Central Router, Transportation

KeHE Distributors; Naperville (IL); On-site; USD 76,000 - 112,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health/Rx

Dental

Vision

FSA/HSA

Supplemental life insurance

401(k)

Paid time off

Paid sick time

STD/LTD

ESOP

Holiday pay for company designated

Job summary

KeHE Distributors in Naperville, IL, is seeking a Central Router to convert released transportation demand into safe, service‑oriented route plans using MATM, balancing delivery windows, capacity, cost, and driver hours‑of‑service while upholding company standards.

You will collaborate with Centralized Scheduling, Fleet, Distribution Center teams and Customer Care to release complete plans within cutoffs, monitor plan performance, and support continuous routing improvements in a fast‑paced,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Analytics, or related field; experience welcomed.
• Minimum of 3 years in transportation routing, planning, dispatch, logistics, or TMS.

Responsibilities

• Reviews orders, data, and constraints before route planning.
• Builds and optimizes daily/forward-looking route plans in MATM.
• Validates route feasibility including time, windows, cube/weight, and constraints.
• Adjusts routing to protect safety, service, and cost.
• Coordinates with scheduling, fleet, distribution centers, and care teams to resolve constraints.
• Documents exceptions and data-quality concerns; escalates where needed.
• Monitors on-time delivery risks, plan accuracy, and cost metrics.

Skills

Route optimization

Load planning

Stop sequencing

Private-fleet operations

Driver hours-of-service interpretation

Data integrity

Education

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Business, Analytics, Operations, or related field

Tools

Manhattan Active Transportation Management

Manhattan Modeler / PCS / AS400-NTS

Samsara / Omnitracs / similar platforms

Microsoft Excel

Power BI

Job description

• Pay Range: $76,230.00/Yr. - $111,744.00/Yr.
• Shift Days: , Shift Time:
• Benefits on Day 1
• Health/Rx
• Vision
• Flexible and health spending accounts (FSA/HSA)
• Supplemental life insurance
• 401(k)
• Paid time off
• Short term & long term disability coverage (STD/LTD)
• Employee stock ownership (ESOP)
• Holiday pay for company designated holidays

Why Work for KeHE?

• Full-time
• Pay Range: $76,230.00/Yr. - $111,744.00/Yr.
• Shift Days: , Shift Time:
• Benefits on Day 1
• Health/Rx
• Dental
• Vision
• Flexible and health spending accounts (FSA/HSA)
• Supplemental life insurance
• 401(k)
• Paid time off
• Paid sick time
• Short term & long term disability coverage (STD/LTD)
• Employee stock ownership (ESOP)
• Holiday pay for company designated holidays

Overview

At KeHE, we’re obsessed with creating solutions, unboxing potential, and serving others - and it all starts with you. As an employee-owned distributor of natural and organic, specialty, and fresh products, we’re committed to making a positive impact and scaling our success together. With a culture that fosters development and opportunity, you’ll be embarking on a career that’s moving forward. When you join KeHE, you’re becoming part of a team that is a force for good.

Primary Responsibilities

The Central Router, Transportation converts released transportation demand into safe, service-compliant, and executable route plans for assigned KeHE Distribution Centers through the centralized routing function. Using Manhattan Active Transportation Management (MATM) and approved enterprise standards, the role balances customer delivery requirements, Distribution Center cutoffs, driver hours-of-service, fleet capacity, equipment needs, cube and weight, mileage, and transportation cost. The Central Router owns pre-execution route planning and plan release; Centralized Scheduling owns appointments, Centralized Dispatch owns driver communication and day-of-execution decisions, and Distribution Center teams own product, dock, yard, and equipment readiness. As with all positions at KeHE Distributors, we expect that all actions will be consistent with KeHE’s Mission, Vision, and Values.

