ORDER RECEIVED / 14:18:02
Information arrives faster than the operation can structure it.
People become the integration layer between tenders, emails, calls, and customer requirements.
Transportation. Connected.
Operator led / Vendor neutral
TURN AI HYPE
INTO OPERATING
ADVANTAGE.
Better decisions. Controlled execution.
A stronger operation beneath both.
CONNECTED OPERATIONS / NORTH AMERICA & BEYOND
DRAG TO EXPLORE
THE OPERATION COMES FIRST
Make technology work.
Make the business stronger.
Gaugepoint helps transportation and supply chain leaders determine where probabilistic AI can improve decisions, where deterministic logic should control execution, and what must be redesigned before either will work.
Together, we find the workflows where AI can create measurable value.
Start a conversation01 / TECHNOLOGY JUDGMENT
THE RIGHT TECHNOLOGY.
THE RIGHT WORKFLOW.
Gaugepoint helps leaders distinguish an AI opportunity from a process, management, or systems problem. The answer may be probabilistic AI, deterministic automation, business-process redesign, or another technology better suited to the work.
We teach leaders
when not to use AI.
- The process is unstable.
Structure the work first.
- The decision requires accountable judgment.
Improve the evidence, not remove the owner.
- The data cannot support a dependable result.
Fix the operating foundation.
- The economics do not justify the change.
Choose the simplest useful intervention.
02 / BEFORE AI
MAKE THE WORK VISIBLE.
THEN MAKE IT INTELLIGENT.
Transportation work already moves through a system of inboxes, spreadsheets, calls, and operating platforms. Exceptions reveal whether that system is ready.
03 / THE GAUGEPOINT AI READINESS SYSTEM
SEVEN CONDITIONS.
ONE OPERATING SYSTEM.
Readiness is the alignment required to produce measurable Value, not a technology score.
STRATEGY
A defined business problem comes first.
Clarify the operating outcome, executive ownership, and evidence that will define success before selecting a tool.
Explore the AI Readiness Assessment04 / OUR EXPERTISE
BUSINESS FIRST.
TECHNOLOGY IN SERVICE.
Independent advisory connecting AI readiness, workflow design, vital stakeholders, operating controls, financial logic, and accountable implementation.
01
AI readiness
Identify where value exists, what must change first, and how to proceed responsibly.
↗︎ 02Operating transformation
Modernize fragmented operations into scalable, accountable, and commercially stronger businesses.
↗︎ 03Business process outsourcing
Connect process design, clear ownership, operating controls, and an accountable delivery model.
↗︎ 04Commercial strategy
Bring transportation experience to sourcing, network growth, commercial choices, and freight-market decisions.
↗︎ 05AI-native development
Build business-owned custom software shaped around your workflows, with Gaugepoint’s development expertise and technical oversight.
↗︎05 / WHO GAUGEPOINT WORKS WITH
BUILT FOR THE OPERATIONS
THAT MOVE FREIGHT.
Choose a segment to see where AI readiness and operating transformation create practical value.
AI-FIRST ADVISORY
Fleets
Apply AI to fleet planning, asset utilization, operating decisions and scalable exception management.
- AI workflow design
- Asset utilization
- Network performance
06 / AI IN THE FLOW OF TRANSPORTATION
FROM OPERATING SIGNAL
TO OWNED ACTION.
Observe. Understand. Coordinate. Act. One operating sequence, with the evidence and authority visible.
OBSERVE
Turn a physical event into a trusted workflow event.
Detect the arrival, verify the equipment, record the condition, and preserve a path to qualified review.
TRAILER 4821 / CAMERA 03
ARRIVAL DETECTED →︎ EQUIPMENT ID VERIFIED →︎ WORKFLOW UPDATED
UNDERSTAND
Make the reasoning visible.
Reconcile the appointment, current ETA, and customer threshold into one evidence-backed conclusion.
TENDERDelivery required 10:00
TMS STATUSUpdated ETA 10:42
CUSTOMER RULEEscalate beyond 30 min
OPERATING CONTEXT / 09:32:06
SERVICE RISK IDENTIFIED
42-minute projected delay. Threshold breached. Evidence attached.
COORDINATE
Turn stalled work into owned action.
Consolidate the evidence into one case, assign authority, and make elapsed time measurable.
