Nikola Motor Corporation
Phoenix, Arizona
Chief Commercial Officer
August 2024 - Current

• Team Nicola has the mission to move business forward in a better way with fuel cell and battery-powered trucks and a carbon neutral footprint.

Metro Supply Chain
Montreal, Canada
Member, Board of Directors
August 2024 - Current

• Metro Supply Chain is the Canadian leader in Contract Logistics

Ferguson plc
London, U.K.
Non-Executive Director
2019 - Current

• Ferguson plc is the world's largest specialist trade distributor of plumbing and heating products to professional contractors principally operating in North America and the UK. Ferguson plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: FERG) and is in the FTSE 100 index of listed companies.
• Tom brings his significant operational experience and deep knowledge of running large international logistics and supply chain businesses to the board. He sits on the board's Nominations, Remuneration and Audit committees.
• In the past five years, enhanced focus on the North American market and strong cost discipline led to tripling of the share price.

Forward Air Corporation
Greeneville, Tennessee
President, Chairman and CEO
September 2018 - February 2024

• Forward Air is a $3.5 billion premium expedited ground transportation company focused on the North American market.
• The company has been Nasdaq-listed for 25 years and has a strong profitable growth record.
• Under Tom's leadership Forward Air achieved profitable growth leading into the tripling of the stock price between the beginning of Covid and the end of 2021
• In early 2024 Forward Air acquired Omni Logistics, adding a large customer base and enhanced customer access for long runway.

Schenker AG
Essen, Germany
Management Board Member, Contract Logistics
Chief Commercial Officer
2015 - 2018

• Schenker was founded in 1872 by Gottfried Schenker as a regional freight forwarding company in Vienna, Austria. Today, Schenker AG is a $30bn global freight forwarding, transportation and logistics company, operating in 140 countries.
• As the Management Board Member responsible for the $3bn+ Contract Logistics business, Tom charged his 22,000 team mates with continued and accelerated profitable growth and it is paying off. In his first two years, the Contract Logistics business reached record revenue and profit levels and was awarded the "best Logistics brand in Germany," as well as the prestigious parent company DB Award 2017 for Customer and Quality.
• In Tom's first full year as Chief Commercial Officer, the company grew by more than 1 bn € - as much as in the previous 10 years combined.

Cyberport GmbH
Dresden, Germany
Board Director
2015 - 2019

• Cyberport is the leading online provider of electronic goods in Germany.
• In his tenure on the Supervisory Board, Tom focused on turning Cyberport from a growth company into a profitable Quality leader.

Dicom Transportation Group
Montreal, Quebec
Board Director
2014 - 2018

• Dicom is a leading provider of business-to-business expedited transportation services.
• As a Director on the Board, Tom provided both his Board governance and Transportation industry expertise.
• In the four years of Tom's Board tenure the company's revenues and profit doubled - organically and through acquisition.

AquaTerra Corporation
Toronto, Canada
President, CEO and Director
2013 - 2015

• AquaTerra is a Canadian company that dates back to 1882, established as the Laurentian Water Company in Montreal.
• As part-owner and Chief Executive Officer, Tom and his team transformed AquaTerra into a comprehensive Office Nourishment and Premium Water Export company.
• Together with majority owner Private Equity firm Birch Hill Partners, Tom executed the sale of the business to a larger strategic buyer.

Zooplus AG
Munich, Germany
Board Director
2013 - 2016

• As a Director on the Board, Tom supported the Zooplus team with advice on strategic areas such as supply chain and profitable growth.
• Zooplus is the leading e-commerce based provider of pet foods and supplies in Europe and is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
• During Tom's term, the Board focused the company more on its own brands and profitability. As a consequence, the share price of this DAX listed company quadrupled during this time.

Univar, Inc.
Redmond, Washington
Board Director, Member, Compensation Committee
2008 - 2013

• Drove strategy to locating where manufacturing and consumption will be, not where it has been, which resulted in acquisitions in Southeast Asia, South America and Turkey
• Hardwired a "managing-for-performance" approach into this $10 billion chemicals distribution company, resulting in a doubling of EBITDA in less than a 5-year period

Purolator, Inc.
Toronto, Canada
President, CEO and Director
2010 - 2012

• For the first time in 10 years, saw growth in the same year for both market share and profitability for Purolator, a $1.6 billion company with 12,000 employees
• Doubled company’s presence in the U.S. market and enhanced its Freight services to match Express standards
• Finished 2011 with 8 percent revenue and 2 percent income year-over-year growth
• Highest-ever employee engagement score in Purolator’s history
• Enhanced penetration into SMB and Retail segments with double-digit revenue growth

FedEx Corporation
Memphis, TN
President and Chief Executive Officer, FedEx Global Supply Chain Services
Senior Vice President, FedEx Solutions
1998 - 2010

• As CEO of FedEx Supply Chain, took operating company from a money losing carrier agnostic 3PL to an access point for FedEx transportation with annual contract value of $1 billion
• As a senior executive at FedEx, built an organization that developed specific and integrated “turnkey” customer solutions and executed these complex supply chain solutions; the organization grew from a team of less than 50 employees in the late 1990s to more than 800 people in 2008
• As VP of Sales and Development, implemented solutions to enhance international delivery speed and efficiencies; spearheaded the development and realization of FedEx NetReturn services and FedEx International Priority Direct Distribution® which shortened international order‐to‐delivery times by 75 percent