Essential Functions

DUTIES, TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Reviews released orders and shipments, customer and location master data, delivery frequencies and service windows, cube and weight, route calendars, equipment requirements, driver hours-of-service inputs, and operational constraints for completeness before route planning.
• Builds and optimizes daily and forward-looking route plans in MATM using approved parameters and standards, incorporating released inbound pickups, backhaul opportunities, and consolidation moves when operationally feasible.
• Validates route feasibility, including stop sequence, travel and service time, route duration, driver hours-of-service, customer delivery windows, cube and weight utilization, temperature and equipment requirements, departure timing, and Distribution Center constraints.
• Evaluates system-generated routing solutions and makes documented manual adjustments only when needed to protect safety, service, feasibility, capacity, or cost while maintaining enterprise routing standards.
• Coordinates with Centralized Scheduling, Fleet and Capacity Planning, Distribution Center teams, Customer Care, and other partners to resolve constraints before plan release.
• Identifies service, capacity, equipment, driver availability, and outside-carrier risks; evaluates alternatives, escalates unresolved exceptions, and releases complete plans within established cutoffs for handoff to Centralized Dispatch and Distribution Center teams.
• Documents exceptions, overrides, manual adjustments, changes after cutoff, and key decisions; investigates data-quality concerns and routes master-data, configuration, integration, or system issues to the appropriate owner.
• Monitors on-time delivery risk, cube per route, cube per mile, planned miles, route count and routes avoided, capacity utilization, outside-carrier exposure, plan-release timeliness, and changes after cutoff; partners with Analytics and Operations on plan-versus-actual variance and corrective action.
• Follows transportation SOPs, routing governance, data standards, customer requirements, safety expectations, and applicable DOT and driver hours-of-service requirements; participates as a routing business user in testing, release validation, go-live support, and stabilization for approved MATM changes.
• Other duties and projects as assigned.

Minimum Requirements, Qualifications, Additional Skills, Aptitude

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITIES:

• Strong working knowledge of route optimization, load planning, stop sequencing, private-fleet operations, and the ability to interpret driver hours-of-service, route duration, cube and weight, equipment and temperature requirements, customer delivery windows, and Distribution Center constraints.
• Working knowledge of Transportation Management Systems and route-optimization tools, preferably Manhattan Active Transportation Management and Manhattan routing or modeling capabilities.
• Strong analytical, root-cause analysis, and problem-solving skills, with close attention to data integrity and the ability to make fact-based planning decisions under time-sensitive cutoffs and connect routing decisions to service, utilization, mileage, route count, capacity, and cost.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint; experience with Power BI, reporting tools, or transportation analytics is preferred
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to explain routing decisions and collaborate across Centralized Scheduling, Centralized Dispatch, Fleet, Transportation Systems, Customer Care, and Distribution Center Operations while maintaining clear role ownership and decision rights
• Ability to manage multiple Distribution Centers, planning cycles, priorities, and exceptions; follow standardized work; maintain clear documentation; and contribute to continuous improvement in a high-volume environment.
• Ability to work a schedule aligned with routing cutoffs, including evenings, weekends, or holidays when required.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Business, Analytics, Operations, or a related field preferred; an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience will be considered.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in transportation routing, transportation planning, dispatch, logistics, distribution operations, or transportation management systems required.
• Hands-on experience with a Transportation Management System or route-optimization platform required; experience with Manhattan Active Transportation Management, Manhattan Modeler, PCS, AS400-NTS, Samsara, Omnitracs, or similar platforms is preferred. Experience supporting food distribution, a private or dedicated fleet, multi-Distribution Center planning, or centralized transportation operations is also preferred.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

• These physical demands are representative of the physical requirements necessary for an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job.

Equal Employer Opportunity Statement

KeHE Distributors provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits all forms of discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, color, religion or faith, sex, gender, age, ancestry, national origin, mental or physical disability or medical condition, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information or any other category protected under federal, state, or local law. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training as well as the administration of all Human Resources and Talent Acquisition processes.