Each week, TruckNews.com lists notable moves, promotions and awards in the trucking industry.

This week was rich in executive appointments with industry veterans joining some of industry’s prominent companies. While Grant Naslund was named a chief operating officer at Arnold Bros. Transport, IntelliTrans hired Jim Bell as its chief technology officer. Meanwhile, Velociti’s president Deryk Powell was promoted to take on the role of company’s chief executive officer, leading to other appointments in company’s executive leadership suite, and Scott Griffith joined Motiv Electric as chief executive officer.

Naslund promoted at Arnold Bros.

Grant Naslund was promoted to the role of chief operating officer at the Winnipeg, Man.-based Arnold Bros. Transport. He joined the company in September 2023 as director of operations. 

Prior to joining Arnold, Naslund was a vice-president of operations at Quebec-based C.A.T. for three years, and he held the position of eastern operations director at Bison transport. 

Velociti names CEO, appoints other executives

Velociti president and chief operations officer (COO) Deryk Powell was promoted to the new role of the company’s chief executive officer (CEO).  

In his new role, Powell will be overseeing all company operations, taking over Michael Kahn, who will continue as Velociti’s executive chairman. 

Powell began his career at Velociti in 1994 as vice-president of sales. Back then, the company was known as Central States Special Products. From 1995 to 2004, he served as the company’s general manager, until he was named COO in January 2004. Powell became the company’s president nine years later. 

His most recent appointment is complemented by other changes in Velociti’s C-suite. 

Tim Kats, executive vice-president and general manager, will now assume the role of COO, while Jim West is promoted to chief information officer. 

“During his tenure as president, [Powell] has demonstrated his talent for leading a collaborative management team and a client-centered enterprise,” Kahn said in a news release. “I am confident that led by Deryk, Tim, Jim and their senior management team, Velociti is poised for continued rapid growth.”

Scott Griffith joins Motiv

Motiv Electric announced that Scott Griffith was named the company’s chief executive officer and a board member. 

He has spent the past 30 years founding, leading, scaling and advising leading technology-based companies that have often been market disruptors operating at the intersection of technology and mobility. 

Immediately prior to joining Motiv, Griffith served as CEO of Ford Motor Company’s Autonomous Vehicles and Mobility Businesses, where he oversaw the development of Level 4 autonomous vehicles.

He also held the role of Zipcar’s CEO for over 10 years, leading the company from its nascent stage.

His other experience includes holding the role of independent director at EVgo, being an executive in residence at General Catalyst Partners, and serving as a chairman of Envoy Global and TrueMotion companies — the latter was co-founded by Griffith and acquired by Cambridge Mobile Telematics.

IntelliTrans hires Bell as chief technology officer

IntelliTrans, a multimodal transportation management company, announced that Jim Bell has joined its executive team as chief technology officer (CTO).

He will lead the company’s technology initiatives to enhance existing and future transportation management solutions, bringing 25 years of technical expertise to the new job. 

Most recently, Bell served as senior vice-president of engineering at Transcendent, an operations management software company, where he the technology roadmap, development, testing, and infrastructure of enterprise inventory, asset management, and supply chain optimization software. 

His other executive experience includes holding the roles of vice-president of platform & API engineering at Greenway Health for three years, and the role of vice-president of software development at Aptean. 

“Jim is a visionary technologist with a demonstrated history of building world-class teams and innovating processes at leading SaaS and technology-driven service companies,” said Chad Raube, president of IntelliTrans, in a news release. “Our goal is to lead the way in excellence within the bulk and break bulk TMS sector, and Jim’s deep expertise and strategic insights will be pivotal in achieving these goals and empowering our customers to succeed.”