McKinsey & Company
Vienna, Austria
Atlanta, Georgia
Senior Engagement Manager
1993 - 1998

• Served Services companies - from Convenience Store and Restaurant Chains to Transportation companies, primarily around operational efficiencies and profitable growth
• Core member of the McKinsey Transportation Practice and consulted with service industries including global air and ocean freight forwarding, parcel delivery and cargo rail.
• In first few years with McKinsey, gained experience undertaking a wide array of engagements including work with the United Nations Drug Agency.
  

British Petroleum
London, UK; Cleveland, OH
1989 - 1990

• Financial analysis for BP’s retail sector as lead analyst in a global retail network design overhaul, which led to a turnaround of market share in major markets worldwide.
• Managed a retail territory of gas stations in Cleveland Metro with more than 100 employees, winning "Best in District" several times.

Professional Impact and Leadership

• Proven record in developing and delivering a clear strategic road map for the business.
  
  
  • With addressable wholesale market getting smaller, Forward Air undertook the transformative move to buy a commercially focused Forwarder, Omni Logistics, which, despite significant short-term negative market reactions, will lead to a long revenue runway.
  • Within my first year at Purolator, we developed and launched "We Deliver Canada" – This campaign connected businesses and people all across Canada with the best people and service for letters, boxes and pallets. “Deliver Canada" provided this same outstanding service to non-Canadian customers shipping into Canada.
  • With Purolator competing against global giants such as UPS and FedEx, my vision led the company to differentiate in relevant areas where it could win. For example, we made Corporate Stewardship one of our five core values. And we lived it: in 2011, we had more hybrid vehicles in service across Canada than any other transportation company had globally. Earning us Logistics Quarterly's Inaugural Sustainability Award. As one of Foodbank Canada's "Hunger Heroes," we increased our focus on Tackling Hunger. And in concert with the CFL, Purolator will deliver 1 million pounds of food to those who cannot afford it in 2012 alone.
  • At FedEx Solutions, made game-changing moves over the years. A perfect example is doubling the scope of FedEx sales professionals’ conversations with customers during sales calls. Changed the focus from “getting the customer’s shipments” to a systemic focus on “Vendor Enablement” and to a conversation that cover the customers’ shipments and then moves into showing customers how they can add the service quality to shipments coming into their businesses as well.
  • Established thought leadership at FedEx towards a "Three Currencies” - customer solutions designed and implemented along the concepts of “time, money and sustainability.”

2.  Recruiting, developing and coaching an engaged, high performance team.

• Departing FedEx, I handed over both my positions as CEO of FedEx Supply Chain and Senior Vice President of FedEx Solutions seamlessly to leaders who I had recruited years earlier.
• FedEx Solutions organization grew from a team of less than 50 employees in the late 1990s to more than 800 people in 2008, with teams not only handling customer solutions but also back-end system support and analysis for the FedEx global sales team.
• Supported effectively owner-operators ("franchisees") at FedEx Ground and at Purolator.
• Worked effectively in a highly unionized environment, completing first ever new teamster agreement "early" with 10,000 teamster employees at Purolator.

3.  Designing and executing international expansion.

• At Forward Air, added North America inbound flows from Asia and Europe through the acquisition of Omni
• Significantly enhanced the Middle East and Asian footprints while leader DBSchenker Contract Logistics
• With dual citizenships, I have a 50/50 personal North America and European DNA
• Experienced in serving teams and customers in the U.S., Central and Eastern Europe, Asia and South America
• Doubled international presence at Purolator during my tenure - developing and executing rigorously along a road map of market attractiveness

4. Delivering remarkable results.

• Executed "Grow Forward" at Forward Air, leading to a tripling of the share price within 20 months
• At Purolator, in my first full year grew Canadian market share for the first time in a decade; overhauled Freight service and doubled our international presence; all while increasing profits over previous year
• Founded and grew FedEx Solutions, a corporation wide division, responsible for attracting and retaining $5 billion of FedEx annual revenues
• Was reviewed in CEO Assessment Center as the "only one of the next generation of FedEx leaders" who could lead the entire corporation one day.
• During my tenure at FedEx Supply Chain, some proof points include cutting financial losses by 40% and becoming the industry leader in safety. The company’s drivers along with the 300-plus contract drivers logged more than 6 million miles between accidents. The major facilities recorded 400-plus days with no injuries, breaking OSHA’s standards of excellence. FedEx Supply Chain is the only company that has a nine-year run as the winner of the GM “Supplier of the Year” award.
• During my three-year tenure as the CEO of FedEx Supply Chain, we transformed the company from a carrier-agnostic 3PL to a FedEx access point driving $1 billion in cross-operating company and cross-regional annual FedEx revenue. We established SQIs that were up to FedEx standards and then we beat them – the claims-related issues are all green.
• While at McKinsey, many of the companies with which I interacted experienced dramatic returns in finance and productivity – for example, one Fortune 500 forest products company saw double digit profit margin gains; and a productivity improvement program developed for a parcel delivery company resulted in a 15‐point efficiency improvement. A leading cargo rail road worked with became the least congested train operation in the United States.

