Shipping technology startup Flock Freight, which is expanding its new Encinitas headquarters, recently announced the hiring of a chief strategy officer.

Chris Pickett joins the company after serving chief strategy officer at Coyote Logistics, according to a Flock Freight news release June 23. Pickett will work from Flock Freight’s new Chicago office in Fulton Market’s accelerating tech hub, which houses other major technology companies such as Google, Instacart and TikTok.

Flock Freight, founded in 2015, utilizes algorithms to pool shipments and fill trucks at scale for more efficient service for shippers and increased revenue for carriers, the company explained in a news release. The shared-truckload concept eliminates terminals and has carbon-neutral shipping benefits.

“Attracting the likes of Chris, who could truly attain any position in the freight industry, demonstrates the trajectory of this business,” Flock Freight founder and CEO Oren Zaslansky said in the news release. “His experience watching the genesis of technology in freight coupled with his enthusiasm for our model will sharpen our focus on growth in the years to come.”

Pickett, who joined Coyote Logistics’ leadership team not long after its founding in 2006, cited Flock Freight’s combination of technology and talent as among the Encinitas-based company’s strengths.

“As I have gotten to know the Flock Freight team, I’ve been blown away by the technology solution they have brought to market, the talent they have assembled across every corner of the organization, and the mission that aligns it all,” Pickett said in Flock Freight’s news release. “I know how difficult it is to execute shared truckload at scale — both mathematically and operationally, and Flock Freight has solved it, period.”

Flock Freight was based in Solana Beach before moving its headquarters to Encinitas.

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