At Tallgrass, our freight agents are never just a number. Our freight brokers are our biggest asset, the drivers of our growth and success. And most of all, they’re part of a like-minded family that values integrity, ambition, commitment and partnership. It’s because of our people that we can close out 2020 – a year for the history books, to be sure – with a sense of joy and achievement.
“To come out of the year we’ve had, where we are today, is truly remarkable,” says Tallgrass Freight COO and co-owner David Barnes. “There are not many companies out there, anywhere, who can celebrate the magnitude of growth we’ve achieved in 2020. This kind of growth is very rare. And you don’t accomplish the milestones we’ve accomplished unless you have a solid team foundation. Everyone here is incredibly important.”
We invite you to join us as we reflect on all we’ve achieved this year, celebrating the wins that will propel us into 2021 with purpose and intent. Time to pop the champagne!
We swept the awards with another year of accomplishments.
We’re humbled to have the brightest and best freight brokers in the logistics industry here at Tallgrass – passionate people who fuel innovation and growth. And that’s why it’s exciting to experience another year of local and national recognition for our continued growth and thriving business.
As much as we love adding some bling to our trophy case, every award just confirms what we’ve known all along: Tallgrass Freight is unlike any other company. We’re grateful to say we’ve swept the awards once again in 2020, receiving the following coveted accolades:
- Inc. 5000 Series: America’s Top Businesses in the Midwest
- Inc. 5000
- Ingram’s Top 100
- Kansas City Business Journal Best Places to Work
- Kansas City Business Journal Fast 50
We expanded our footprint with the opening of our brick-and-mortar Chattanooga office.
Because of our exponential growth, we had the exciting opportunity to open our third brick-and-mortar office in Chattanooga, Tennessee, after our flagship office in Kansas City and our second location in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Not only is this a huge milestone for us, representing our expansion into the southern market, but it allows us to continue building our team of tenacious, entrepreneurial-minded freight agents who are located from coast to coast.
We continued our unparalleled broker education at our annual Agent Roundtable.
No one else in the logistics industry does professional development like we do! In 2020, we continued our commitment to providing freight agents with invaluable educational and professional development opportunities. We upped the ante this year during our safe and socially-distant annual Roundtable event in downtown Kansas City, furnishing our team with seminars on financial and estate planning, as well as strategies for organizing and expanding their businesses.
Speaking about the event, COO and co-owner David Barnes says, “At Tallgrass, you’re not just another number. We genuinely care about each and every single one of our agents, and we will continue to go the extra mile to show how invested we are in their success.”
We welcomed our new VP of Agent Development.
We talk a big game about our supportive culture — and we back it up. We’re constantly searching for new resources to catapult the success of our freight agents to new heights. Our latest investment in our people is the promotion of freight veteran Sean Richardson to our Dream Team as Tallgrass Freight’s new VP of Growth and Development.
From setting new agents up for success and upward growth and mobility to providing hands-on mentorship, Sean focuses on proven tactics and support to help our agents advance. We’re proud to see the impact Sean has made since taking on this new role.
We promoted Kayla Hall-Johnson to Recruiting Manager.
In her new position as Recruiting Manager, Kayla is focused on introducing potential Tallgrass freight agents to the TGF ecosystem and leading our Recruitment team members to continue bringing the best freight brokers in the country to our independent agent network.
“We’re going to support you like a family does,” Kayla explains. “No matter your background, once you fall under the Tallgrass Freight umbrella, you are treated with respect. You can come in and work as much as you want, make money and have a family backing you up.” There’s nothing better than that.
We not only weathered a global pandemic — but we rose above it.
There aren’t enough words to describe how thankful we are for our success this year. With our strong foundation and environment that values transparency and loyalty, and spending years establishing a culture focused on supporting our people, we were able to face a global pandemic and come out stronger than ever.
While other companies capped compensation in 2020, we’ve continued to offer industry-leading compensation. Other companies cut their talent, but we continued hiring the best of the best. Other companies froze, but we continued moving forward, together.
The feeling of being able to provide our freight agents with stability and security is indescribable. Our amazing, hard-working team fueled our growth — meaning no layoffs, no commission trims and no furloughs for TGF despite all 2020 brought. What’s more, we were able to expand our team, adding talented individuals like Brennan Boyd and Dave Sullivan to the Tallgrass family.
We’ve truly built a company that has become a premier destination for top-tier freight agents to thrive and prosper. They have the autonomy to be their own boss with the support of a world-class back office team and an environment that encourages collaboration.
“As long as we keep our focus on culture, I don’t see what stops us from achieving even more,” says Damon Anderson, founder and CEO. “I’ve never been more excited for a year with this company than I am for 2021. This is just the start!” We’re looking to make 2021 our best year yet, and we want you to be a part of that success. Explore all the benefits and perks our independent freight agents enjoy and become a valued member of our unstoppable team.