XStream Trucking, which specializes in connected hardware for the commercial vehicle industry, recently appointed Mitch Williams as chief operating officer and Benjamin Bowman as vice president of supply chain and quality.
The company said adding Williams is a “significant milestone,” as Williams brings more than two decades of industry experience to the organization, including a wealth of knowledge in scaling automotive technology. His purview will include overseeing product development, strategic technology investments, and managing an ongoing market strategy to continuously create value for XStream customers.
Bowman brings 20 years of experience in supply chain management, quality assurance and global sourcing.
“Mitch is a seasoned and trusted leader who has a proven track record of consistently delivering results and supporting sustainable company growth,” said Daniel Burrows, CEO of XStream Trucking. “Adding proven leaders like he and Ben will help us solidify our product quality and strengthen our customer relationships, operations and our overall business strategy. We’re eager to bring them onboard.”
Williams boasts 20 years of Class 8 experience in the aftermarket and original equipment manufacturing (OEM) segments, including deep experience scaling up organizational sales, marketing, distribution and manufacturing. Prior to joining XStream, he served as president and CEO of APR, an automotive engineering firm serving as an aftermarket tuner of Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen vehicles. While there, Williams focused on implementing software in order to extract and manipulate data to improve fuel efficiency and overall performance.
Prior to that, Williams spent 19 years at Hella, where he built the company into the No 1 brand in aftermarket lighting as president and CEO. Under his leadership, Williams grew sales from a few million to over $50 million and expanded the business in North America, making it a market leader in the heavy trucking world and an early pioneer with aerodynamic technology. Overlapping with his time at Hella, Williams spent 12 years as chairman of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), the largest automotive trade association in the world.
Bowman previously served as global sourcing manager for the Rhinestahl Corporation, a designer and manufacturer of gas turbine engine and airframe tools for the aviation industry. He will oversee production quality and ensure XStream Trucking’s products are industry leaders in improving trucking aerodynamics, the company said.
Williams’ hire comes at a pivotal time for XStream, which recently announced a $10.5 million Series A funding round that will further advance development of cost-saving innovations for the $700 billion US trucking industry, the company said. XStream is best known for its flagship technology called TruckWings, an active-aero device that automatically closes the tractor-trailer gap on commercial trucks when the vehicle is at a certain speed to create an estimated fuel savings of 4-6%.