Senior Account Manager — Produce & Refrigerated Freight

Zelh is a fast-growing, passionate outsourcing company.

Our mission is to be the most reliable company by offering and maintaining high-quality services consistently.

We achieve the mission by fostering long-term relationships with customers, employees, and vendors. Personal attention, timely communication, and respect for all people are the basis of our business philosophy!

We are seeking a relationship-first Senior Account Manager to own and grow a portfolio of high-volume produce shippers moving refrigerated freight from South Texas to Midwest and East Coast distribution centers, ensuring consistent service, trust, and long-term account growth.

This role is built around one core principle:

Relationships win freight - not rates.

Rates fluctuate daily. Capacity changes hourly. But customers stay with brokers they trust.

Your job is not simply to quote or book loads - it is to become the trusted logistics partner that US shippers rely on for consistency, communication, and accountability.

You will work remotely, fully integrated with the South Texas team, aligned to US Central Time. The strength of this role is not physical presence - it is reliability, responsiveness, and relationship ownership.

What You’ll Do:

• Own and grow long-term relationships with US-based produce and refrigerated freight shippers

• Serve as the primary point of contact for assigned customer accounts

• Answer calls promptly and respond within the hour if unavailable — responsiveness is non-negotiable

• Proactively check in with customers before issues arise (not after they escalate)

• Manage freight execution from booking to delivery with full accountability

• Handle service failures directly and transparently — including late trucks, claims, and disruptions

• Communicate proactively with customers before they request updates

• Build relationships across multiple stakeholder levels:

  • Logistics managers

  • Dispatch coordinators

  • Receiving teams

  • AP / finance contacts

  • Night shift operations staff

• Conduct weekly account check-ins and business reviews

• Negotiate freight rates using DAT, internal market data, and carrier collaboration

• Expand existing accounts into new lanes and long-term partnerships

• Work closely with Carrier Sales teams to ensure capacity alignment with customer demand

• Defend committed lanes and grow wallet share through trust-based relationships

• Maintain accurate CRM/TMS documentation and communication logs

• 3+ years of experience in brokerage, 3PL, or freight account management

• Strong preference for produce reefer freight experience

• Understanding of refrigerated logistics fundamentals:

  • Temperature-controlled transportation

  • TVAL / trailer requirements

  • Temperature recorders

  • Time-sensitive perishables

• Ability to read and interpret:

  • Rate confirmations

  • Bills of lading (BOLs)

  • Lumper receipts

• Fluent business English (spoken + written)

  • Customer-facing communication with US shippers daily

  • Professional written communication required (no gaps, no errors, no ambiguity)

• Strong communication discipline:

  • Always returns calls

  • Never goes dark during issues

  • Proactively communicates problems before escalation

The highest performers in this role:

• Build trust over time, not transactions per load

• Remember names, details, and account history naturally

• Follow up without being prompted by systems

• Treat every load - large or small - with equal accountability

• Strengthen relationships with both shipper and carrier-side stakeholders

• Collaborate effectively with Carrier Sales as internal partners

• Expand accounts through trust, not aggressive pitching

• Become the “go-to broker” shippers rely on instinctively

Working conditions:

• Work schedule: Monday-Friday, 7 am - 5 pm CST

• A supportive team

• Competitive Salary in USD 

• Remote eligibility

• 10+ business days of paid time off

• Equipment provided

YOU answer the phone. Every time. If you can't, you call back within the hour - not the next day. Produce shippers operate on tight windows, and the broker who picks up wins the load.

YOU show up before you're needed. You're checking in on a Tuesday morning to see how the weekend's pulls went, not waiting until they call you with a problem. You know when their peak season hits, when they're slammed, when they need extra attention versus when to give them space.

YOU own the hard conversations. When a truck is late, you call the shipper before they call you. When a claim is filed, you don't hide behind email - you pick up the phone, take responsibility, and walk them through the fix. Customers don't remember the loads that went perfectly. They remember how you handled the ones that didn't.

YOU build relationships at every level. Not just the logistics manager - the dispatcher, the receiving clerk, the night-shift coordinator, the AP person who cuts your check.

YOU earn the right to grow the account. Wallet share doesn't come from asking "got any loads this week." It comes from being the broker the shipper trusts enough to hand a new lane to without bidding it out. That trust is built one interaction at a time, over months.

IF SO, JOIN our Zelh team and become an integral part of our mission to provide reliable and efficient freight transportation solutions to our customers.