Bill Kennedy has announced that he will retire at the end of October. Bill has worked in the transportation industry for 37 years and has been with Saia for 13 of these. He began his career with the company in 2004 as a regional manager before being promoted to divisional vice president of Operations, East in 2008. He was in this position for just a short time before being named vice president of Operations, West, later that same year. He has held this role since.  

During Bill’s tenure with the company, Saia increased its footprint through its acquisition of Clark Brothers, Inc. and sold Jevic Transportation, ultimately folding all corporate functions under the Saia brand. The company grew from roughly 116 terminals in 2004 to 152 today.

“The West has grown dramatically with both profit and quality improving under Bill’s leadership,” stated Saia President and CEO Rick O’Dell. “I am appreciative of Bill’s many contributions and wish Bill and Jonnie the best in their next adventure.”

Bill attended Kent State University and is a U.S. Marine Corp veteran. He has been married to his wife, Jonnie, for 35 years. They have two daughters, Kaitlin and Courtney, and two grandchildren, Eden and Bowman, all of whom live in the Phoenix area.

Haehnlein Named New CIN Regional Manager

Jason Haehnlein has been named the new CIN regional manager. He'll continue to be domiciled at the CIN terminal.

Jason had been serving as the CIN terminal manger since July 2013. He began his career with Saia in 2011 as the DET terminal manager.

Kelley and Volker Named North American Market Specialists

John Kelley and Jeff Volker have both been named new North American market specialists. In this role, each will be responsible for growing our revenue and market share for each strategic business unit by working with both our field and national sales teams. John will be domiciled in our HBG terminal and Jeff will be based out of our CGO terminal.

They will lead with a hands-on approach at all levels of Saia’s sales team across the country. Their focus will be securing new Canada shippers, growing our LinkEx business, and improving the number of shippers using our guaranteed service.  We will be announcing a third North American Market Specialist for the Western U.S. very soon.

Though new to Saia, John has 30 years of LTL industry experience having worked in various positions including vice president of sales and marketing for a large, national carrier. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history and education from Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pa.

Jeff joined Saia in 2012 had been serving as a senior account executive. He has 33 years of experience in the transportation industry. Jeff holds a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University where he majored in marketing and minored in business administration and economics.

Rose Named New KCY TM; Bolas Named New DEN TM

With KCY Terminal Manager Frank Bolander’s retirement, I am happy to announce that John Rose will be moving from the DEN terminal to our KCY facility. John has 20 years of LTL industry experience having worked in various positions. He joined Saia in 2014 and has served as the manager of both the OKC and the DEN terminal.

In turn, John Bolas has been named our new DEN terminal manager. He began his career in transportation in 1995 and has held various positions at two different competitors including operations manager and terminal manager. He joined Saia in 2013 as an operations manager.