Terminal Manager

Forward Air Corporation; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 175,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Forward Air Corporation in the Los Angeles area is seeking a Terminal Manager to lead multimodal terminal operations across ground, air, ocean, and rail, from inbound receipt to final delivery.

This role provides strategic and day-to-day leadership, ensuring safety, compliance, and efficiency while driving workforce planning, cost control, and KPI reporting.

The ideal candidate will have 5+ years in multimodal leadership, strong data-driven decision making, and familiarity with TMS/WMS/ERP.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of leadership in multimodal transportation or logistics.
• Education: degree in Supply Chain, Business, Transportation, Logistics or related field; HS diploma acceptable.
• Proficient with TMS, WMS, and ERP systems and data tools.
• Valid forklift certification preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead all terminal operations across multimodal transportation flows from inbound receipt to final delivery.
• Ensure service, financial, safety, quality, and regulatory requirements are met across all modes.
• Coach teams to drive consistent execution, discipline, and accuracy.
• Own terminal P&L performance including labor, costs, and cost-to-serve.
• Lead workforce planning, forecasting, and capacity alignment across modes.
• Monitor performance, identify variances, and implement corrective actions.
• Manage capital expenditures tied to terminal improvements.
• Drive initiatives to improve productivity, safety, and cost performance.
• Establish KPIs aligned with safety, on-time performance, and productivity.
• Lead reviews to assess results and identify opportunities.
• Foster employee development through coaching and performance feedback.
• Ensure DOT, OSHA, TSA, FMC, IATA, rail, and mode-specific compliance.

Skills

Leadership

Multimodal

P&L management

KPI reporting

Cost control

Forecasting

Cross-functional

TMS/WMS

ERP systems

Compliance

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

MS Office

MS Excel

ERP (McLeod/SAP/Oracle)

Job description

Terminal Manager

Compensation

Compensation: $175,000 - 190,000 Annually

Job Description

The Terminal Manager is responsible for leading all aspects of multimodal transportation terminal operations, including ground, air, ocean, and rail workflows. This role provides strategic and day-to-day leadership to ensure safe, compliant, and efficient movement of freight from inbound receipt through final delivery. The Terminal Manager ensures operational performance aligns with contractual, service, financial, and regulatory commitments across all supported modes. They drive workforce planning, multimodal capacity management, cost control, and terminal productivity through strong operational discipline and data-driven decision-making. They partner with transportation providers, carriers, customers, and internal teams to ensure seamless multimodal handoffs and service delivery.

Responsibilities

• Lead all operations across the terminal’s transportation flows, including ground, air, ocean, and rail processes from inbound receipt through final delivery.
• Ensure service, financial, safety, quality, and regulatory requirements are met across all transportation modes.
• Coach operations and support teams to drive consistent execution, operational discipline, and multimodal process accuracy.
• Own terminal P&L performance, including labor, variable costs, period expenses, and cost-to-serve across modes.
• Lead workforce planning, volume forecasting, transportation capacity alignment, and cross-mode resource allocation based on network and customer demand.
• Monitor terminal operational and financial performance, identify variances, and implement corrective actions.
• Manage terminal capital expenditures tied to approved investments, terminal improvements, and multimodal handling needs.
• Sponsor and lead initiatives that improve productivity, quality, velocity, safety, and multimodal cost performance.
• Establish and manage terminal KPIs aligned with safety, regulatory compliance, on-time performance, mode accuracy, cost, and productivity.
• Lead regular operational, transportation, and performance reviews to assess results and identify improvement opportunities.
• Proactively manage employee relations through communication, coaching, performance feedback, and team development.
• Ensure robust safety practices and full compliance with DOT, OSHA, TSA, FMC, IATA, rail, and other mode-specific regulations.
• Collaborate with carriers, drayage providers, freight forwarders, brokers, linehaul partners, and regulatory authorities to ensure smooth multimodal operations.
• Support and promote continuous improvement methodologies using data, structured problem-solving, and transportation analytics.
• All other duties as assigned to meet evolving business needs.

Qualifications

• Education: Undergraduate degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Transportation, Logistics, or a related field preferred; High School Diploma or GED/equivalent required.
• Certification/Licensure: Valid forklift certification/licensure (or ability to obtain before operating equipment) required, including operation of applicable material handling equipment (MHE) such as sit-down/stand-up forklifts, reach trucks, order pickers, pallet riders, or other specialized MHE as required by the site. Additional equipment certifications may be required depending on facility needs.
• Training in Lean, Six Sigma, DOT compliance, IATA/IMDG familiarity, or similar is preferred.
• Experience: 5+ years of leadership experience in multimodal transportation, 3PL, contract logistics, or operational environments involving ground, air, ocean, or rail.
• Strong working knowledge of multimodal transportation processes, carrier operations, freight flow management, and terminal/linehaul coordination.
• Strong functional understanding of TMS, WMS, ERP (McLeod, SAP, Oracle, etc.), and reporting/data tools.
• Proven ability to manage operational KPIs, labor planning, transportation capacity, and cost performance.
• Experience developing and using dashboards, scorecards, and transportation KPI reporting to manage terminal performance.
• Ability to create, track, and interpret safety, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity metrics across multiple transportation modes.
• Demonstrated discretion and confidentiality in handling and protecting sensitive information.
• Technical: Proficient with common office technologies, including Windows PCs, Microsoft O365 (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) and web conferencing (Teams, Zoom, Webex, etc.).
• Environment: Comfort commuting to/from and working in a 100% on-site setting (listed in this posting), with travel for related meetings/events.