Kelly Benton was recently promoted to the role of vice president and chief accounting officer (CAO). In this position, she will continue providing strategic leadership including the oversight and development of company-wide accounting policies, processes, and controls to ensure timely and accurate recording and reporting of business performance along with safeguarding company assets. 

Since joining Saia, Kelly has proven herself as a talented and respected leader, not only in the finance group, but across the company. As CAO, over the next several months, Kelly will assume additional responsibilities as a leader in the Finance Department. The amazing growth of our business these last several years requires that we continuously evolve as an organization, and Kelly is uniquely qualified to lead and develop talent across all areas of accounting and finance. 

Prior to joining Saia, Kelly led RaceTrac Petroleum’s key accounting functions as their vice president of accounting. Before this, she served in financial leadership roles with Ernst & Young LLP. She holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina and is a certified public accountant.

Reginald Cruz was named our new Cincinnati, Ohio (CIN) terminal manager. With 16 years of industry experience, Reginald joined Saia in 2020 and had been serving as CIN’s operations manager. Prior to this, he worked as both a training and an operations supervisor as well as a transportation manager. He is a graduate of Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio where he studied business and administration.

Shavelta Evans-Johnson joined Saia in November as a human resources (HR) business partner. Shavelta will be based out of the Atlanta Corporate Office, where she will provide strategic HR leadership to the finance and IT organizations.

In this role, she will serve as the HR partner to Doug Col, executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Rohit Lal, executive vice president and chief information officer, and their respective leadership teams. She will provide HR thought leadership, guidance, and strategic and tactical support, with a focus on organization capability, along with team effectiveness and overall business success. She will lead in areas such as performance management, succession planning, employee engagement improvement, talent development, effective and efficient hiring, and continuous improvement of the overall employee and leader experience. 

Shavelta brings a wealth of experiences and capabilities to Saia based on her 20-plus years of HR experience. Most recently, she was an HR business partner at Deluxe Corporation, a leader in the financial technology space. There, she led numerous HR programs focused on improving the employee experience, developing leadership capabilities, and improving business outcomes. Prior to this role, Shavelta served in HR roles of increasing scope and responsibility at GE Financial and Synchrony Financial.

Shavelta holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bowling Green State University and a master’s degree in HR from Central Michigan University.

Brian Lorenz has joined Saia as a Memphis (MPS) regional HR manager. He will be based in the St. Louis, Missouri (STL) terminal.

Saia has grown significantly over the last few years. With this growth in our employee base, Saia is adding regional HR managers in support of our commitment to work environments that are true to our values and support positive employee engagement. MPS is one of the regions that will be expanding as we move forward. Brian will partner with Jackie Stegall, also a MPS regional HR manager, to provide support.

Brian brings more than 20 years of experience to Saia, having held HR positions of increasing responsibility at the Boeing Company, Keurig, and Dr. Pepper. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Southeast Missouri State University.

Three new corporate security investigators have joined the Saia team to help better support Operations and our continued growth by assisting with physical security assessments, training, and investigations. 

• John Johnson will be supporting our Harrisburg (HBG) Region. John is a retired Ohio state trooper with over 25 years of law enforcement and freight industry investigation experience. He has spent the last five years as a security investigator for a competitor, supporting the Midwest and Northeast.
• John McBreen will be supporting the Charlotte (CLT) Region. John comes to us with nearly 10 years of investigative and loss prevention experience.
• David McEldowney will be supporting the Chicago (CGO) and Cincinnati (CIN) Regions. David has been in the less-than-truckload industry for 34 years, working at a competitor where he held positions in Operations and security. Over the past 17 years, he served as a security investigator in Chicago and Atlanta.
• Lyndsey Perry has been an investigator with Saia for three years supporting the Northeast. Lyndsey has transferred from the HBG and will now be supporting our Atlanta (ATL) Region.

Vance Thompson has been named the new manager of our St. Louis, Missouri (STL) terminal. With 20 years of industry experience, Vance joined Saia in 2019 and has served as a supervisor for our Jacksonville, Florida (JAX) facility and, most recently, as the manager for our Bloomington, Illinois (BLM) terminal. He studied criminal justice at Kaskaskia College in Centralia, Illinois.