Matt Copot joined Saia in August as our vice president of fleet management. Matt will be based out of the Atlanta corporate office (ACO) and will provide leadership and oversight to our maintenance team in the field. 

In this role, he will be responsible for the strategic procurement and maintenance of Saia’s rolling stock, including the management of our field maintenance operations. Other related responsibilities include parts purchasing and warranty, fueling and fuel island management and technology related to both equipment and fleet management.  He will also lead, in partnership with operations, our sustainability efforts around alternative fuel technology.

Prior to joining Saia, Matt held numerous leadership roles of increasing responsibility in the fleet management space, having most recently served as vice president of fleet maintenance at Transervice Logistics. He holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business administration from Governors State University. He also served in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Patrick (PJ) Downs has been named the regional sales manager for Harrisburg (HBG). In this role, PJ will lead our sales efforts for this important region. He has 35 years of LTL experience in both operations and sales and joined Saia in January 2017 as an account executive at our Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (PGH) terminal. He holds a bachelor's degree in transportation from Robert Morris University.

PJ was the first account executive hired for the Northeast, the first to achieve President’s Club for the region, and is consistently featured on the LinkEx and specialty product leaderboards. He has mentored many of his peers and his success makes him a great choice to lead sales for HBG.

Daymon Erikson has been named the new Greenville, South Carolina (GVL) terminal manager. With 10 years of transportation industry experience, Daymon joined Saia in 2013 and has served as a supervisor at our Memphis, Tennessee (MPS) terminal and as the manager for our Fort Smith, Arkansas (FTS) facility. He attended Northeast Mississippi Community College and the University of North Alabama.

Ferrell Hyatt has been named our new Fort Smith, Arkansas (FTS) terminal manager. Ferrell has 38 years of experience in the transportation industry and has held various leadership roles at other companies including that of supervisor and terminal manager.  

Charles Lambert has been named the Tacoma, Washington (TAC) terminal manager. With over 30 years of experience in the transportation industry, Chuck joined Saia in 1999 and has served as a dockworker and, most recently, as a dock supervisor. He is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corp.

Rachel McCoy recently joined Saia as our director of human resources (HR), West. Rachel will be strategically based out of our Denver, Colorado (DEN) terminal to provide a central hub of HR leadership to the Western division.

In this role, Rachel will serve as the HR partner to our Vice President of Operations, West Kevin Szydel and his leadership team. She will provide HR thought leadership, guidance, strategic and tactical support to improve organization capability and effectiveness as well as overall business success. She will lead in areas such as employee relations; turnover reduction; leader development; diversity, equity and inclusion; change management; effective and efficient hiring; employee engagement improvement; and continuous improvement of the overall employee experience. 

All of the Western division regional HR managers (RHRMs) will report to Rachel. In addition, she will lead our HR generalist team. Charles Moore will continue serving in the role of director, HR, East, as previously communicated. In this role, he will continue to lead the RHRMs in the East. 

Rachel brings a wealth of experiences and capabilities to Saia based on her 20-plus years of HR experience. Most recently, she was the director, HR at People 2.0, a leader in the outsourced employment services industry. There, she led numerous HR initiatives focused on improving the employee experience, HR functional excellence, and, streamlining and standardizing HR service delivery.  

Rachel holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia, and is completing a master’s degree in industrial and organization psychology with Purdue Global University.

Jason Olinger has joined Saia as our director of trade show services. In his new role, Jason will be responsible for the development and go-to-market strategy for this new sales channel.

Comprehensive trade show service is in high demand and Saia is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this growth opportunity. Jason will have a team of sales operators who will work closely with our operations teams and LinkEx to ensure the seamless and efficient pickup and delivery of trade show shipments across the Saia network.   

Jason began his career with Roadway Express as an operations management trainee. He has extensive experience in various leadership roles including customer service; inside, field, and corporate sales; specialized services and training. For the past five years, Jason has been responsible for sales and operations within the trade show channel and also served as a divisional vice president of field sales with his previous employer. He is an active member in the Traffic Club of Chicago, where he is a past president, and currently serves a board member and the chair of the education.

Gabrian Padgett has been named the new manager for our Richmond, Virginia (RCM) terminal. Though new to Saia, Gabrian has 23 years of experience in the transportation industry having served as a service center, assistant, and operations manager; supervisor; and lead dockworker. He attended Isothermal Community College.

Frank Santovi has accepted the position of terminal manager for our Hudson, Wisconsin (HWI) facility, which will support the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota market. Frank started his career in transportation as a driver for a competitor, and later transitioned into numerous operational leadership positions including that of supervisor; dispatcher; and management roles in safety, linehaul and as a zone manager. Most recently, he had responsibility for overseeing seven terminals.