8 executive moves that will impact air cargo in 2019

CEVA’s hiring, restructuring spree

In a year that began with talk of Danish competitor DSV possibly taking over CEVA Logistics (which rejected the offer) and ended with a partnership with oceanfreight firm CMA CGM, its been a busy 2018 at the Swiss logistics firm. During this time, CEVA has also been active in hiring new people and reorganizing its various regional offices.

Its most recent move came yesterday, when CEVA appointed Gianclaudio Neri as managing director for its Italy cluster. Neri, who will be based in the Milan office, has more than 30 years’ worth of logistics experience, having worked across a variety of industries with a focus on turning around poorly performing businesses around.

In October, CEVA decided to merge its German and Eastern and Central European clusters, and appointed Guillaume Sauzedde, its former director for Eastern and Central Europe, to oversee the combined unit on Nov. 30. Formerly, Sauzedde worked for a decade at Kuehne + Nagel as the managing director for K+N’s Poland operations. By combining the units, CEVA said it plans “to accelerate growth in contract logistics, freight management air, ocean and ground.”

Meanwhile, the former managing director of Germany, Christian Wurst, left to join Panalpina and will become CEO of its Europe region in February (see below).

In one of the first moves influenced by the CMA CGM deal with CEVA, the company replaced its previous CFO, Peter Waller, in October with CMA CGM’s Serge Corbel, former CFO of the ocean carrier’s APL business. CEVA described Corbel as one of the “key financial architects of the growth of CMA CGM, leading several acquisitions and integrations.”

Other CEVA moves in the second half of 2018 include the appointment of Milton Pimenta as managing director of its Australia and New Zealand logistics cluster, moving him sometime this month from his current position as CEVA’s head of contract logistics in South America. Back in June, CEVA also hired Terry Carter, former president of Graebel Van Lines, as senior vice president of transportation contract logistics. Carter also worked in various roles for Brown Integrated Logistics, DHL Express and FedEx.