Meet The Team

Eric is Chairman & CEO of FTR, the industry leader in freight transportation forecasting. Eric has spent his entire career in the freight transportation sector and is a leading researcher in freight modal share analysis and forecasting. His background includes research in both rail and truck freight movements and asset equipment purchases. He is currently one of the premier industry forecasters on transportation equipment demand for rail cars, commercial trucks and trailers.

Eric is a frequent speaker at Wall Street analyst meetings, association events, and private meetings. He has a unique ability to communicate to his audiences how the economy, logistics, freight, and equipment demand impacts their respective business. He is an active member of the transportation community, former board member for NITL, and was instrumental in the creation of the Indiana University Transportation Board.

Eric holds a BS in Finance from Indiana University and is married and resides in Bloomington, Ind. with his wife Shannon and four children (all boys) who keep them busy. As an avid athlete, he enjoys participating in endurance sporting events that include swimming, biking and running. His most recent pursuit was a 1/2 Ironman triathlon.

Jami is the Chief of Staff at FTR. She joined the FTR team in 2016 after having spent over 13 years working for a non-profit organization focused on mental health issues. As Practice Manager for the non-profit, Jami was responsible for the operations, billing, and regulatory compliance. At FTR she is responsible for managing FTR's company financial accounts, contracting and administrative team.

Jami and her husband, Matt, have lived in Bloomington for over 15 years where they enjoy spending time with their two boys, Joe and Roger.  They spend as much time outside as they can on their motorcycles, swimming, and enjoying all that Bloomington has to offer.

Jon is the Chief Intelligence Officer at FTR. He has spent his entire career in the freight transportation sector having joined FTR in 2001. Jon's expertise includes freight modeling, modal analysis, fleet characteristics, and equipment demand. He is directly responsible for producing FTR's Freight-cast transportation model, producing more than 13 million datapoints and 85,000 forecasted items each and every month.

In addition to his work on freight analysis he assists with forecasting the equipment markets, dealing with the demand outlook for medium-duty trucks, heavy-duty trucks, and freight railcars. He is the secondary developer of FTR's Economically Derived Demand model for medium-duty trucks (founder Ed Graham's initial work was vital to the process). Jon is also a regular presenter at FTR's Annual Freight Transportation Conference and at company meetings and industry events.

Jon graduated from Marian University with his BA degree in Business Administration. He currently resides in Bedford, Ind. with his wife, Amanda, and their daughters, Ashley, Addison and Abigail.

Helen is Vice President, Client Services with FTR. She came to FTR in the spring of 2007. Helen spent most of her career working in the insurance industry as a manager and contract negotiator. At FTR she is responsible for developing and leading FTR's renewal and customer service operations.

Helen graduated from the University of Northern Iowa business school with BS degree in Business Management with an emphasis in Human Resources. She currently resides in Tallahassee, Florida with her husband Jim, and their children Andrew and Jillian.



 

Avery is the Vice President of Trucking at FTR. He has closely studied the transportation industry for more than 30 years as an editor, analyst, and researcher, including more than 20 years dedicated to the trucking industry. Avery served as executive director of trucking research and analysis for Randall-Reilly from 2011 to 2013 after a decade as the chief editor of that company’s Commercial Carrier Journal, a leading industry journal for trucking executives. Before joining FTR in 2017, Avery held several positions related to the trucking industry including manager of public relations for Volvo Trucks in North America and principal of his own consulting and market research practice, TransAdvise.

During his time leading CCJ, Avery reported on economic and financial trends affecting the trucking industry. Among his accomplishments at Randall-Reilly were conceiving of and spearheading the initial development of the company’s RigDig Business Intelligence offering and managing the annual CCJ Top 250 ranking of North American for-hire trucking companies. Before joining Randall-Reilly in 1998, Avery spent 13 years at McGraw-Hill in Washington, D.C., covering the commercial aviation industry. 

Avery is a graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He and his wife Julie have three children.

Don is Vice President, Commercial Vehicles at FTR. Don has more than 20 years of experience in the transportation industry, including 16 years with industry supplier Hendrickson International. Don has a very strong forecasting and market analysis background. While at Hendrickson Don developed forecasting models, methods and processes to accurately forecast Truck and Trailer builds and product demand. Don wrote an industry economic newsletter and gained a reputation as a top industry analyst. His industry supplier background provides a "customer perspective" now that he is with FTR.

