We are pleased to announce the slate of nominees for the CLDA 2023 Board of Directors Election. The Board of Directors, as the governing body of CLDA, represents the membership and is entrusted with the authority to establish policy for the governance of the Association. Board policy establishes the parameters and guidelines for Board members, committees, management, staff as well as the general membership.
There are 14 elected Board members, plus the Immediate Past President, whose terms run for two years. Voting takes place electronically with the winning candidates subsequently announced to the membership. Per CLDA Bylaws, mail-in votes are not accepted. Voting is by company, not by individual and each Carrier Member company is entitled to one (1) vote.
There are six positions open on the Board of Directors. Bios of the candidates running to fill these positions are listed below. Voting will close on Monday, January 23, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Andrew Brady, Co-Owner and Chief Operating Officer, King Courier
Andrew Brady is the Co-Owner and COO at King Courier, a full-service courier company serving the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Since 1992, he has run operations and been involved in sales for the company.
Starting out as a bike messenger in Boston, MA, Mr. Brady moved to San Francisco in 1990 and continued working in the field, first as a bike messenger at Silver Bullet and then at Executive Courier Network (ECN). At ECN, Mr. Brady progressed rapidly through a variety of positions in dispatch and operations before ECN laid off the entire bicycle messenger division. He and 5 other messengers used this opportunity to start their own company King Courier. King Courier was featured on the BBC America television show “Richard Hammond’s Crash Course”.
From July 2004 to June 2012, Mr. Brady also owned and operated Bay Area Dispatch and Solutions Systems, a transportation brokerage firm in the Bay Area focused on enabling independent couriers to simultaneously contract with multiple local courier firms without jeopardizing quality of service.
Mr. Brady has previously served as President of the California Delivery Association (CDA), the statewide association of expedited delivery companies in California, from February 2006 to July 2011, and again from 2019 to 2022. Mr. Brady has been a proud CLDA member since 2000 and has been actively involved in serving the association, most recently in the Final Mile Forum Committee.
Lorena Camargo, Founder and CEO, Pearl Transportation & Logistics Current Board of Director
Lorena Camargo has been living logistics from a young age. She started in the business at age 17 and worked her way up to Vice President of Operations in a courier company. At age 24 she decided she was ready to strike out on her own. Because no bank would risk lending to a 24-year-old upstart, Lorena borrowed $25,000 from a friend of a friend and started her own company, PearlTrans Logistics in Los Angeles.
She’s built Pearl on innovation, quality and teamwork. Pearl prides itself in providing specialized same-day delivery solutions through courier, trucking and airfreight. Their clients range from health care facilities to military bases to movie studios. Pearl transports everything from human tissue to printed material to aircraft parts throughout California.
Since 2020, Lorena has been proudly serving on the board of directors of the Customized Logistics & Delivery Association (CLDA), who she credits for bringing some of her most influential mentors into her life and forging business relationships that have helped grow her business. In her current role as chair of the membership committee, she enjoys engaging members to help them keep maximizing their ROI in their CLDA membership.
Lorena is also a current executive board member of the Silicon Valley chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners. She is a graduate of the Executive Management Program at UCLA Anderson School of Management and was recently selected as one of Verizon’s Women in Business.
Tim Cocchia, Chief Operating Officer, Xcel Delivery Services Current Board of Director
Tim has 30 plus years of experience in the logistics industry. Tim grew up with a father and grandfather that started courier companies. From well before he could drive he worked in his fathers courier office and eventually as a driver during college. Tim graduated from the University of Arizona in 1994 with a BS in Material Science Engineering and again in 1997 with a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Arizona Law School.
After graduation, he intended to work for his father’s company for 3 months to help him establish contracts and an employee handbook for his company. Those three months turned into 8 more years, eventually as President of the company. After the sale of his father’s company, he work for another local delivery company for 8 years in various positions from Vice President of Sales to General Manager, and then as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at CXT Software for 5 years before partnering with Xcel Delivery Services as its COO in 2017. Xcel Delivery Services specializes in time-critical same-day shipments, expedited freight, warehousing, and distribution throughout Arizona.
Tim has been an active member of the CLDA for over 20 years serving as a CLDA board member from 2001 to 2005 as Second Vice President and again from 2016 to present recently chairing the PR and Marketing and Education Committees and serving on the Executive Committee as the Treasurer.
Mark Cossack, President, Priority Courier Experts Current Board of Director
Mark has experience in courier and trucking, financial services, insurance and technology. He holds a BA in Computer Science along with an MBA, both from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. Mark has held VP positions at multiple Fortune 300 companies and currently serves as the President of Priority Courier Experts – VANEX in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Priority started in 1997 and has grown into a 500+ vehicle fleet consisting of commercial vehicles including tractor trailers, straight trucks and specialty vehicles, plus a full range of parcel vehicles. Priority’s operations are concentrated in MN and the surrounding states and is the dominant same-day carrier in the region.
