Saratoga Springs Business Man Receives National Trade Association Honor
Saratoga Springs businessman Christopher T. MacKrell, recently received his industry’s highest honor – induction into the CLDA Hall of Fame. He is the President and COO of Custom Courier Solutions, Inc. and a past president of the Customized Logistics and Delivery Association (CLDA).
MacKrell received the honor at the CLDA’s Annual Meeting in Las Vegas in recognition of his 30+ years of service to the industry. This award is presented annually to a CLDA member who is known and respected in the industry. It seeks to pay tribute to those who have made noteworthy contributions to the customized logistics and delivery industry
During the surprise presentation ceremony, Rob Slack, one of MacKrell’s former employers, said, “We owe this man a debt of gratitude for all he’s done for this industry.” In accepting the award MacKrell said, “This is an extreme honor but something I could not have done without the people around me, including my business partner, Dan Ayer, and all the friends in this association I’ve made over the years. When I started as a driver in this industry in 1982 I never would have dreamed I’d be up here one day!” His remarks were greeted with a standing ovation.
MacKrell co-founded Customer Courier Solutions in 2006 along with Ayer. The company provides full-service courier and distribution services to Upstate New York, New England & Mid-Atlantic They offer their customers scheduled service, on-demand, distribution services, home delivery and full logistics services. Among their high profile customers are those from banking, pharm, office products, retail, automotive, manufacturing and freight forwarding. The company has 11 locations, 225,000 square feet of warehouse space and is responsible for 11,580 scheduled deliveries per week. They provide service from the Canadian border down to Virginia Beach.
MacKrell has been part of the CLDA and its predecessor, the MCAA since the mid-1980s when it was called the MCAA. He has held a variety of leadership posts, culminating in 2012 after serving a two-year term as its president. He was also a long-time member of the board serving as its secretary, treasurer, second VP and heading up the Annual Meeting Committee. One of his most long-standing commitments was his 12 years term heading up the association’s Government Affairs Committee. As part of that work, he served as the voice of the industry, testifying before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Employee and Workplace Safety, in favor of the independent contractor model in November 2013. “It was one of the highlights of my professional life,” he confesses. “I was honored to represent this industry as the only witness for the Republican minority.”
