eff Ice loves logistics . And yet he ’ s never delivered a package or hired a dispatcher . But for the last 30 + years he ’ s immersed himself in it . “ I ’ ve been involved because I liked the industry . I like the folks in it . They ’ re fun . They ’ re entrepreneurs with a capital E . And they were misunderstood by the insurance industry way back when I started to get involved with them . Once I realized how misunderstood these carriers were I made it my business to learn all I could about their business . They realized that that I understood them , and together we were all successful ,” he says .
Jeff ’ s industry is insurance , which makes his induction into the CLDA Hall of Fame remarkable . “ I ’ m an insurance guy so that makes this award even more meaningful because I think I ’ m the only non-delivery person who ’ s ever been inducted ,” he says .
He ’ s right . The 2023 Hall of Fame winner is , indeed , the first person in the award ’ s 30-year history to come from outside the industry . “ Jeff Ice was chosen because he has been a pillar in our industry for upwards of 30 years ,” says Final Mile Forum chair Thomas Jowers . “ He has been a voice of reason , a friend , and a mentor to many of the people in the industry and is always willing to lend a hand where needed . We felt that his contributions to the industry warranted recognition . He may not be a final-mile provider , but he ’ s an important part of our world .”
It Started with a Game of Golf
Jeff can pinpoint the day he first became intrigued by the logistics sector . “ I was invited to play golf by my CPA in April of 1988 . And one of the other members of the foursome was the owner of Quicksilver Messenger in Cleveland ,” he recalls . “ He asked if I did commercial auto insurance . I said , yes and we met later that week in his office . We really got along so he asked me if I would go to the second meeting of a new association , he was part of called the Messenger and Courier Association of America ( CLDA ’ s predecessor ). I went to the meeting in Tampa , and it was a great experience . I met a whole bunch of people , and it became very clear to me that these guys were misunderstood by the insurance industry . They were looking at these couriers for underwriting purposes as if they were truckers . I realized they weren ’ t truckers . They were a much more creative and varied bunch of people . Their customers would say , ’ Can you do this ?’ And they would say , ‘ I ’ ll figure out . I ’ ll get it done .’”
After the conference , Jeff visited several courier companies around the country and did several phone interviews to get a more solid profile of the industry . “ When I came back , I felt I had a good handle on this sector ,” he says . “ Armed with that , I went to the insurance carriers I worked with to create insurance products suited to the courier industry . In our first few years working with couriers , we did things like cargo insurance , dishonesty bonding and some auto policies .”
spring 2023 I customized logistics & delivery Magazine 55