One attribute that has been key to Holman’s longevity is leadership’s commitment to remaining curious and willing to question the status quo. “As CEO, my job is to make sure we perform with integrity and consistency with our team members, our customers, and our vendors,” says Brien Downie, chief executive of cer. “Holman is older than electricity; older than the automobile. Our core values give us the vision to provide the extraordinary service our customers rely on.” To that end, Downie and his colleagues strive to stay one step ahead of customers’ needs, keeping in mind that even Holman’s biggest competitors can’t out-think or out-work them. When investing in new operations or technology, Holman seeks solutions that add value and can be justi ed based on a cost-bene t analysis, says Mike Gardner, president. For example, recognizing that tariffs would signi cantly impact many of its customers, Holman established foreign-trade zones (FTZs) at its U.S. facilities. It has seen signi cant growth. “We try to anticipate and provide new service offerings that meet customers’ needs and respond to the environment,” Gardner adds. This entrepreneurial approach bene ts both customers and team members. For example, a team member at a Holman distribution center gained an opportunity to challenge himself when he developed a proprietary information management system, including a digital signature capture application for bills of lading. “The next 10 to 15 years will get wild,” Downie says. The company’s legacy of empowerment and relationship-managed
unstructured documents such as emails, within 32 seconds. Also critical to the company’s success is how employees treat every shipment as an audition, Mancini says. This thinking creates a sense of urgency that forces them to address problems as they occur and focus on meeting customers’ needs. “We quickly identify where the gaps are and build countermeasures to solve them,” he adds. “There’s a huge sense of pride in being a company that has been around for as long as we have, and being thought of as a disruptor.” Tackling the Tough Stu : LYNDEN THE START: In 1906, Ed Austin started Lynden Transfer. With a wagon and team of horses, he hauled goods from the rail station in Lynden, Washington, to local businesses. Ethel, his wife, handled the bookkeeping. In 1940, Hank Jansen became one of Lynden’s regular drivers and later purchased the company. Jansen believed that the best opportunity for growth would come by expanding service north to Alaska. Despite much skepticism from others, Jansen lined up customers. In 1954, drivers Oscar Roosma and Glen Kok made the rst grueling trip,
From its start in 1905 shipping perishables, C.H. Robinson now serves 83,000 customers and manages 37 million annual shipments.
settlers in Dakota Territory would need merchandise and food. In 1905, he incorporated C.H. Robinson Company to transport and distribute perishable products before they spoiled. That company has since grown into a powerful logistics platform that’s trusted by 83,000 customers and 450,000 carriers, and that manages 37 million shipments annually. C.H. Robinson also has deployed more than 30 arti cial intelligence (AI) agents. C.H. Robinson has always been eager to engage in thoughtful disruption, Mancini says, noting that industry analysts have called the company a “disruptor in the industry.” Successful disruption requires staying close to customers and developing capabilities that can address the challenges they currently face, as well as those likely to arise. And when evaluating potential AI solutions, C.H. Robinson deploys a “lean AI” approach, using the rigor of the LEAN operations model to ensure that its investments focus on real business challenges. “It allows us to not fall victim to ‘shiny object syndrome,’” Mancini says. One result of this discipline is C.H. Robinson’s dynamic pricing engine, which replaces a historically manual process that often depended on the tribal knowledge of speci c employees. “There was not a ton of science behind it, and the process could take minutes or hours,” Mancini says. Today, the dynamic pricing engine can respond to quotes, including from
service has stood the test of time. Every Shipment is an Audition: C.H. ROBINSON
THE START: Soon after the tracks for the transcontinental railroad were laid in North Dakota in the late 1800s, Charles Henry Robinson moved his family to Grand Forks. Robinson recognized that
Ed Austin started Lynden Transfer in 1906. The company found its niche in providing service in challenging markets like Alaska.
96 Inbound Logistics • January 2026
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