Daseke has appointed Chris Easter, former Interim CEO, as permanent CEO. Easter has also become a member of the board of directors. He began his career at the open-deck-focused motor carrier as its COO in early 2019 and assumed the role of interim CEO in August, when Don Daseke stepped down.

“Over the last six months, Chris acted with a clear sense of urgency to implement immediate change and transformation by significantly accelerating and expanding his previously announced operational and cost initiatives,” said Brian Bonner, executive chairman. “He then created a new leadership structure to better leverage the talent at our operating units and rallied our team around our new operational/cost goals, which allowed us to deliver strong financial performance in the face of soft market conditions.” 

Easter’s background includes more than 30 years of operational leadership serving in key transportation and logistics roles with the United States Army, Walmart and Schneider National. From 2012 to 2017, he served as CEO of Keen Transport, a specialized transportation, warehouse, and logistics company focused on serving the industrial equipment market. During more than a decade with Walmart, he was responsible for overseeing the transportation of goods from around the world.

“I am very fortunate to work alongside a team of leaders who are the best operators in our industry,” said Easter. “As we look forward, we believe it is critically important to keep this work simple and execute aggressively.” 

Easter also graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point; he then served with distinction in the U.S. Army, where he was a leader in heavy machinery logistics. Easter was awarded the Bronze Star during Operation Desert Storm.