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Unlocking Success Through Strategic Leadership

Logistics Executive Search

Freight Appointments is a specialist logistics and freight forwarding executive search firm, placing board, C-suite and senior commercial leadership across the US, Germany, Benelux and Australia. Every search runs confidentially, with your name kept out of the market until an interview is requested.

Placing Expert Leadership to Shape Your Business’s Future

In logistics and freight forwarding, a weak leadership team shows up fast. Fragmented decision-making, unclear ownership of accounts and slow reactions to margin pressure cost you opportunities long before they show in the numbers. In a sector where time, precision and accountability decide whether accounts stay or go, the wrong appointment at director level can take two years to undo.

We work with forwarders and transportation businesses at every stage, from founder-led operations hiring their first commercial director, to global groups appointing regional and trade lane leadership. What each search has in common is that we already know the market, so we can tell you who is genuinely available, what they will move for and where the risks sit, rather than presenting whoever answered the phone.

Senior Leadership Coverage

At Chairman level, discretion and trust are critical. Freight Appointments supports boards with confidential, insight-led searches, accessing senior leaders who bring stability, governance strength, and long-term vision to complex freight forwarding organisations.

Operational leaders are often locked into complex businesses and hard to attract. We identify proven operators with scale experience and manage approaches without disrupting live operations.

Freight forwarding finance leaders must understand margin pressure, cash flow, and asset-heavy models. We focus on candidates with hands on sector experience and board level credibility.

EVP roles often sit between strategy and execution. We help define the brief clearly and source leaders who can operate across functions without internal friction.

Good freight forwarding finance directors are rarely available at the right time. We proactively map talent and manage engagement with candidates who are open to the right move only.

These roles demand niche market knowledge. We recruit directly from within specific trade lanes, products, and verticals to avoid long learning curves.

Finding a CEO with sector credibility and commercial judgement is high risk and time sensitive. We deliver shortlists built from deep freight networks.

Revenue leadership in freight forwarding is tightly competitive. We target commercial heads with real pricing, contract, and customer exposure, not surface level sales titles.

Regional and global presidents require authority across markets and cultures. We support these hires through international search capability and careful alignment with group strategy.

Senior VP hiring is often about succession and stability. We provide market insight and candidate assessment to reduce risk and support long term leadership planning.

Regional leadership requires local knowledge and corporate discipline. We balance regional reach with group reporting experience to deliver candidates who can operate both.

These hires often sit at the heart of performance. We focus on track record, leadership style, and cultural fit to support teams under commercial pressure.

400+
Import, Export & Customs Specialists Hired
800+
Successful Candidates
160+
5* Google Reviews
$52000000
Worth/value of salaries negotiated

Branch managers, country managers, department heads and operations managers are the layer that turns strategy into delivery. They hold your margins, your service levels and, in most forwarding businesses, your client relationships. Getting the appointment wrong is expensive twice over, once in the hire and again in the accounts that walk.

We recruit middle management across air, ocean, road and customs, in the US, Germany, Benelux and Australia. Most candidates come from our network rather than an advert, which means we can approach people currently running comparable operations for your competitors.

Business development managers, key account managers and commercial directors are judged on one thing, and freight sales hiring has been at its lowest point in years across the last eighteen months. That makes the people worth hiring harder to reach, because the strong ones aren't applying for anything.

We recruit freight and logistics sales talent by lane and vertical rather than by job title, whether you need project logistics BD in Germany, pharma expertise in the US or someone who can protect your largest global accounts. Every candidate is qualified on their actual network, not their CV.

Air and ocean freight forwarders, import and export coordinators, controllers, customs specialists and dangerous goods coordinators. These are the roles that decide whether a client stays after their first shipment goes wrong, and the hardest to fill quickly when someone leaves without notice.

We recruit operations staff across all four of our markets, on permanent and contract terms, with shortlists built from people already doing the job elsewhere in the industry. Where you need cover at short notice, we can usually move within days rather than weeks.

Executive Search, Supported by Wider Recruitment Expertise

Executive search is central to what we do, but it isn't where our support ends. We recruit for logistics and freight forwarding businesses across leadership, management, sales and operations, so the structure beneath your senior team is as strong as the appointment itself.

A new commercial director is only as effective as the sales team reporting into them. We're often asked to build that layer out in the months after an executive placement.

Explore Our Freight & Transportation Recruitment Sectors

Explore Freight Forwarding & Logistics
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Aerospace & Defence Recruitment

We recruit specialist talent across aerospace, government and defence logistics, connecting employers with experienced professionals across sales, operations, compliance, management and senior leadership.

Explore Aerospace & Defence
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Automotive Recruitment

From inbound logistics to finished vehicle transportation, we help automotive logistics businesses recruit experienced professionals across commercial, operational, management and leadership roles.

Explore Automotive

Energy Recruitment

We connect energy logistics businesses with professionals experienced in complex, time-sensitive and project-driven supply chains, from sales and operations through to senior management.

Explore Energy

General Cargo Recruitment

Our recruiters support freight forwarding businesses handling general cargo, helping them hire skilled professionals across air freight, ocean freight, sales, operations and leadership.

Explore General Cargo

High-Tech Recruitment

We recruit for technology and electronics logistics, connecting businesses with professionals experienced in high-value, sensitive and time-critical supply chains across commercial and operational roles.

Explore High-Tech
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Pharmaceuticals Recruitment

We help pharmaceutical and healthcare logistics businesses recruit professionals with experience in temperature-controlled, regulated and time-sensitive supply chains across operations, sales and leadership.

Explore Pharmaceuticals

Project Logistics Recruitment

From oversized cargo to complex global projects, we recruit experienced project logistics professionals across operations, business development, chartering, management and senior leadership.

