Fairgrounds Transportation

Position Title: LTL Customer Service & Quoting Specialist

Company: Third-Party Logistics Provider (3PL)

Location: On-site

Employment Type: Full-Time, Hourly

Industry: Logistics and Supply Chain

Role Overview

This role serves as the professional backbone for a rapidly growing sales team, ensuring the high volume of new business is supported by exceptional, efficient, and accurate customer service. The mission is to solve customer problems, provide precise freight quotes, and manage shipment logistics with a level of professionalism that builds customer confidence and loyalty. Success in this position means transforming potential chaos into a streamlined operation, where customers feel they are dealing with a true transportation expert and the internal team is supported by a reliable, drama-free colleague. You will be the first line of defense in resolving freight issues and the primary engine for delivering the quotes that fuel our growth.

Employee Value Proposition

Purpose

You are the critical link that ensures the promises made by our new sales team are kept. This role directly enables company growth by providing the operational excellence needed to retain and delight customers, professionalizing our customer-facing interactions and establishing our reputation as transportation experts.

Growth

This position is a launchpad. As the company scales, opportunities for advancement into future parcel, white glove, or international divisions will emerge. High performers can progress towards a Customer Service Manager role, with your development tied directly to the company's success.

Motivators

This is an opportunity for those who thrive on tangible results. With quarterly performance-based merit increases, your compensation is a direct reflection of your impact. You will have the autonomy to bring order to a fast-paced environment and become an indispensable member of a cohesive, growth-focused team.

Major Performance Objectives
1. Achieve Master-Level Quoting Efficiency

Within 90 days, become fully proficient with the Tai TMS and consistently achieve a daily output of 20-25 accurate Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) freight quotes. Success requires maintaining a 98% accuracy rate on all quotes to minimize downstream errors and ensuring timely, competitive pricing is delivered to support the conversion rates of our four new sales representatives.

2. Implement Proactive Problem Resolution System

By the end of the first six months, take full ownership of the daily 4-7 problem resolution inquiries. This involves creating and executing a proactive communication strategy for common issues such as lost freight, delays, re-weighs, and insurance claims. The primary goal is to reduce the average resolution time by 25% by improving communication with carriers and providing clear, professional, and timely updates to customers, turning potential frustrations into experiences of professional support.

3. Standardize Customer Communication Protocols

Within the first 120 days, develop and help implement a set of standardized communication templates and protocols within Gmail and the Tai TMS for handling common inquiries (e.g., shipment tracking, quote follow-ups, problem acknowledgments). Success in this objective will be measured by a 15% reduction in redundant follow-up emails and a noticeable improvement in positive customer feedback as reported in supervisory reviews.

4. Become a Go-To Subject Matter Expert and Team Support Pillar

Over the course of the first year, establish yourself as a subject matter expert in LTL processes and the Tai TMS. A key outcome is to serve as the primary, seamless backup for teammates during absences, ensuring no drop in service levels. Success will be measured by your ability to handle the additional workload without disruption and contribute to a 10% improvement in overall team efficiency during peak periods by proactively sharing knowledge and helping streamline operational handoffs.

Critical Subtasks
1. Conduct 30-Day Operational Onboarding Audit

Within the first 30-60 days, conduct a thorough review of the current quoting, tracking, and problem-resolution workflows within the Tai TMS and Gmail. Map the process from initial customer email to final resolution, identify the top 3-5 bottlenecks or points of friction, and present findings to your supervisor with initial recommendations.

2. Master Core Quoting Workflow

Dedicate the first 60 days to intensive training and practice within the Tai TMS to master the LTL quoting process, achieving the benchmark of 20-25 quotes per day with 98% accuracy by day 90.

3. Develop Problem Resolution Playbooks

For the top three most frequent problems (e.g., freight re-weighs, missed pickups, tracking discrepancies), create a simple, step-by-step resolution playbook within the first 90 days to ensure a consistent and professional response.

4. Build Key Carrier Communication Channels

Proactively establish professional points of contact with our top five LTL carriers to improve the speed and quality of information exchange, reducing the time it takes to get updates on critical shipment issues.

5. Refine High-Stakes Customer Communication

Role-play and refine scripts for handling difficult customer conversations (e.g., explaining re-weigh charges) with a supervisor to ensure a confident, professional, and de-escalating communication style, as measured by ongoing supervisory feedback.

6. Execute Seamless Team Coverage

Successfully cover for an absent teammate for at least one full day within the first six months, managing both workloads effectively and documenting a simple hand-off summary for their return.

7. Implement AI-Assisted Email Triage

Between 90-180 days, evaluate and propose a system for using AI-powered tools within Gmail (such as enhanced templates, smart replies, or categorization) to automatically triage incoming requests. The goal is to reduce the response time for initial acknowledgments of customer emails by 50%.

Culture and Situation Fit

The ideal candidate thrives in a dynamic, sometimes chaotic environment that is in a state of rapid growth. You are a 'doer' who finds satisfaction in executing tasks with precision, speed, and professionalism. You are not rattled by high-volume periods and can remain organized and focused when things are slow. This role is perfect for a drama-free individual who prefers to focus on their work, get the job done, and contribute to a cohesive team without getting entangled in office politics. You must be comfortable with clear, metric-based performance expectations and motivated by the direct link between your results and your compensation.

Top Technical Skills

1. LTL Freight Operations (Importance: 5/5)

2. Transportation Management Systems (TMS) (Importance: 5/5)

3. Customer Issue Resolution (Importance: 4/5)

4. High-Volume Data Entry & Quoting (Importance: 4/5)