Dave Pattelli
Founder, PreShiftIQ™ · 25+ years across operations, carrier sales, and transportation technology
I make decisions from a 360-degree view of the freight ecosystem, one that began on the dock. Having managed a major breakbulk operation, led carrier sales, and advised on enterprise SaaS, I bring a perspective most advisors simply do not have. PreShiftIQ™ was founded to serve as a fiduciary for the buyer, ensuring buy-side intent and sell-side reality are perfectly aligned before the contract is signed. And I did not stop at the idea: I designed and built the PreShiftIQ platform myself.
I've sat at every seat in the freight technology conversation: operator, seller, technologist. The vendor has done this 400 times; the buyer does it once every seven years. PreShiftIQ™ exists to close that gap, with respect for both sides of the table.
The Perspective That Makes This Work
Three decades, three vantage points. Each phase informs how I evaluate technology, vendors, and the gap between what is sold and what gets implemented.
Running the Dock
District Manager over a high-volume breakbulk and cross-dock operation alongside a P&D operation: managing the P&L, 54 driver and dock employees, supervisors, admin, and sales operations at scale. Continually recognized for operational excellence.
Selling Freight
Years in senior commercial roles with asset-based and non-asset carriers, selling LTL, TL, and specialized freight to shippers and 3PLs. Learned exactly what shippers need and what carriers struggle to deliver.
Selling Tech
Enterprise SaaS sales and strategic partnerships, bringing TMS, rate engines, and logistics platforms to the shippers and brokers I spent years serving on the carrier side. Built GTM strategy, closed landmark deals, and worked with 80+ technology vendors.
Then I Built It.
PreShiftIQ is not a thesis handed off to a development shop. It is a platform designed and built by the operator whose career it distills.
I designed and built the PreShiftIQ platform myself: the interview-validated vendor scorecards, the disqualification-first matching engine, and the immutable audit trail that records every scoring decision the platform makes. When the person who ran the dock is the same person who wrote the matching logic, the operator's judgment does not get diluted through layers of translation. It is carried all the way into the code, and the platform can prove it, decision by decision.
Four Vantage Points. One Translator.
A buyer-side advisor who can speak credibly to operators, sellers, and technologists alike, because each role was a chapter in the career.
I know what technology looks like from the dock
Having run a carrier terminal, I understand how a system performs under real operational pressure, not in a controlled demo. That ground-level experience shapes every assessment I conduct.
I know what shippers and brokers actually need
Years in carrier sales taught me the shipper's and broker's world from the outside: what they need from their transportation partners and where the gaps between expectation and execution typically emerge.
I know what a well-matched implementation looks like
Enterprise technology sales and strategic partnerships gave me the vendor's perspective: what they build, how they bring it to market, and what success looks like from their side of the table.
I know this market at a depth most advisors do not
Structured interviews with 80+ transportation technology companies, distilled into a platform I built myself, have given me a level of market depth that most buyers, and most advisors, simply do not have access to.
The Formal Foundation
Two graduate degrees, multiple certifications, active industry memberships, and recognized speaking engagements.
Graduate Degrees & Certifications
- Master of Business Administration (MBA), Benedictine University
- Master of Science, Management & Organizational Behavior, Benedictine University
- Six Sigma Black Belt
- Agile Leader Certification (Scrum)
- BSG Grand Champion, International Strategy Simulation (competed against top business schools worldwide)
Memberships & Speaking
Active participation in the industry organizations that set the standards, and on the stages where the conversations that move the market are happening.
Hear the Story
Dave joined the ShipTalkers podcast to talk freight, technology, and why the buyer's side of the table needs a fiduciary.
Prefer audio? Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
"Too much is at stake for a partnership to falter in the translation phase."
PreShiftIQ™ exists to ensure buy-side intent and sell-side reality are perfectly aligned. If you'd like a second set of eyes on the friction points in your operation, let's connect for a strategy session.
Free 45-Minute Consultation