Meet OGC Transportation Support Lead Charles Woodruff
An honoree of SmartDrive’s “Everyday Heroes in Transportation”
At OGC, like so many companies on a mission, we often refer to our “why”. Bringing Organic Produce to the People is what gets us out of bed in the morning, and sustains us throughout the day. The satisfaction of cultivating a relationship with a grower, reveling in food coaxed from the dirt, and imagining it on a customer’s plate is worth waxing poetic.
We cannot speak to achieving our why, without acknowledging “how” and the integral co-workers that make OGC a leader in the organic revolution.
Our fleet of OGC drivers and the teams that support them sew the connection between grower, warehouse, and grocer. From pick-ups on farms to unloading at customers’ backdoors and the miles of road traveled in between, their work demands a symphony of coordinated effort and expertise.
With years of driving under his belt, Charles Woodruff joined our Transportation Team in 2014. Traversing highways, small country roads, through docks, and into produce departments, Charles has clocked a lot of miles, and shaken hands with so many of the partners that compose OGC’s community of organic enthusiasts.
In 2015 Charles moved from behind the wheel of his rig and into a logistics role as OGC’s Transportation Support Lead. This multifaceted position, which draws from his expertise as a driver, supports the Transportation Team by dispatching complex schedules, backhaul coordination and collaboration with freight partners. Paramount to this role is ensuring the efficiency and accuracy of OGC’s freight program.
Curious to learn more about a role that so few of us get to experience, we asked Charles to join us for a Q&A and he kindly obliged…
Q: Since transitioning out of a driver position, what do you miss most about being on the road?
A: I always felt at home on the road. My route was primarily between Portland and Seattle which has a lot of what we call “windshield time” without a lot of deliveries. I miss that. That windshield time was enjoyable for me.
Q: What excites you most about your role in Logistics?
A: I take a great deal of pride in the work that I do. I strive to make improvements. I’m very detail-oriented and numbers-driven, so I make charts and proposals and cost-benefit analyses. I like diving into the numbers and figuring out where we can do better.
Q: What’s most interesting to you about working in the organic industry?
A: I like seeing the new varietals. That’s something you don’t see as much when working with conventional produce. In organic, there’s always new stuff that’s coming to market, and it’s always improving. In conventional produce, you might deliver just Honeycrisp apples, but our farmers have 20 different varieties and are always outdoing themselves.
While Charles will humbly downplay a recent accolade, OGC is proud to celebrate him as a recipient of SmartDrive’s “Everyday Heroes in Transportation” recognition. Click here to read more about Charles’ admirable response to the challenges our industry faces amongst the COVID 19 crisis.
Hats off to you, Charles! We’re overjoyed to work alongside you!