• September 30 - October 2, 2024
  • Inland Distribution
  • September 29 - October 1, 2025 | The Westin Chicago River North

Tony Apa

Mark-It Express

President and Owner

Tony Jr grew up in the transportation industry working for the family business. When he was old enough to drive he was given a job working in the warehouse loading and unloading trucks. Then when he turned 18, he obtained his CDL license and started to drive straight trucks on regional delivery routes for some house accounts such as Temple Inland and US Food Service. Tony then went off to college at Western Michigan University where he walked on to the football team and later earned a scholarship. Tony obtained a degree in Integrated Supply Matrix Management. This was a cross degree between the business school and the engineering school with an emphasis on supply chain, logistics, and process improvement management. After college, Tony went to work inside the office of the family business. He started out as a dispatcher working his way up to Vice President helping the company grow revenue 400% in 4 years. He then helped construct the deal that led to the sale of Fore Transportation INC. After the sale, he took a position as Branch Manager for the Chicago office of Roadlink USA, the nation’s largest Intermodal Drayage provider. After working for Roadlink for about 8 months, he realized that working in the corporate environment is not where he fit. He saw the opportunity to partner up with Justin Nelson and open a 3rd Party Logistics Management Firm called Mark-It Express LLC.

Sessions With Tony Apa

Tuesday, 1 October

  • 01:45pm - 02:30pm (CST) / 01/oct/2024 06:45 pm - 01/oct/2024 07:30 pm

    Inland24 Think Tank I: Chicago
    International intermodal volume has grown double digits compared with a year ago. While there have been issues frustrating drivers in certain Chicago, Dallas, and Memphis-area terminals, none have arisen to the level of congestion and gridlock three years ago. Is this a function of railroads, chassis lessors, and BCOs fixing the core issues that plagued the industry previously? Was the worst of the gridlock a one-off result of insufficient labor during a health crisis to keep inventory moving, which in turn caused chassis pools to run out of equipment and gridlock rail and marine terminals? Or are there larger issues that the railroads and chassis providers have not yet addressed? And what about communication: do you feel the BCOs, chassis providers, truckers, and railroads communicate well, or is there room for improvement? Has the FLOW initiative from the US Department of Transportation helped in any way? The think tanks are an opportunity for Inland attendees to actively participate in the discussion. What is said in the room stays in the room. Share your concerns and opinions about the flow of ocean cargo inland to Chicago, Dallas, or Memphis and also take time to meet with the Class I railroads.
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