Don is responsible for forecasting class 8 truck and trailer demand. He will also provide analysis and commentary on the commercial equipment industry and the economy. Don has taught economics courses at Indiana Wesleyan University (Cleveland, Ohio campus) and master’s level marketing courses at both Indiana Wesleyan and Walsh University. He has also been a frequent guest lecturer at the University of Akron. From 2009-2013, Don wrote an economic blog, Model T Stock Trends, which gained a worldwide readership.

Don has a BSBA. and an MBA in Marketing from the University of Akron. He resides in North Canton, Ohio, with his wife Dawn. He writes a humor blog and plays tennis in his spare time.

Todd Tranausky is the Vice President of Rail & Intermodal for FTR. Within the FTR team of experts, he is responsible for providing commentary and data analysis and forecasts for the FTR freight focused reports: Intermodal Dash, Rail Update, and Shippers Update report. He also plays a key role in producing our State of Freight Insights reports and the FTR Rail Equipment Outlook and Rail Closer Look Series.

Prior to FTR, he was the North American transportation editor for Argus Media, responsible for overseeing the quality of transportation reports and leading the company’s new product development in this area. Before he was promoted in January 2015, he was responsible for editing the weekly Argus Coal Transportation newsletter along with overseeing the Argus Rail Business publication that focuses on rail and shipper dynamics, critical rate data, rail costs, and regulatory and operational issues in the rail industry. Todd also assessed rail and barge rates for the movement of petroleum products for the Argus Petroleum Transportation Report.

A Philadelphia native and diehard Philadelphia sports fan, he graduated Temple University with dual degrees in history and journalism. Todd has also worked as a sports reporter covering double-A baseball in New Jersey before joining Argus.

Melissa is the Events Manager with FTR. She joined our team at the end of 2015, after spending almost 10 years at Indiana University’s School of Public Health, managing events, finances, and day-to-day operations for the Office of Development and Communications. At FTR, she is responsible for managing FTR's annual Transportation Conference, FTR webinars, and other events.  

Melissa currently resides in Bloomintgton, IN along with her husband Matt and their two children, Ryan and Emma. She enjoys spending time with her family, reading anytime she gets a chance, and living close to Indiana University campus with all that it offers.

Derek is the Business Development Manager at FTR. He came to FTR in 2019 from a fast-paced position with a top-tier supplier to the North American On-Highway MD/HD Truck Market. In that role, he was responsible for managing the supply chain relationship for three top NA On-Highway equipment manufacturers. Through the course of his career and entrepreneurial pursuits, he has experience creating and executing strategic business plans as well as sales force training and development. He is responsible for leading and developing the strategic sales plan for FTR as well as focusing on growing the sales organization.

Derek resides in Columbus, Indiana with his wife and two daughters. He enjoys the game of golf, which he used to play fairly well, when he isn’t toting his kids around to soccer or volleyball tournaments or filling in at his wife’s business.

Mike joined the FTR team in October of 2021 as Business Development & Onboarding Representative. Prior to coming to FTR, he spent 16 years teaching high school mathematics, the last twelve at nearby Martinsville High School. He relies on his teaching experience when it comes to onboarding new FTR clients, working to make sure they have a positive experience.
 
Mike lives in Bloomington, IN with his wife Natalie and their sons Nicklas and Seeger. He enjoys traveling, taking in Indiana University athletic events, attending concerts, and days on the lake with family and friends.

Tana Hellwig joined the Customer Relations Team at FTR in December 2016. Tana has 10 years of experience working in Human Resources. Her previous experience includes work with several non-profit organizations in Bloomington, IN.  

Tana has a BS in Management from St. Cloud State University. She moved to Bloomington in 2009 with her husband, Tim, and their two children, Claire and Owen. She and her family enjoy hiking in the nearby State Parks. She continues to be active in advocacy with several local non-profit agencies.



 

Erick joined the FTR team in August of 2019 and holds the role of Data Engineer where he is responsible for collecting and organizing existing and new data for FTR. Acquiring this data is vital to create FTR's service packages for our clients and also helps our Subject Matter Experts understand what is happening in the industry. In addition, Erick works closely with our Data and System Manager to complete internal and external projects.