Explore Project Logistics
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Time Critical Recruitment

We connect time-critical and expedited logistics businesses with professionals who understand urgent freight, specialist transport and high-pressure operations across sales, operations and leadership.

Explore Time Critical
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Transportation Brokerage Recruitment

We recruit experienced freight brokerage and 3PL professionals across sales, account management, carrier sales, operations, branch management and executive leadership.

Explore Brokerage
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Asset-Based Transportation Recruitment

We help trucking companies and asset-based carriers recruit talent across transportation sales, dispatch, fleet operations, safety, terminal management and senior leadership.

Explore Asset-Based

Unrivalled Network, Unmatched Results

Each candidate we present is thoroughly qualified, often sourced directly from your competitors, and highly discreet - our clients’ names remain confidential until an interview is requested, and we’ll often have all parties sign an NDA. Whether you’re hiring a Chairman, Chief Operations Officer, or Chief Financial Officer, you can trust us to conduct a tailored search that aligns with your business goals. Our approach focuses not just on filling the role but on developing your new hire and their team for long-term growth.

With our unrivalled network, we deliver speed and accuracy, ensuring we make an impact quickly. We stay closely connected to industry trends and regularly engage with clients about their growth strategies. This enables us to provide insights grounded in facts, not guesswork. Honesty, expertise, and integrity are at our core, helping us deliver results that support your business’s evolution.

What Our Freight & Logistics Clients Say

"Working with Freight Appointments was a refreshing experience in a tough job market. In these current times working with a highly motivated, professional and responsive recruiter is not so easy to come across. Thanks Lewis and Freight Appointments! I look forward to working with you again."

Brett M

"At a delicate time in both my personal and professional life, Mica appeared like my lucky star. Never forgot about me even if months went by. When I was ready, we had a wonderful intro meeting, and the rest is history. Within a week I was assigned 5 interviews and on the 3rd one I clicked. The time frame was 2 weeks and a day from initial contact to verbal hiring agreement. I am very happy where I am and owe this young woman so much. Passionate, fun, professional and focus. Never had I had the opportunity to work with such a talented recruiter. I hope she gets noticed because she stands out from the crowd. Gracias Mica, lo mejor del mundo siempre. We shall always keep in touch."

Marc M

"I had a wonderful experience using this service. Thomas was absolutely great every step of the way. Very responsive and knowledgeable as well as being assertive in knowing my value. Thank you for your assistance I would definitely recommend anyone out there looking for placement go here. You will be meet with kindness and respect. 10 out of 10"

Nequita O

"I had reached out to Danny for assistance in finding me new job opportunities and right from the beginning he was very helpful and supportive. He took the time to find out what I required as well as my strengths to find opportunities that would be a good fit not only for myself but for the companies as well. I would highly recommend Danny- the right choice"

Susan I

"Clara has been a great help for me in looking for my next venture. From day one she has been very helpful. She listened to what I was looking for and matched me up with exactly what I needed. She makes the interview appointments and follows up to be sure all went well. She is there every step of the way and beyond. Thank you Clara for a job well done!"

Christal P

"Danny is great to work with. He is patient , as I was very selective where I went , he clearly saw the big picture and never tried to direct me to an employer for his benefit. He understood his success comes with the right employer/employee placement. Not a short term quick sale. Equally important, he followed up after the placement to ensure I was OK at my new job , questions etc"

Romesh G

"I give Lewis my highest recommendation. He was and is first class, professional and thorough. Through his hard work and due diligence, I found myself in a role that I couldn’t be more pleased with."

Corey M

"First class professional, we talked about one role and ended up taking a different route that exceeded all of my expectations. I cannot thank Lewis enough in what he did for my career."

Neil G

"I had the great pleasure of working with Elliot ! He immediately went into action with presenting me with the best job that fits my resume. I interviewed one day and the next day got the email stating I got hired that was 7 months ago! Elliot thank you for your recommendation and assistance i really like my current employer."

Tanisha W

"Jack worked well for me to connect me with a great local match and advocate for my best. He was easy to get in touch with, kept me updated with the process, and was super professional. Please use Freight Appointments if you are looking for the best option for employment in brokerage/logistics."

Patrick N

"I am very pleased working with Alfie Banwell of Freight Appointments. I thank Alfie for connecting me with an excellent employer. Alfie is very professional, detail oriented and has excellent communication skills. He is very easy to talk to and understood my career goals and expectations. He communicated those clearly to the employer. He helped and guided me in navigating the interview stages, offer letter and acceptance. He followed through every step of the way and produced positive results. He is also very kind and patient. Thank you so much Alfie and Freight Appointments. Alfie, thank you for believing in me. You were an excellent recruiter."

Anna M

"I have a great experience with Elliot at Freight Appointments. He was very positive, informative and supportive of what I was looking for. I ended up staying my current employment, but he will be my preferred contact if I do need to find other opportunities for employment."

Sophy K

"Had the opportunity to work with Elliot and it was a great experience. Almost a year ago, Elliot was the link between me and my current employer. Great recruiter, very professional and detail oriented and highly knowledgeable. I'm very thankful for the way he worked with me around my resume and interview preparing by making sure that all my qualifications and skills were a fully exposed and a matching-factor to get the right fit for me, as well as for my employer. Thanks for your work Elliot and Freight Appointment team!"

Manuel H

"My experience with Sam was exceptional. He was easy to talk to. He gave me the impression he wanted to help me. He listened to my needs. I wasn't sent on wild goose chases to job interviews for positions I didn't want. He also has amazing follow-up. He wanted to know my interview experiences. 10/10 recommend Sam Jelbert."

Holly O

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