The freight forwarding industry repeats this one whenever volumes soften: wait until the market recovers before hiring commercial talent. It sounds like discipline. It functions like delay.
Here is what specialist search work surfaces over and over again. When freight volumes contract, the competition for the best commercial producers contracts with them. The people most hiring managers spend years trying to reach are suddenly more accessible. A slow market does not signal that demand for strong freight salespeople has softened. It signals that fewer competitors are in the room making the same call.
The companies treating a slow market as a pause are making a compounding decision. Every quarter spent waiting is a quarter the recovery begins without a closer already in seat. And when the market turns, it tightens fast. The window for reaching top talent closes before most hiring managers realize it opened.
The forwarders who own a recovery are the ones who made the move when the room was quiet.
➡️ Darius and Company places commercial freight forwarding talent nationwide. Connect to start the conversation.
Darius and Company, Freight Forwarding Commercial Growth Partners.