Bulk Transportation Planner - Beachwood, OH

Master Builders Solutions; Beachwood (OH); On-site; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Master Builders Solutions in Beachwood, OH is seeking a Bulk Transportation Planner to oversee day-to-day planning, scheduling, tracking, and on-time outbound bulk shipments within the region. You will work with Customer Support, Sales, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain to align demand with inventory, capacity, and equipment needs.

Responsibilities include developing daily transportation plans, optimizing routes and equipment utilization, and communicating forecasted needs and schedule changes to

Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent required; bachelor's preferred.
• 3-5 years in transportation logistics; 5+ years preferred.
• Experience in bulk liquid transportation or similar.
• Ability to manage multiple time-sensitive shipments.
• Strong planning, analytical, and decision-making skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and ERP/telemetry systems.

Responsibilities

• Plan and schedule outbound bulk shipments based on requirements, inventory and availability, carrier capacity and equipment needs.
• Review orders, forecasts, delivery dates, inventory levels, and telemetry to develop daily and forward plans.
• Assign and sequence shipments to improve routing efficiency and costs while meeting commitments.
• Manage shipments from planning through loading, transit, delivery and confirmation.
• Monitor carrier acceptance, capacity, equipment, loading progress, and performance.
• Escalate capacity shortages, delays, or risks with recovery plans to stakeholders.
• Coordinate availability and positioning of bulk equipment (tank trailers, tractors, drivers).
• Work with carriers and stakeholders to anticipate capacity based on forecasted volume and demand.
• Identify shortages, idle assets, and underutilized capacity; recommend actions.
• Serve as primary daily contact for bulk carriers; communicate needs and schedule changes.
• Address routine carrier issues and document gaps for escalation and reviews.
• Collaborate with Customer Support, Sales, Finance, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain on priorities and constraints.
• Optimize planning to reduce empty miles, avoid unnecessary repositioning, and minimize costs.
• Suggest improvements to transportation systems and workflows.
• Ensure carriers have accurate product, equipment, and handling instructions.
• Escalate safety incidents and compliance concerns promptly.

Skills

Planning

Analytical

Communication

Organizational

Decision-making

MS Office

ERP systems

Telemetry

Shipment-tracking

Education

Bachelor's degree in logistics

Job description

Position Summary

The Bulk Transportation Planner reports to the Bulk Load Planning Team Lead and is responsible for the day-to-day planning, scheduling, tracking, and successful completion of outbound bulk shipments within an assigned geographic region.

Position Summary

The Bulk Transportation Planner reports to the Bulk Load Planning Team Lead and is responsible for the day-to-day planning, scheduling, tracking, and successful completion of outbound bulk shipments within an assigned geographic region. This role works closely with Customer Support, Sales, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and a focused network of bulk carriers to align customer demand with raw material and finished-goods availability, manufacturing capabilities, carrier capacity, and specialized equipment requirements. The coordinator uses sales forecasts, customer inventory data, telemetry-based tools, and available transportation capacity to anticipate demand and proactively address potential service constraints. The role focuses on optimizing how outbound bulk lanes are planned and executed to improve asset utilization, manage transportation costs, and provide safe, reliable, and on-time service to customers.

Key Responsibilities

• Plan and schedule outbound bulk shipments based on customer requirements, inventory and production availability, manufacturing capabilities, carrier capacity, and specialized equipment needs.
• Review open orders, sales forecasts, requested delivery dates, customer inventory levels, and telemetry information to develop daily and forward-looking transportation plans.
• Assign and sequence shipments to improve routing efficiency, equipment utilization, driver productivity, and transportation cost while meeting customer commitments.
• Manage shipments from initial planning through loading, transit, delivery, and confirmation of completion, maintaining accurate information within applicable systems.
• Monitor carrier acceptance, capacity fulfillment, equipment positioning, loading progress, shipment status, pickup and delivery performance, responsiveness, and adherence to established operating requirements.
• Proactively resolve or elevate capacity shortages, production delays, equipment conflicts, missed appointments, and other service risks while communicating timely recovery plans to affected stakeholders.
• Coordinate the availability and positioning of tank trailers, tractors, drivers, and other specialized bulk-delivery equipment required within the assigned region.
• Work with carriers and internal stakeholders to anticipate capacity and asset needs based on forecasted volume, customer inventory, seasonal demand, planned outages, and new business requirements.
• Identify equipment shortages, imbalances, idle assets, and underutilized capacity and recommend scheduling or repositioning actions.
• Serve as a primary day-to-day operational contact for assigned bulk carriers, communicating forecasted needs, shipment requirements, capacity expectations, and schedule changes.
• Address routine carrier issues and document recurring capacity or service gaps for escalation, corrective action, and carrier performance reviews.
• Partner with Customer Support, Sales, Finance, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain to understand customer priorities, demand forecasts, order changes, production schedules, inventory availability, loading capacity, and operational constraints.
• Optimize shipment planning to reduce empty miles, avoid unnecessary asset repositioning, improve equipment utilization, and minimize premium freight and avoidable accessorial costs.
• Recommend and support improvements to transportation systems, scheduling practices, carrier processes, customer requirements, and cross-functional workflows.
• Ensure carriers receive accurate product, equipment, delivery-site, and customer-specific handling instructions.
• Immediately escalation safety incidents, spills, contamination concerns, equipment failures, product-quality issues, and suspected compliance concerns.

Qualifications

• Minimum of a high school diploma or equivalent required; bachelor’s degree in logistics, supply chain, business, operations, or a related field preferred.
• Minimum of 3-5 years of transportation logistics; 5+ years preferred.
• Experience in bulk liquid transportation, tank-truck operations, chemical manufacturing, construction chemicals, or concrete admixtures preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple time-sensitive shipments, changing priorities, and operational constraints in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong planning, analytical, problem-solving, organizational, and decision-making skills.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to build productive relationships across internal teams and external partners.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and experience working with ERP, transportation-management, order-management, telemetry, or shipment-tracking systems preferred.
• Familiarity with transportation cost drivers, carrier performance management, specialized bulk equipment, and applicable safety and regulatory requirements preferred.

Key Performance Measures

• On-time pickup and delivery performance
• Carrier capacity fulfillment
• Shipment planning and scheduling accuracy
• Equipment utilization and lane efficiency
• Premium freight, detention, and avoidable accessorial costs
• Proactive identification and resolution of service risks
• Timeliness and accuracy of shipment-status communication
• Reduction in preventable service failures

Travel

Minimal to no travel required for this position.

Work Environment

This position is based in the Beachwood, OH office. All employees are expected to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation. Please see the supervisor on specific work hours required to support business operations. For most roles, standard office operations hours: Monday to Friday from 8:00am-5:00pm.

Master Builders Solutions is an Equal Opportunity Employer that recruits and hires qualified candidates without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, expression, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, disability, veteran status, or other memberships protected by federal, state or local law.