Mayerline Santamaria Neira named Leschaco Colombia's new MD

German air and sea freight forwarder Leschaco has appointed Mayerline Santamaria Neira (above) as the new managing director of Leschaco Colombia and its subsidiaries, effective 1 August.

She will take over from Jochen Raute, who co-founded Coltrans – today, Leschaco Colombia – in 1988. He continues to manage the company, but “he is planning his well-deserved retirement by the end of this year,” a Leschaco statement said.

Ms Neira brings over 20 years’ experience in logistics, with a strong focus on sales, strategic planning, financial management and organisational development, and “her in-depth knowledge of the chemicals vertical market and her close collaboration with key pharmaceutical customers in her previous roles make her an important addition to the Leschaco team”, the company added.

She began her career in 2004 at Maersk Line in Bogotá, Colombia, where she held various senior management positions. She later served as country operations manager for Crane Worldwide in Bogotá and, from 2011 to 2015, was maritime product manager at DHL Global Forwarding Colombia.

Most recently, she was commercial manager at Puerto Industrial Aguadulce, a leading container terminal at the country’s Pacific port of Buenaventura.

“Mayerline’s extensive network and expertise in the Colombian logistics market, along with her proven people management skills and deep experience in business transformation, position her well to drive our growth ambitions and lead our Colombian branches towards a prosperous future. We are happy to welcome her to our team,” said Martin Sack, Leschaco regional head of Americas.

The Coltrans group was acquired by Leschaco on 28 December 2022 after a partnership that spanned more than 30 years.