Leading a $1 Billion Freight Brokerage with Cameron Ramsdell, CEO of Armstrong Transport Group

In this week’s episode of The FreightCaviar Podcast, we sit down with Cameron Ramsdell, the CEO of Armstrong Transport Group. He’s worked at Variant, Emerge and spent more than a decade at Coyote Logistics. Last year he became the CEO of Armstrong. Cameron shares insights on how the company grew by 60% in 2024, offers his predictions on the impact of AI on the industry, and talks strategies for protecting your business against fraud.

Cameron began his journey into logistics in 2008, when he joined Coyote, working closely with his mentor, Jeff Silver. Both Jeff and his wife, Marianne, had a great impact on him. He described Marianne as being the culture driver of the business who taught him that the best way to take care of your customers is to take care of your people first.

His 11 years at Coyote taught him more than just skills— it was there that Cameron grew into a strong leader.

“I think it comes down to two things. First, listen to your folks and try to help them solve problems. And two, making sure that you can establish and maintain credibility and integrity.”

All this has had an immense impact on his role at Armstrong. Cameron shared the lessons he’s learned at Coyote and how they empowered him to lay a strong foundation for the company’s success.

"Don't be political, but be politically sensitive and aware. Also, what are the things that we're doing that impact other groups within? Make sure that they feel very comfortable. That's a critical lesson for anybody, just thinking through the first, second, and third order effects of whatever you're doing when you're a part of a much larger organization."

Armstrong’s Impressive Growth

Armstrong is closing out an exceptional year, achieving more than 60% growth. On top of that, it made the Top 20 Brokerage Companies list last year. Cameron shares what contributed to its impressive growth.

“To me, one of the biggest strengths is how we leverage this community. We do what we do very, very well. Our folks that are here are quite happy. One thing that was very refreshing, was coming in and talking to our agents, who genuinely liked working with Armstrong. I didn't know what to expect, but I could see immediately that we had a community."

AI’s Role in Freight Tech and Financing

With all the AI buzz that’s been popping up over the last few months, we got Cameron to share his insights on the freight tech side of venture capital.

“There's some really good companies out there right now. Who's going to win? Honestly, it's those who listen to their customers.”

Prediction for AI in Logistics

What are his predictions for AI and whether it will take over jobs in logistics?

“I truly don't see a step change function in 2025 for logistics right now, where it's going to reinvent the way people do things. I don't see that in the short run. But I think there's a real opportunity to enable the folks that work at the company, the folks that have the right philosophy, and that take care of our customers, to do more of that and less of those manual tasks.”

Protecting Your Business Against Fraud

Cameron also shared insights for those thinking of starting an agency model, the impact fraud can have on your business, and what you can do to protect yourself.

“I would be leery of anyone who’s jumping into the game after what's happened here.  The way that fraud is now is that it’s worse than it's ever been. A few claims can wipe out a company. I would encourage anyone to measure twice and cut once when it comes to deciding who your partner is going to be, both from an agent and just a traditional W2 brokerage standpoint. You’ve got to be careful right because the industry is quite different now than it was a year or two ago.”

We can’t wait to see what the future will bring for Armstrong, and with Cameron as the CEO, it’s bound to be bright.

Listen to the entire interview on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or watch it on our YouTube Channel.