Erick joined FTR shortly after graduating from Indiana University where he received a B.S. in Informatics with a concentration in Business. During his time as an undergrad, he volunteered for non-profit organizations such as Girls Inc. and The Boys and Girls Club. While volunteering for these organizations he coordinated technology-driven activities that introduced children of various ages to programming. Erick is from Acapulco Mexico but was raised in East Chicago, IN most of his life, and now resides in Bloomington, Indiana. During his free time, he enjoys playing sports, being outdoors, and spending time with his family and friends.

Michael leads FTR's Marketing Technology solutions. He is currently focused on the integration of marketing and sales software (from marketing automation to CRM to Accounts Receivable), as well as the reporting and visualization of this data to enhance internal and external communications and improve strategic planning. Michael also defines and builds out the automation rules and processes which move prospects and customers through the appropriate pipeline.

Entrepreneurial in spirit, Michael has successfully led brand management, graphic design, and overall marketing operations for several targeted sectors. 

Michael is a proud RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer) after having served for three years at a Deaf school in Kenya. He frequently presents on Kenya and the Peace Corps to students. 

Michael received his BA in Communications from Marian University, and his MA in Global & International Studies from UC Santa Barbara.

Sharon is the Office Manager and Executive assistant. She came part of the FTR team in 2015 as an Executive Assistant, and along the way has become the responsible for the accounts receivable and accounts payable, which was what she did prior to moving to Indiana. Formally a New Jersey resident, Sharon enjoyed working in accounts receivable. Sharon has lived in Bloomington with her husband Mike and their 2 kids, Gillian and Jacob over 15 years.

Jennifer is the Human Resource & Office Assistant.  She is highly organized, self-motivated and eager to learn new skills to enable the success of FTR.  She is always seeking efficient methods to manage the numerous behind the scenes operations to make payroll, benefits, and other projects run smoothly.

Jennifer enjoys spending time with her husband and three children, learning new things, and designing and building robotic and other creative projects with her husband. She also enjoys taking frequent walks, especially when surrounded by nature.

Mike has been with FTR since 1997 and has been instrumental in transforming FTR into the premier forecasting firm in the country. He is chiefly concerned with tracking and forecasting freight volumes at the commodity level. In connection with this work, he closely follows activity in a number of critical industries.

Mike also oversees our economic forecasts as well as our industrial production forecasting process. Working closely with Ed Graham, Mr. Tryon built the current freight model and designed the commodities database which drives it. He maintains the freight model, its associated databases, and other critical software.

Before joining FTR, Mr. Tryon retired from a 30 year career with the U.S. Navy where he worked as a Computer Engineer and Systems Analyst. He has a BS in Mathematics from Indiana University.

Steve is one of the premier analysts in the transportation equipment industry. On a monthly basis Steve tracks and analyzes in detail the trailer and heavy-duty truck industry. His insight into these two industries is unmatched.

Aside from the previous two sectors, he is also instrumental helping our customers analyze the economy and its impact on transportation and transportation equipment. Steve attended Ball State University and joined FTR in 1991.

Eric Starks is Chairman and CEO of FTR, the industry leader in freight transportation forecasting. Eric has spent his entire career in the freight transportation sector and is a leading researcher in freight modal share analysis and forecasting. His background includes research in both rail and truck freight movements and asset equipment purchases. He is currently one of the premier industry forecasters on transportation equipment demand for rail cars, commercial trucks and trailers.

Eric is a frequent speaker at Wall Street analyst meetings, association events, and private meetings. He has a unique ability to communicate to his audiences how the economy, logistics, freight, and equipment demand impacts their respective business. He is an active member of the transportation community, former board member for NITL, and was instrumental in the creation of the Indiana University Transportation Board.

Eric holds a BS in Finance from Indiana University and is married and resides in Bloomington, Ind. with his wife Shannon and four children (all boys) who keep them busy. As an avid athlete, he enjoys participating in endurance sporting events that include swimming, biking and running. His most recent pursuit was a 1/2 Ironman triathlon.

Avery is the Vice President of Trucking at FTR. He has closely studied the transportation industry for more than 30 years as an editor, analyst, and researcher, including more than 20 years dedicated to the trucking industry. Avery served as executive director of trucking research and analysis for Randall-Reilly from 2011 to 2013 after a decade as the chief editor of that company’s Commercial Carrier Journal, a leading industry journal for trucking executives. Before joining FTR in 2017, Avery held several positions related to the trucking industry including manager of public relations for Volvo Trucks in North America and principal of his own consulting and market research practice, TransAdvise.