 5. Personal impact.

• Continues to be an active investor. His latest include three “young businesses,” two based in Toronto, GoJava and Daniel Thompson Beauty, and a third, Veho, out of Harvard/Boston.
• Developed and rolled out "one team on one PAGE" game plan six months into my Purolator tenure. With all employees' “People, Alignment, Growth and Excellence” objectives tied tightly to and measured against our corporate objectives.
• Achieved perfect leadership and engagement score from my direct reports in the 2011 Employee survey.
• Perfect transparency and integrity feedback scores throughout my 14 years at FedEx and Purolator.
• Made transparency one of Purolator's corporate values. And celebrated value ambassadors visibly.
• Instilled a spirit of integrity and transparency at Purolator - increased usage of confidential complaint submissions as a yardstick for employees' belief in the values-based integrity of our processes.
• First FedEx Services Senior officer to receive the FedEx 5-Star Award, the highest award given by the company.
• Instituted and wrote a weekly blog for all Purolator employees, which inspired thousands of responses and ideas. Hundreds of our unionized employees went to break rooms on Fridays to read and respond to the blogs.
• As the first Chair of the Board of the Memphis Chamber of Commerce to serve multiple terms, I co-designed and oversaw Memphis' biggest and highest impact economic development program in its history.
• Work with hugely diverse boards: from private equity board colleagues at Univar to government and community leaders at the Memphis Regional Chamber.

Publication and Appearances

• Simple Solutions: Harness the Power of Passion and Simplicity to Get Results
   
  • This leadership book, now in its second printing, was published by John Wiley and Sons, the premier business publisher. It lays out simple and pragmatic tools to draw on both the analytical side and the more creative side of our brain. Using the entire brain leads to more remarkable results. And, brings richer fulfillment along the way.
  • Co-authored with Arnold Perl, this is the only book to have a forward written by Frederick W. Smith, Chairman and CEO and Founder of FedEx Corporation. It is sold throughout the United States and internationally.
    
    
• Called upon as a frequent speaker at CEO‐level conferences
  
  
  • E-com logistics podcast, March 2024
  • BGSA conference, plenary fireside chat with BGSA founder Ben Gordon, January 2024
  • Clark Atlanta University podcast, September 2022
  • 3PL + Supply Chain Conference key note, Atlanta, June 2020
  • Corner Office podcast, January 2020
  • Eye-for-Transport, Keynote, Global Supply Chain Forum, Atlanta (June 2018)
  • Eye-for-Transport, Keynote, Global Supply Chain Forum, Amsterdam (October 2017)
  • Eye-for-Transport, Keynote, Global Supply Chain Forum, Chicago (July 2017)
  • Eye-for-Transport, Global Supply Chain Forum, Venlo, The Netherlands (October 2016)
  • Panel, Deloitte CEO Forum, Toronto (April 2014)
  • Opening Speech, Logistics Quarterly Forum, Toronto (September 2011)
  • Keynote Address, Commissioner's Bruncheon, Grey Cup, Edmonton (November 2010)
  • Key note addresses at the Chief Sales Executive Forum in Palm Beach (October 2009)
  • The National Summit, "A Gathering to Define America's Future" (June 2009)
  • The Financial Times Innovation Summit in London (November 2008)
  • The Argyle CEO Conference in New York (October 2008)
  • The Eco‐Conference in San Francisco (September 2008)
  • Keynote speaker at the CEO Summits in Denver (2007) (co‐headliner with Jim Collins) and Pebble Beach (2007)
  • The Performance Theatre in Oslo, Norway (2005)

Education

• MBA, Harvard Business School, Boston, 1993 Baker Scholar (highest distinction)
• BA, European School of Business, London, 1989 First Class Honors

Civic Leadership

• Served as Chairman of the Board for the Greater Memphis Chamber, in an unprecedented four-year term. In this capacity, was leading Memphis Fast Forward, the largest, most aggressive economic development program ever for Memphis and surrounding counties.
• Served as the Chairman of the Aerotropolis initiative, an effort that leveraged the power of the Memphis passenger and cargo hubs as a world‐class business access anchor.
• On the executive board of the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy, led the economic development committee to raise $100 million to turn the country’s largest urban park into an asset for the entire community.
• Advisory Board member, LOGTECH, a supply chain education program for top officers the four U.S. military branches, training more than 1,000 officers throughout the course of the program.
• In 2009, named to the 2009 Power 100, an annual list of  the 100 most influential Tennesseans, published by BusinessTennessee, based on the criteria of influence on important state policy, running important institutions or just getting things done for the state.
• Recipient of the Mid-South Diversity award in 2010
• Leadership role in the Canadian Supply Chain business community as an Advisory Board member of Logistics Quarterly

Personal

Born January 22, 1965, Biberach, Germany
Married to Anita Schmitt