Mark leads the CLDA’s Government Affairs Committee and has been highly involved and dedicated at both the state and federal levels to advocate for CLDA members, including preserving the Independent Contractor model, Covid/PPP funding, etc. He single-handedly moved the courier industry in MN to be included in a critical statutory definition of an Independent Contractor when trucking and labor forces were trying to exclude its inclusion. He works to provide advice and direction to CLDA members under pressure from government.
Greg Hanna, Vice President of Quality & Compliance, MNX Global Logistics
Greg began his career in the transportation industry in 1987 working with multiple airlines holding various management positions covering all aspects of the operation. During his time with the airlines, he had the opportunity to be extensively involved with the FAA in obtaining start up operating certificates for two airlines.
In 2006, Greg transitioned from the airline operation to the logistics side of transportation. In 2007, he joined MNX Global Logistics and opened MNX’s first call center dedicated to the support of aviation customers. In 2012, he transitioned to a quality and compliance role. In his current role, he is responsible for all quality, compliance and regulatory requirements for MNX globally. He is actively engaged in the air cargo committee with the CLDA and believes in working collaboratively on issues that affects our industry.
Greg is resides in the Northern Virginia area with his wife and daughter.
Ruth Ospino, Owner and CEO, Tempo Transportation LLC and Tempo Courier LLC Current Board of Director
I started Tempo in 2008 as a franchise of Dynamex. With a background in real estate and finance, I was excited to start a new business and a new challenge in an expanding and ever-changing industry. Teaming up with Dynamex allowed me to learn from experienced professionals and gave me the right tools to succeed.
In 2011 Tempo exited the Dynamex franchise and has since grown into multiple markets. Good, honest, hard work ethics has helped to build a team of hard-working individuals who are customer focused. With branches in Fort Lauderdale, FL and Olathe, KS and over 35 independent contractors Tempo provides customized solutions for all delivery needs. Over 15,000 square feet of warehouse space, we have a range of services offered which include 2-man White glove service for home or medical, warehousing, scheduled routes, on demand work, cross-dock and more. We have most recently rebranded and changed our business name to Cheetah Final Mile LLC for our Olathe, KS location.
Joined the CLDA in 2020 and have been head of the D&I committee where we strive to make all CLDA members feel included and have a voice at our events. I’ve also contributed my time with the Marketing and Magazine Committee , raising thousands of dollars every quarter for the association in advertising for the CLDA magazine.
As satisfying as growing my business has been, my greatest happiness has been growing my family. My 3 children, Luca, Samuel and Lily are where I get my strength, drive, and motivation to continue to grow and do my best in all aspects of my career and personal life.
Ralph Perrothers, President, On The Go Cargo, Inc. Current Board of Director
Ralph has more than 42 years of ground logistics and expedited air transportation experience. Ralph has had relationships with many CLDA members over the years moving expedited freight and packages of all kinds. Some know him from Choice Air, AAA Courier, PDQ Courier and ATL Courier, NY, from the early years of his career. Since then Ralph’s career expanded to domestic airfreight, international airfreight, NVOCC ocean shipping, pharmaceutical distribution and expedited air courier services. In 1997 Ralph became President of On The Go Cargo, Inc., and created a complete logistics service. On The Go Cargo (OTG) has been an active participant in associations like the TIA (Transportation Intermediaries Assoc.), XLA, ECA, NTLA and the New Jersey chapter of the BBB. Ralph spent four years on the XLA Board of Directors before becoming Vice President in 2016.
As a member of the CLDA Board of Directors Ralph provides expertise in expanding our presence into the air cargo space. The air cargo space includes courier and cartage model businesses who provide regional freight or parcel delivery within their represented markets. Bringing CLDA together with other groups like the AEMCA and expanding us to represent ground transport of air cargo into or out of all domestic markets. Ralph has helped many members to connect with the expedited air segment of our industry and expects this to be a very promising area for continued growth for CLDA members.
Ralph has a key role in our communications with TSA representing our air courier and ground service industry stake holders. Attending regular meetings with our air cargo sub committee to the Gov. Affairs committee where regular communications with TSA concerning regulatory issues are discussed and our responses to them communicated. Working with TSA to help improve security in airfreight and improve the flow of commerce for our expedited air courier, ground carriers and freight forwarding members.
Ralph has worked with several committees representing our interest in the air cargo segment of logistics to include: Membership committee, Marketing committee, Education committee, FMF committee and Gov. Affairs committee.
Ryan Schwalbach, CEO, Now Courier, Inc.
Ryan is the 2nd generation owner of Now Courier, based in Indiana. He grew up working in the family business, took time to get his degree from Miami University, and eventually came back to work in the family business for the last 19 years. Ryan is passionate about the courier industry and all the great things it does. His people are his passion and he takes great pride in the team they have built at Now Courier.