Terminal Operations Manager
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Position: Fulltime, Mon-Fri 8:00am-5pm
Job Purpose
The Terminal Operations Manager is responsible for leading assigned terminals to expected KPI outcomes by managing Terminal Managers, driving profitability, improving utilization, reinforcing service and compliance standards, and ensuring consistent operational execution.
The role is also responsible for assessing the current terminal operating model and developing, changing, or building protocols, cadence, accountability routines, and recommending personnel plans where needed to improve performance and support scalable growth.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Strategic Terminal Leadership and Operating Model
- Lead assigned terminals to established financial, service, utilization, safety, compliance, and people-related outcomes.
- Assess the current terminal operating model, including leadership structure, reporting routines, protocols, escalation practices, communication flow, and management cadence.
- Document, implement, train audit, and improve standard terminal operating protocols.
- Create or strengthen operating cadence, accountability routines, and management practices that improve consistency between terminals.
- Identify structural barriers, process gaps, or leadership issues limiting terminal performance and recommend targeted solutions.
- Terminal Manager Oversight and Personnel Development
- Directly supervise, coach, and develop Terminal Managers across assigned locations.
- Assess Terminal Manager capability, judgement, urgency, financial understanding, leadership behavior, communication, accountability, and seat fit.
- Identify coaching needs, leadership capability gaps, succession risks, strength concerns, and replacement recommendations when needed.
- Establish clear expectations for Terminal Managers and hold leaders accountable for execution, documentation, communication, and follow-through.
- Partner with Human Resources to support coaching documentation cadence, performance improvement processes, leadership development planning, corrective action administration, and replacement recommendations when necessary.
- Operational Performance and KPI Management
- Monitor terminal profitability, gross margin, net margin, revenue per truck, equipment utilization, driver productivity, service performance, and operating efficiency.
- Use financial reporting, business intelligence, terminal scorecards, and operating data to identify trends, risk areas, and improvement opportunities.
- Develop and execute corrective action plans to address performance gaps and improve terminal results.
- Create structured recovery plans for underperforming terminals, including root-cause analysis, required actions, responsible parties, timelines, and follow-up cadence.
- Ensure Terminal Managers understand the business impact of their decisions and the financial drivers of terminal performance.
- Standard Operating Cadence and Accountability Routines
- Implement daily, weekly, and monthly rhythms for terminal performance review, KPI checks, profitability discussions, service reviews, and corrective-action follow-up.
- Conduct regular terminal performance meetings with Terminal Managers to review scorecards, risks, staffing, utilization, customer needs, and action plans.
- Create a consistent terminal visit and audit process to evaluate execution, identify gaps, and reinforce company standards.
- Maintain consistent documentation of terminal reviews, coaching conversations, corrective actions, escalation items, and progress against plans.
- Customer Service, New Freight Launch, and Business Support
- Partner with Sales and Terminal Managers to support customer retention, backfill needs, profitable growth, and operational feasibility of new business.
- Ensure new freight, new customer work, or expanded service commitments are operationally launched with clear expectations, staffing assumptions, equipment needs, dispatch requirements, communication paths, and follow-up reviews.
- Participate in customer discussions when operational expertise, service recovery, or escalation support is needed.
- Ensure customer commitments are executed safely, efficiently, consistently, and profitably.
- Safety, Compliance, and Risk Management
- Promote a strong safety culture across assigned terminals and reinforce compliance with company policies and regulatory expectations.
- Partner with Safety leadership on incident trends, audits, corrective actions, and compliance initiatives.
- Support compliance with DOT, FMCSA, customer, and company requirements related to terminal operations.
- Identify immediate safety, compliance, customer, or operational risk issues and escalate concerns through the proper channels.
- Cross-Functional Coordination
- Coordinate with Sales, Driver Management, Safety, Recruiting, Finance, Credit, Fleet & Maintenance, and other support departments to remove operational barriers and improve terminal performance.
- Collaborate with Fleet & Maintenance leadership regarding equipment availability, downtime concerns, and operating requirements.
- Provide operational input regarding customer requirements, service expectations, terminal capacity, and profitability considerations to support commercial and pricing decisions.
- Support implementation of company projects, systems, reporting routines, and operational improvements.
- Decision Rights and Authority Boundaries
- Direct terminal operating priorities, establish required follow-up actions, require corrective actions, and escalate unresolved performance or compliance concerns.
- Recommend personnel plan adjustments, replacement recommendations, operating process improvements, and management cadence changes necessary to support terminal performance and operational consistency.
- Provide operational input on pricing, customer commitments, equipment needs, staffing assumptions, and terminal capacity.
- May not override legal, safety, Human Resources, credit, compliance, maintenance ownership, or executive approval requirements.
- May not independently approve commitments that create legal, financial, safety, compliance, credit, or capital exposure outside assigned authority.
- Field Leadership and Visibility
- Visit assigned terminals regularly to assess operations, support local leadership, address concerns, and reinforce company standards.
- Maintain visible field leadership and provide practical operational support when business needs require it.
- Identify opportunities to improve profitability, customer service, communication, operating discipline, and operational handoffs.
- Remain available to assist with significant operational issues and time-sensitive business needs.
30-90-365 Day Deliverables
- First 30 Days: Diagnose and Stabilize
- Visit each assigned terminal.
- Map current operating rhythm, reporting cadence, escalation practices, and decision points.
- Identify top profitability, service, utilization, staffing, compliance, and leadership gaps.
- Complete initial Terminal Manager capability assessment.
- Create first-pass terminal scorecard.
- Identify immediate safety, compliance, customer, or operational risk issues.
- First 90 Days: Build the Operating System
- Implement weekly terminal performance reviews.
- Standardize corrective-action plans.
- Create terminal visit and audit template.
- Establish Terminal Manager coaching and documentation cadence with Human Resources.
- Define decision rights and escalation paths.
- Build standard protocols for dispatch, utilization, customer escalation, profitability review, new freight launch, and underperforming terminal recovery.
- Present prioritized gap list, action plan, and timeline to the Vice President of Operations.
- 365-Day Deliverables
- Install a repeatable terminal operating system across assigned locations.
- Reduce variation between terminals.
- Improve Terminal Manager bench strength and succession visibility through identification and recommendations to VP Operations and Human Resources.
- Tie terminal performance to financial results, driver productivity, service reliability, and compliance execution.
- Create a scalable operating model that supports continued enterprise growth.