Medallion Transport Holdings has appointed Jesse Merrell to Chief Operating Officer (COO). 
With Merrell at the helm as of October 1, the company’s safety department, business development, marketing & communications, dispatch, agent development and retention, and owner-operator recruitment, will all be managed by his leadership.
“He’s a leader, he’s a great ambassador for the company. He brings the ability to merge what’s made us great and we need to do to be great going forward,” said Medallion Transport Holdings CEO & President Gary Weilheimer. “He provides great leadership to continue to keep the staff moving.”
Merrell will oversee a national agent network and a fleet of over 400 power units from the company’s newest corporate office located in Kokomo, Indiana. He has hired and brought over team members in various departments, including qualifications, company communications, trailer rentals and fleet maintenance so he can continue to drive growth while improving internal processes and communication.
“With Jesse as our COO and as a leader in our organization, we are positioned to meet the demands of the future of transportation and logistics in all different dynamics that we service. Jesse’s the complete package with knowledge, background and diversity, and brings us the experience and the new way of doing business,” said Weilheimer.
Merrell has an impressive track record with the company. As the VP of Heavy Haul, he built a successful marketing program which included involvement at major truck shows nationwide. He also built a team of business developers and capacity recruiters, adding over 75 trucks to the company’s capacity in the last year, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. Merrell attributed this to the hard work of agents, employees and company capacity.
“The focus of our agents and our internal operations teams was all about being available for everyone, scrapping for freight and working long hours,” said Merrell about his team’s efforts during the pandemic. “Even though it was a hard situation, everyone felt they had a partner that was in it with them and I think that’s a big part of why guys came to us during COVID. Beyond that, it’s due to the big effort of our recruitment team.”
Medallion also opened its first truck yard and driver’s lounge just outside of Houston, TX under Merrell’s direction, and there’s plans to open more yards and lounges, while continuing to develop more initiatives to support company owner-ops.
He has expanded the company’s use of technology, coupling his hands-on, face-to-face approach with advanced software and applications to keep the company thriving.
“It’s about finding ways to better utilize technology to make us more efficient, but without losing our focus on human interaction,” said Merrell.
Refining the Owner-Operator onboarding program is a main factor that put Merrell on the path to becoming COO. Merrell added additional touch points and communication beyond the recruiter and/or agent, giving every owner-op the ability to ask questions to learn more and take advantage of program perks. Since Jesse started with Medallion, NHH went from a single agency to 35, with over 100 trucks.
As much as Merrell and the current management team have big plans to maintain an edge through technology and new programs, Merrell’s main focus is to create a better life for everyone affiliated with the company.
“My goal is to create a company that actually cares, where you’re more than a number,” he said. “We want everyone to have a better life because of how much we care,” he said.
Experience & Values
Merrell began his 20-year career in the trucking and logistics industry during college. At 18 years old, he earned a CDL and drove a truck delivering building materials to pay for tuition and books. In the early 2000’s, just after earning an Agriculture degree from Purdue, he took a position selling semi-trucks throughout the Midwest.
After much success as a salesperson, he was hired as an operations and sales manager for a transportation company in 2003. Shortly after, in 2007, he opened his own agency along with his dad. The pair grew the agency, National Heavy Haul, significantly and became the largest exporter of construction equipment overseas, shipping over 5,000 tractors per year at the time.
After almost eight years of managing trucks and his own agency, he made the decision to join Medallion in 2015.
Weilheimer believes Merrell’s experience makes him the important ambassador he is to Medallion.
“For us, the industry and business are changing. We started 10 years ago, and we are ready to enter the next decade, plus. His knowledge base exceeds your typical executive because he has the experience as an owner of trucks and past agency owner, as well as business development, sales & marketing and an understanding of social media and technology,” said Weilheimer. “His diversity will help make us unique, and he holds true to and executes our core values. The perpetuality of our business is always important, but this move gives us the perpetuality as we continue to build, and his vision is spot on for continuing to evolve.”
Growing Up in the Industry
When Merrell was only 9 years old, he was already helping both his dad and grandfather, both truckers. Merrell’s dad is now an owner-operator for NHH Services, pulling a refeer and previously pulling multi-axle trailers under the NHH Services’ brand.
While other grandparents and dads played with cars or read books to their grandkids and children, Merrell’s mentors were teaching him the values of hard work. Merrell remembers helping his grandpa re-tread truck tires.
His unique upbringing as a truck driver’s kid is what he believes lead him in the right direction.
“Trucking is not a job, it’s a lifestyle,” said Merrell.
