Speaker Spotlight

Speaker Spotlight: Jason Seidl

The Traffic Club of Philadelphia is excited to feature our National Transportation Week Luncheon speaker, Jason Seidl, Managing Director and Senior Transportation & Logistics Analyst at TD Cowen!

Jason brings over two decades of Wall Street experience analyzing the transportation sector, but his journey to becoming one of the industry's most respected analysts started in an unexpected place: a fraternity party at Syracuse University.

From Fraternity Advice to Transportation Career

Jason's path into transportation wasn't planned. As a marketing major at Syracuse with what he candidly describes as a low GPA, an older fraternity brother (Theta Chi) pulled him aside at a party with some tough love.

"He said 'you have a terrible GPA, you're a marketing major and have very little that separates you from the pack. No one's going to hire you,'" Jason recalls. The brother noted he should get a second major and recommit himself to his studies. The brother had already booked him a meeting with Dr. Wallin, who headed up Syracuse's Transportation Distribution Management program (now called Supply Chain).

The pitch was compelling: 100% job placement for eight years running, the second highest starting salary in the School of Management, and more internships than students. Jason added it as a second major and started to hit the proverbial books. He took the advice to heart and was able to make the Dean's list and was inducted into an international honors society in his final two years at Syracuse. Jason really credits that fraternity brother's advice for launching his entire career.

"Once Doc Wallin got hold of you, that was it. You were in," Jason remembers. "That really started my love affair for transportation." Jason noted he is still in close contact with many of his fellow TDM classmates as well as his undergraduate TA to this day.

The Unconventional Path to Wall Street

After graduation, Jason took a job at what is now FedEx Ground in Elizabeth, NJ then jumped to run a small trucking operation in Trenton, New Jersey a year later. He joined a stock club with friends (all "bull market geniuses" as he jokes), and one friend working on the buy side told him about careers in financial analysis. When Jason expressed interest, his friend encouraged his pursuits but cautioned that: "No one on Wall Street is going to hire a trucker, you have to get financial experience."

That advice sent Jason to Rutgers to pursue a part-time MBA in Finance at Rutgers University. He worked during the day, drove an hour through rush hour traffic up Route 1, sat through three hours of class, then drove an hour home. "It got old really fast," he admits. So he quit his job, took out loans, and finished his MBA in the full-time program.

Landing on Wall Street wasn't easy. Jason sent out countless physical resumes and collected what he calls "a ton of rejection letters." The Rutgers placement office told him he was "trying too hard" and sending out "too many resumes."

But hustle pays off. Someone gave him the personal fax number for a director of research at a bank. Jason sent his resume directly, bypassing HR entirely. That got him his one Wall Street interview and ultimately the job he desired.

The twist? Jason is probably the only person who took a pay cut to start on Wall Street. He had a great part-time job giving eye tests to kids in schools, earning $25/hour (equivalent to about $50.65 today). The bank offer allowed him to start working part time before he graduated but could only pay him $20/hour. He nonetheless took the job as it was the long-term path he knew he was meant to follow.

"You look at my LinkedIn page and it looks like I planned all this out," Jason admits. "Nothing could be further from the truth. I went to Syracuse to be a sports announcer. Then I heard myself on radio and instantly knew I needed a backup plan."

Creating "Suds with Seidl"

When Jason started covering railroads on Wall Street, he faced a problem: he didn't know many people in the rail industry. At trucking conferences, he was one of them; however, at rail conferences, he felt like the outsider from Wall Street.

His solution? "I noticed at rail conferences there's definitely no shortage of people who appreciate a well-earned drink," he jokes. So, he put his card down at the bar and told people, "I'm buying. Come by and let's chat."

That evolved into researching cool gastro pubs and breweries located in conference cities and sponsoring networking events. The events never really had a name until COVID hit. Jason's assistant, Mariel, suggested they could continue virtually, and she helped coined the name "Suds with Seidl."

Suds developed a cult following. NEARS (North East Association of Rail Shippers) even created their own beer collaborations with Jason as the de facto mascot, complete with Jason in full Bavarian regalia for "NEARS Oktoberfest" and as Uncle Sam for "Uncle Seidl Seaside Salute" beer.

John Myers, his good buddy, designs all the can art and somehow Jason became the spokesperson. "None of those by the way was my idea," Jason jokingly emphasized. "I blame that entirely on John."

Passion for Student Mentorship

Jason has served on Syracuse's supply chain advisory committee for over 20 years (he is currently Vice President and served a term as President many years ago), and student engagement is near and dear to his heart.

At NEARS conferences, Jason ensures students are comped with no registration fees. "They're the future of our business," he explains. Students get breakfast, lunch, and if they're of drinking age, access to the happy hour. This has led to internships and job opportunities.

At a recent NEARS conference, after fireside chats with Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, and Nucor Steel, Jason asked the students to stand and addressed the room: "Make a point to hand out your business cards. These students need jobs and internships."

The next speaker immediately responded: "I'm based in Canada, but we have an office in New York that's always looking for students. See me after, I'll give you my card."

"That's exactly what I wanted to do," Jason says. "Help them make connections. We've all been in their shoes looking for someone to open a door."

Jason recently hosted students from Syracuse at NEARS and is eager to host more. "If there are schools in the Philly area that have supply chain programs that want to sponsor a couple kids to go to NEARS, we'd love to have them. Past student attendees have received internships and job opportunities as a result, which makes me feel like I'm actually making a difference."

Don't Listen to People Who Say You Can't

Jason's career advice comes from hard-won experience: "Don't listen to people who tell you that you can't do things."

Lots of people at Rutgers told him he'd never make Wall Street. His friend said no one would hire a trucker. Someone at the Rutgers MBA program's placement office told him he was "trying too hard" and sending out "too many resumes."

"You got to hustle," Jason emphasizes. "If you want to do something and it's your passion, then you have to go for it."

Through persistence, refusing to accept "no," sending resumes directly to decision makers, and taking risks to follow his passion, Jason built a 25+ year career as one of transportation's most respected Wall Street analysts, covering the sector he loves.

"I couldn't imagine myself in any other line of work to be honest," he reflects. "Years ago, my mentor on Wall Street, said 'boy, you want to make a lot of money in this business? Find another sector to cover.' But I said no. That's the sector I love, it's near and dear to my heart." He notes he may have given up some extra pay but highly doubts he would have had such a deep love for any other sector.

Speaking at National Transportation Week

Jason will be speaking at our National Transportation Week Luncheon, bringing his Wall Street analyst perspective on what's happening in transportation. Not just the sanitized corporate messaging, but the real insights about service, capacity, and market dynamics.

"I always gauge a presentation by how dynamic the Q&A is," Jason says. "I hate presentations where somebody shows up with 40 slides and talks at the audience the entire time. That's such a yawner. You want engagement with the audience that can take you down interesting paths."

Jason's presentation will focus on separating fact from fiction in today's transportation market, cutting through the noise and misinformation to provide expert analysis grounded in real data and industry insight.

We're thrilled to have Jason share his expertise with the Traffic Club of Philadelphia. His journey from college student finding his footing to fraternity intervention, to trucking, to Wall Street, and ultimately becoming the face of "Suds with Seidl" shows that careers rarely follow straight lines, and that networking, passion, and refusing to accept "no" can take you places you never imagined.