IANA honors intermodal vet Brashares with 2021 Silver Kingpin Award

The Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) recently named longtime rail veteran and intermodal industry contributor Jeff Brashares the winner of its 2021 Silver Kingpin Award.

Launched in 1977, the award recognizes an individual’s longterm contributions to intermodalism. The director of domestic intermodal sourcing and operations for shipping company CMA CGM, Brashares will receive the award during IANA’s Intermodal EXPO to be held Sept. 12-14 in Long Beach, California.
 
He began his career more than 40 years ago at the Erie Lackawanna Railway and since has touched every operating division of the intermodal industry, including the intermodal marketing company and brokerage sectors, IANA officials said in a press release.

During an early stop in his career, Brashares gained recognition for converting truck freight to refrigerated box cars, IANA officials said. He later joined two partners to acquire Rail Van, a small third-party logistics firm they grew into a $550 million business. Rail Van was eventually bought by Pacer International, where Brashares became a senior executive.

More recently, he became a senior vice president at TTS — a brokerage business acquired by Sunteck in 2016 — and then joined CMA CGM.
 
Brashares has displayed an unwavering commitment to IANA and the intermodal industry, said IANA President and Chief Executive Officer Joni Casey.

“He served four terms on IANA’s board, chaired five committees and spearheaded countless education sessions at Intermodal EXPO,” said Casey. “We continue to be grateful for his contributions.”
 
Brashares is a member of the education committee for the Transportation Intermediaries Association, and he has taught logistics at the University of Maryland and Ohio State University.

Previous Silver Kingpin award winners include Marino Group President and Chief Executive Officer Vincent Marino; retired BNSF Railway Co. executive Steve Branscum; Consolidated Chassis Management LLC CEO Michael Wilson; American Trucking Associations Chairman David Manning; former Union Pacific Railroad VP of Intermodal Operations Barry Michaels; former Norfolk Southern Railway VP of Intermodal Robert Huffman; former CSX EVP and Chief Commercial Officer Clarence Gooden; former Florida East Coast Railway President and CEO James Hertwig; and Frank Richter, Progressive Railroading's co-founder who died in 2013.