But I was there to figure it out, and the team was welcoming, smart and passionate.
As time went by, it became clear the lean and mean Manning’s team had great potential but was being held back by a few bad apples and a lack of organizational structure. I started making changes to the team, swapping out administrative people with terrible attitudes for software applications like Hubtran and TruckerTools. We got off our old email group inbox, moved to FrontApp, and directed all internal communication to Slack. The office boomers didn’t even blink as we changed applications, workflows, and, most importantly, our mindset. Soon, winter gave way to spring, and the entire state of Nebraska flooded. Our team worked their asses off to keep carriers moving around the country while Nebraska dried up and our customers re-opened their businesses. I was thoroughly impressed with the dedication of our brokers, who worked insanely hard during that time to find loads for the carriers that relied on us. It was impressive and moving.
This company hadn’t had a salesperson in the business for more than 40 years since Ed Manning, the founder, sold the company. We installed a best-in-breed sales team and enabled them with a chicago-style brokerage model where account managers looked after customer relationships. Carrier reps made the loads go away. We were rolling, and then Covid hit. We quickly learned how to work from home, stay connected and stay safe. The months were long without seeing each other, but our numbers held, and our confidence grew. We continued to innovate and add technology into the business to drive growth and culture. When we re-opened the office, it felt like a family reunion. We couldn’t hug each other, but it didn’t matter because the love for being around one another was what we all missed dearly during our quarantine. Once we got back into the same room, the numbers soared. It was a great moment in my life I’ll never forget.
In October of 2020, my partners at Optimal Investment Group and Resurgent Capital Partners and I sold the business to Scott Fitzgerald of Fitzmark Inc. It was a strategic move to harvest profits in the company we’d created through increased value and because the team needed to be on a better technology platform, and we knew they would benefit from FitzMark’s additional resources, capital, and capabilities. I have enjoyed working alongside Scott over the past few months and getting to know all of the bright people inside of his company.
In the end, I chose to leave to pursue businesses and challenges I am more passionate about. Not because I’m not passionate about freight brokerage, my teammates (old and new), or any other element of FitzMark. Over the past few months, I’ve felt like there are fewer problems to solve, fewer tough conversations to have, and frankly, my team in Omaha didn’t need me anymore. As I searched my soul in November and December, I found myself spending fewer and fewer hours in the office, and my team hardly noticed. Each time I looked up at the board, the numbers grew higher and higher, and I had virtually nothing to do with it. The team was carrying the business, and they didn’t need my help. As strange as it felt, all I could feel was pride.
So, yesterday we said our goodbyes, and in true Manning’s style, they cooked me a Greater Omaha brisket, and we drank many beers. Hugs and high fives ruled the day as we reminisced on the challenges and joys we shared. Chad Ingersoll has become a phenomenal leader and likely always was, just no one could hear him at times over my loud cheers and challenges. I’ve never felt more proud, and I’ve never felt more alive. The challenges ahead are full of thought, relationships, and fun, and I’m thankful for all of the lessons learned and the people I met while leading this fantastic group of people. I’m staying on at FitzMark as an investor while I tackle the next problem, and I’m glad I will be able to stay connected to these great people who have become friends & family to me.
