WHO ARE WE?

Howard Ridgeway brings decades of hands-on experience in trucking and fleet operations to BackOfficeFleet. He is the founder and CEO of HRT II LLC and has operated H.R. Transport LLC, giving him direct experience with the realities of running a trucking business and managing the demands placed on fleet owners.

His experience is grounded in the day-to-day realities of transportation: equipment, drivers, freight, load security, operating requirements and the practical decisions required to keep a fleet moving. His work has also included developing practical solutions to trucking problems, including innovations in load security.

At BackOfficeFleet, Ridgeway brings the fleet owner's perspective to the development of an outsourced back-office model. His focus is on making sure BOF addresses the problems that actually confront trucking companies as they grow—not simply the problems that software developers imagine.

Vincent G. Whitelock, PhD, brings an academic and practical perspective in operations, procurement, supply chain management and business-process integration to BackOfficeFleet.

Whitelock is an Associate Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at Central Michigan University. His work focuses on integrating business processes across operations, purchasing and supply-chain functions, with particular emphasis on strategic alignment, organizational performance and the way interconnected processes affect business results.

He holds a PhD in Manufacturing Management and Engineering from the University of Toledo, an MBA from the University of Toledo and an MS in Industrial Administration from Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business.

At BackOfficeFleet, Whitelock brings that expertise to the design of an integrated operating model in which the administrative functions behind a trucking operation work together rather than as disconnected departments. His perspective is central to BOF's goal of connecting people, processes, information and financial outcomes across the fleet.

Sylvester D. Holmes brings extensive experience in law, executive compensation, employee benefits, tax and corporate administration to BackOfficeFleet.

His corporate career has included senior legal and compensation roles with major organizations, including Parker Hannifin, Dana and Pentair, as well as earlier work in tax law. Public records also identify his role as an in-house attorney at Parker Hannifin beginning in 2016.

Holmes has also served at the board level as Chair of the Compensation Committee of ProMedica Healthcare System, responsible for executive compensation and related governance matters. That experience gave him a perspective that extends beyond administering compensation programs to understanding how compensation, performance, governance and organizational strategy have to work together.

At BackOfficeFleet, Holmes brings that experience to the development of an outsourced back-office model for growing transportation companies. His focus includes the people, compensation, benefits, financial and administrative responsibilities that become increasingly complex as a fleet grows.