Meet The Team

Meet the Team

With over 50 years of cumulative experience in providing Dangerous Goods (HazMat) training for shippers, forwarders and carriers, our TDG team provides personable and comprehensive guidance. Below are our key team leaders.

James E. Powell

President & Founder
James E. Powell is president and founder of Transportation Development Group LLC (TDG) a dangerous goods (hazardous materials) training company and consultancy based in Seattle, WA.

Jim founded TDG in 1992 after 16 years in executive level positions in the airline, trucking and logistics industries throughout the U.S. His career includes 5 years at Skyway Freight Systems, a leader in Third Party Logistics services, as well as Air Express International, DHL and Air Polynesia in Hawaii. He served as Director of Cargo for DHL Air Cargo in the early 1980’s and created their first FAA approved HazMat Training Program.

Jim is an international author, speaker and trainer on dangerous goods and logistics issues. He is a delegate to the UN Subcommittee of Experts on the Transportation of Dangerous Goods for the UN and has attended the UN meetings regarding lithium battery transportation regulations in Geneva for the past 5 years. From 1998 to 2002, Jim was involved in training over 150 FAA Special Agents at their academy in Oklahoma City. Jim was an original instructor for California State University Long Beach’s “Global Logistics Specialist Program” for nearly 10 years.

Jim was recently in Brussels for the IATA competency-based training instructors course.

Terry Poland

Principal Dangerous Goods Instructor & Technical Consultant

Terry Poland is the principal Dangerous Goods Instructor and technical consultant at Transportation Development Group LLC (TDG). He has over 40-years of management and training experience in the airline, air freight and logistics industries.  Born in Stuttgart, Germany, as part of a U.S. Air Force family, Terry later spent nearly 30 years growing up in Pearl City, Hawaii, where he graduated with the PCHS Class of 1978.  He is also a 1988 graduate of the University of Hawaii (Leeward & West Oahu Colleges) where he majored in Professional Studies.

Terry is an Air Force Veteran who started as a loadmaster on large military aircraft (C-5A Galaxy) transporting millions of tons of cargo (hazardous and otherwise) around the world. After leaving the U.S. Air Force in 1981, he was hired by the DHL Corporation to manage the Honolulu station cargo operations. Terry began his hazmat training experience in Hawaii with the DHL Air Cargo staff, and in 1985 he moved on to Mid Pacific Airlines as the Director of Cargo & Training, where he developed the company’s FAA-approved Hazmat program. In 1989, he joined Lynden Air Freight as the Hawaii District Manager and also taught hazmat training nation-wide for this domestic and international freight forwarder. Terry is IATA Instructor Certified, IATA CAT 6 Instructor and multi-aircraft Loadmaster certified.

Jim and Terry in 1984 at DHL, where Jim developed the very first hazmat program approved by the FAA.  These guys have been at it for awhile.

Image

...39 years later and still going strong!

Meet the Team