Karen L. Ristau

Houston, TX adjeew@r.postjobfree.com 281-***-**** linkedin.com/in/karen-ristau-5b59b252

Director of Transportation

Top-performing Director of Transportation with extensive experience in logistics coordination and supply chain management. Highly skilled in spearheading cross-functional teams through all facets of daily operations, ensuring adherence to overarching strategies, policies, procedures, and best practices. Proven ability in evaluating existing operations to identify inefficiencies and redundancies, innovating process improvements to optimize workflow, maintain internal controls, and drive profit growth. Recognized for maintaining working knowledge of industry regulations and organizational objectives to curate effective strategies for goal achievement whilst ensuring compliance. Foster continuous performance improvement through collaboration and communication, as well as administration of professional development initiatives, cultivating a robust internal talent pipeline. Core Competencies include:

Transportation Operations Management Logistics & Supply Chain Management Process Improvement

Cross-Functional Collaboration Regulatory Compliance Leadership

PROFESSONAL EXPERIENCE

Victory Packaging (Division of WestRock), Houston, TX August 2012 – November 2020

DOT Manager, WestRock, 2020

Fleet Safety Manager, Victory Packaging, 2012 – 2020

Directed all facets of daily operations, ensuring adherence to safety protocol and strategies. Evaluate safety reporting and trends, systems, and tools, to outline on-going improvement initiatives.

Maintained Fleet Management Program in reporting processes.

Identified company-wide needs to source and implement training initiatives. Investigate major incidents, conducting root-cause analysis to determine issues and implement prevention strategies; outline effective investigation protocol for streamlined processes.

Liaised with FMCSA and OSHA auditors, as needed.

Contributed to safety audits and submit written reports containing results and correction actions.

Monitored Drug and Alcohol Testing program to ensure employee compliance with organizational and legal requirements.

Evaluated company assets to ensure compliance with Federal and State regulations, including EPCRA filings and inspections.

Collaborated with HR teams to manage employee performance.

Standardized internal policies, procedures, and best practices and enforced FMCSA and OSHA compliance programs.

Maintained accountability for equipment and physical assets valued at $50M+.

Negotiated vendor contracts for services, cultivating cost savings while maintaining quality.

Rolled-out Freight Management System, including carrier review, freight investigations and audits, trend analysis, corrective actions, and drive continuous improvement.

Reported all IFTA mileage to leasing companies to facilitate monthly filings.

Goodman Global Inc., Houston, TX May 2007 – Aug 2012

DOT/Safety Coordinator

Spearheaded a team of 1K+ employees in daily operations, fostering safe and compliant operations whilst driving continuous cost savings initiatives.

Maintained detailed records in centralized database to facilitate reporting, reconciliation, and process improvement programs.

Administered online and in-person training programs to enhance employee performance and achievement of objectives.

Monitored employee activity for fraud and supported investigation and prosecution processes.

KAREN RISTAU PAGE TWO

Maintained accountability for $11M+ in company assets.

Established two separate FMCSA compliance programs; maintained all driver documentation, drug and alcohol testing, accident register, FMCSA audits, and hours of service management.

Identified and implemented strategies to continuously reduce business costs and compiled metrics on cost savings and asset utilization.

Published weekly and monthly company-wide newsletters.

Rolled-out company-wide safety programs.

Created, processed, and maintained OSHA 300 records for over 170 locations.

ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

AmeriGas/PTI

Transportation Coordinator

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Mathematics and Economics

Luther College, Decorah, IA

Effective Public Speaking Course

Rice University Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, Houston, TX

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Certifications & Professional Development

30-Hour OSHA Compliance

University of Texas San Antonio

Motor Fleet Safety

North America Transportation Management Institute

Managing Motor Fleet Safety Programs

North America Transportation Management Institute

Innovative Driver Retention Strategies

North America Transportation Management Institute

Managing DOT Compliance

Smith Systems

Advanced DOT Compliance

Smith Systems

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