During his time leading CCJ, Avery reported on economic and financial trends affecting the trucking industry. Among his accomplishments at Randall-Reilly were conceiving of and spearheading the initial development of the company’s RigDig Business Intelligence offering and managing the annual CCJ Top 250 ranking of North American for-hire trucking companies. Before joining Randall-Reilly in 1998, Avery spent 13 years at McGraw-Hill in Washington, D.C., covering the commercial aviation industry. 

Avery is a graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He and his wife Julie have three children.

Don is Vice President, Commercial Vehicles at FTR. Don has more than 20 years of experience in the transportation industry, including 16 years with industry supplier Hendrickson International. Don has a very strong forecasting and market analysis background. While at Hendrickson Don developed forecasting models, methods and processes to accurately forecast Truck and Trailer builds and product demand. Don wrote an industry economic newsletter and gained a reputation as a top industry analyst. His industry supplier background provides a "customer perspective" now that he is with FTR.

Don is responsible for forecasting class 8 truck and trailer demand. He will also provide analysis and commentary on the commercial equipment industry and the economy. Don has taught economics courses at Indiana Wesleyan University (Cleveland, Ohio campus) and master’s level marketing courses at both Indiana Wesleyan and Walsh University. He has also been a frequent guest lecturer at the University of Akron. From 2009-2013, Don wrote an economic blog, Model T Stock Trends, which gained a worldwide readership.

Don has a BSBA. and an MBA in Marketing from the University of Akron. He resides in North Canton, Ohio, with his wife Dawn. He writes a humor blog and plays tennis in his spare time.

Todd Tranausky is the Vice President of Rail & Intermodal for FTR. Within the FTR team of experts, he is responsible for providing commentary and data analysis and forecasts for the FTR freight focused reports: Intermodal Dash, Rail Update, and Shippers Update report. He also plays a key role in producing our State of Freight Insights reports and the FTR Rail Equipment Outlook and Rail Closer Look Series.

Prior to FTR, he was the North American transportation editor for Argus Media, responsible for overseeing the quality of transportation reports and leading the company’s new product development in this area. Before he was promoted in January 2015, he was responsible for editing the weekly Argus Coal Transportation newsletter along with overseeing the Argus Rail Business publication that focuses on rail and shipper dynamics, critical rate data, rail costs, and regulatory and operational issues in the rail industry. Todd also assessed rail and barge rates for the movement of petroleum products for the Argus Petroleum Transportation Report.

A Philadelphia native and diehard Philadelphia sports fan, he graduated Temple University with dual degrees in history and journalism. Todd has also worked as a sports reporter covering double-A baseball in New Jersey before joining Argus.

Bill retired from teaching in the Department of Economics at Indiana University in Bloomington. For many years he was associated with the IU Center for Econometric Model Research, where he used large computer models to produce forecasts of the U.S. and Indiana economies. He continues to produce regular forecasts for the U.S. economy using a model that has about 300 variables.

He also continues to do academic research in the areas of macro and monetary economics. He has published work in these areas and also in open economy macroeconomics in a number of academic journals and edited volumes.

Witte has an MA degree in Political Science from Yale University and a Ph.D. degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin. Prior to graduate school he served as a line officer in the U.S. Navy. He joined the faculty at IU in 1980, following five years at Penn State.

Jon is the Chief Intelligence Officer at FTR. He has spent his entire career in the freight transportation sector having joined FTR in 2001. Jon's expertise includes freight modeling, modal analysis, fleet characteristics, and equipment demand. He is directly responsible for producing FTR's Freight-cast transportation model, producing more than 13 million datapoints and 85,000 forecasted items each and every month.

In addition to his work on freight analysis he assists with forecasting the equipment markets, dealing with the demand outlook for medium-duty trucks, heavy-duty trucks, and freight railcars. He is the secondary developer of FTR's Economically Derived Demand model for medium-duty trucks (founder Ed Graham's initial work was vital to the process). Jon is also a regular presenter at FTR's Annual Freight Transportation Conference and at company meetings and industry events.

Jon graduated from Marian University with his BA degree in Business Administration. He currently resides in Bedford, Ind. with his wife, Amanda, and their daughters, Ashley, Addison and Abigail.