In her role at United Road, Rhea Kuntz heads up operations in the National Sales Center.  

United Road debuted the NSC in 2011, and it manages of hundreds of thousands of remarketed vehicle transports each year throughout the U.S. and Canada.

In 1989, Kuntz — a 2016 Women in Remarketing honoree — joined MPG Transport, which eventually became part of United Road during the latter’s founding.

When asked about her path to the car business, Kuntz said: “In 1989, I was working for a truck leasing company that a predecessor company of United Road utilized. They recruited me to car haul and I haven’t looked back since, performing multiple roles in administration, process improvement, customer service, carrier management and dispatch, among others.”

She added: “The entry was accidental, but car hauling gets in your blood. I’m from Indiana, but once in Detroit, it was easy to recognize that there was something very special about this industry. Great people. Great cars. Great opportunity.”

One of the opportunities that Kuntz has enjoyed has been mentoring the new generation of auto industry professionals. When asked about the advice she would give to folks looking to become leaders in the auto industry, she encourages them to learn, listen and be curious.

“Be willing to sacrifice and invest in your team, your customers and your company and love what you do,” she added. “The rewards will follow.”

Mentorship itself has been rewarding for her.

“Sharing what I’ve experienced to help mold the future leaders of our company is maybe the most rewarding of all. It’s a lot of fun and very complex — especially the evolving use of technology in logistics,” she said.

“I’m fortunate to work for a company that continues to invest heavily in tech advancements, patenting its own proprietary operating systems and continuously leading the logistics industry in new applications and efficiencies,” Kuntz added. “We’ve had the capacity to be fully paperless for 10 years, for instance, though many competitors are still catching up.”

Speaking of technology, that has been the biggest area of change, by far, that Kuntz said she has seen in the area of the car business in which she works.

“When I started everything was done manually,” she said. “Now we move 3 million cars per year throughout the U.S. and Canada, have real-time visibility, great load building efficiencies, can handle a move 100-percent electronically and are still making advancements.  Who knows what’s around the corner?”

In the rare opportunity she gets to step away the work, Kuntz enjoys gardening, spending time with the family and getting outdoors. 

Check out the April 15 edition of Auto Remarketing to learn more about the entire class of 2016 Women in Remarketing honorees.

These outstanding leaders will be honored at Used Car Week 2016, where we will be launching our National Remarketing Conference partnership with the National Auto Auction Association.

Used Car Week is scheduled for Nov. 14-18 at the Red Rock in Las Vegas.