EXCEPTION 0247 / 12 MIN ELAPSED
APPOINTMENT CONFLICT
- Owner
- Dispatch / Central Region
- Next action
- Confirm revised appointment
- Escalates at
- 20 minutes
- Status
- Owner assigned
CREATED →︎ ASSIGNED →︎ UPDATED →︎ ESCALATION CHECKED →︎ RESOLVED
ACT
Move only with explicit authority.
Probabilistic AI recommends. Deterministic controls govern execution. A qualified person authorizes; the decision and outcome are recorded.
07 / OPERATING TRANSFORMATION
SAME VOLUME.
VERY DIFFERENT RESULTS.
Growth creates leverage only when the operating model can absorb it without reproducing manual work.
08 / GOVERNANCE
AUTOMATE EXECUTION.
PRESERVE HUMAN CONTROL.
The system can recommend, coordinate, or execute only what the operation has deliberately authorized.
09 / INDUSTRY EVIDENCE
PRACTICAL APPLICATION.
OPERATING EVIDENCE.
Public examples connect technology choices to defined workflows and operating outcomes.
10 / SPEAKING AND MEDIA
A PRACTICAL VOICE
IN TRANSPORTATION.
Speaking, testimony, education, and commentary on AI in transportation, intermodal operations, rail service, freight markets, and operating strategy.
industry speaking appearances
media and publication contributions
Formal STB testimony and former IANA Operations Committee Chair
Transport Topics / Inbound Logistics / Food Logistics / Railway Age / IANA / Let's Talk Supply Chain
Mark McKendry has presented through the Intermodal Association of North America's Education On-Demand program on practical applications of AI in intermodal transportation. Session titles and topic summaries are provided for reference.
Explore speaking, education and media ↗︎11 / FREIGHT MARKET UPDATE
BETTER MARGINS WON'T FIX
UNDERLYING PROBLEMS.
The Freight Market Is Tightening. Is Your Operation Ready to Scale?
A better pricing environment can create breathing room. It does not automatically create a better operating model.
The useful operating question is narrower: if opportunity returns, can the business absorb more work without recreating the same manual effort, errors, and delays?
Read the Freight Market Update ↗︎12 / OPERATOR-LED ADVISORY
TRANSPORTATION EXPERIENCE FIRST.
AI APPLIED TO THE WORK.
As Founder and Principal of Gaugepoint Advisory, Mark McKendry leads a specialized supply chain consultancy driving business transformation. He advises organizations on AI readiness, operational efficiency, BPO, and commercial growth strategy.
He has spent more than two decades working across North American freight transportation, including approximately 15 years at a Class 1 railway and 10 years in senior leadership roles at a leading 3PL. His experience spans rail, intermodal, drayage, trucking, integrated logistics, commercial strategy, freight markets, network development, and operating transformation.
At the leading 3PL, Mark built the company's intermodal business from a small, relatively unknown division into an established and widely recognized North American offering. Under his leadership, the business grew more than twentyfold and developed into a scaled platform combining asset-based and non-asset transportation solutions.
He also led its Canadian Transportation organization, improving bottom-line performance by more than 400%. In another major transformation initiative, Mark designed and executed a full business-process outsourcing strategy for a national retailer that reduced transportation costs by 39%.
Throughout his career, Mark has held senior responsibility for complex transportation operations and has worked directly with the systems, customers, carriers, terminals, railroads, and operating teams that move freight across North America. His work has consistently focused on turning fragmented operations into scalable, accountable, and commercially stronger businesses.
He is a former Chair of the Intermodal Association of North America's Operations Committee and has been a frequent industry speaker, moderator, commentator, and contributor on intermodal strategy, rail service, freight markets, supply-chain resilience, public policy, cargo security, and practical AI adoption.
At Gaugepoint, Mark works with transportation leadership teams to identify where AI can create measurable value, assess whether the operation is ready to support it, and modernize the workflows, decision rights, systems, governance, and management routines beneath it.
About Mark and Gaugepoint ↗︎RAIL AND INTERMODALClass 1 railway
Approximately 15 years
INTEGRATED LOGISTICSLeading 3PL
10 years
AI READINESSGaugepoint
Operator led advisory
13 / START A CONVERSATION
READY TO USE AI.
OR ONLY READY TO BUY IT?
Bring an operating problem, a growth constraint, or an AI question. Identify where value exists, what must change first, and how to proceed responsibly.
mark.mckendry@gaugepointconsulting.com ↗︎
Start a Conversation AI readiness / Operating transformation
BPO / Commercial strategy