Transportation Planner

Lactalis USA Inc.•Buffalo, NY

1d•$63,000 - $68,000•Onsite

About The Position

Lactalis is currently hiring a Transportation Planner based in Buffalo, NY. The Transportation Planner is responsible for securing carrier commitments and negotiating competitive freight costs to ensure domestic network coverage. This role operates with a high sense of urgency, transforming planned shipments into live carrier tenders within a fast-paced environment. You will work closely with Transportation Planning Managers to align daily execution with broader organizational strategies and goals. Daily collaboration with fellow Transportation Planners & Carrier Management is essential to navigate capacity constraints and maintain a consistent flow of freight. The primary objective is to deliver superior customer service while consistently achieving the lowest possible transportation cost. Success requires a firm grasp of current market conditions and the ability to leverage technology to resolve real-time operational exceptions.

Requirements

High School Diploma or Equivalent is required.
2+ years of experience required with Refrigerated Logistics / Transportation (appointments, high volume customer interaction, frozen/perishable) or related distribution experience
Carrier Sales/Logistics Coordinator, Transportation Procurement, Transportation Rates Coordinators, and any other logistics activity where buying/negotiating trucking for freight transportation is preferred.
Intermediate knowledge of United States geography.
Intermediate knowledge of domestic transportation marketplace.
Basic knowledge of inbound and outbound warehouse/dock operations.
Intermediate knowledge of Microsoft Word & Excel.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills are required.
Fleet management
Logistic customer administration and relationship management
Logistic service level management
Transport management (order processing and process analysis)

Nice To Haves

Post-secondary education is favored.

Responsibilities

Coordinate directly with Transportation Planning within Lactalis USA Logistics to maintain a balance of cost and service.
Visibility to external stakeholders in Supply Planning, Customer Service, Sales, and Leadership.
Prioritize action to mitigate overall cost while maximizing probability for on-time service.
Work directly with Transportation Planning Management to identify continuous improvement opportunities.
Keep key internal and external stakeholders informed of execution status and immediately communicate exceptions that deviate from the established plan.
Become SME (subject-matter-expert) with Lactalis-approved carriers by understanding their core capabilities, service areas, capacity needs, lead-time requirements, and other pertinent information necessary to provide successful execution to the overall distribution plan.
Use available tech, market-data, and practical experience to identify opportunities to convert ad-hoc capacity into long-term commitments.
Maintain clear communication and data integrity related to all active and prior carrier negotiation.
Respect routing to avoid making service concessions to end-users.
May be required to oversee execution and manage exceptions while freight is in-transit or at the time of delivery including but not limited to OSDR, service failures, quality issues, etc.