Brent Hagen On Reliability Begins Before The Road

Reliability doesn’t start at the dock; it starts with the systems, culture, and visibility that shape every move long before a truck leaves the yard. We sit down with Brent Hagen, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Lob and former Amazon operations leader, to explore how standard work, bottoms-up ownership, and ruthless transparency turn daily chaos into dependable delivery. From running a 24/7 slice of a two-million-square-foot facility to redesigning Lob’s network without owning fixed assets, Brent shares the practices that help teams stay calm, move fast, and keep promises.Key Takeaways 👇 🟩 Reliability starts long before the truck moves—built through culture, systems, and visibility. 🟩 Standard work + bottoms-up ownership turn daily chaos into predictable performance. 🟩 Consolidating from 30 → ~10 manufacturing partners significantly improved quality and consistency. 🟩 The most reliable carriers offer predictable lanes, strong scan visibility, and accountable exception handling. 🟩 Lob builds Amazon-like speed without fixed assets by tightly integrating manufacturers, logistics partners, and USPS injections. 🟩 Leaders evolve by shifting from “fixer” to “builder of owners” and maintaining steady rituals across all shifts. 🟩 AI pays off today in dispatch intake, exception triage, lane forecasting, trailer utilization, and cost-to-serve modeling. 🟩 Tracking data is non-negotiable—“If you don’t track it, you can’t trust it.” 🟩 Tariffs, seasonality, and resilience planning remain central to dependable supply chain operations. 🟩 Brent supports STEM through the Science Center of Iowa to help grow the next generation of logistics innovators. Follow for more conversations at the edge of trucking, fulfillment, and technology. If this resonated, subscribe, share it with a colleague, and leave a review to help others find the show. Got a question or insight from your lane? Drop us a note—we’d love to hear it. Interested in being a guest on the podcast? Click here to join the conversation!Support the showNeed help finding the perfect truck seat? Let us find one for you! Call 269-692-5770, email: [email protected] ,or fill out form and use code TR104U.Get your Trucking Ray merch to show that you roll with Trucking Ray and That’s Delivered Podcast!  click: here