David Lyons

Operations Leadership & Management | AI & Automation Builder

940-550-4012 | Forney, TX | davidr.lyons@icloud.com | linkedin.com/in/david-lyons-3a10ba111 | davidrlyons.cloud

Summary

Operations leader and manager (14+ years) who also builds the systems — pairing people leadership with hands-on operations management, and both with self-taught data, automation, and AI. Drove a 54.5% jump in company-wide standings as a distribution-center GM while shipping Power BI analytics, automations, and AI agents that turn operational data into faster decisions and measurable results.

Professional Experience

General Manager 2024 – Present

American Tire Distributors | Carrollton, TX

Directed multi-million-dollar distribution center operations and spearheaded its turnaround, driving a 54.5% jump in company-wide standings through performance-driven initiatives, strategic planning, and refined data utilization.
Improved warehouse efficiency by 10% through the design of custom Excel tools and streamlined production workflows, improving team proficiency in data analysis and reducing operational bottlenecks.
Improved route truck delivery window success by 7.3% and enhanced customer satisfaction through driver training programs and manifest analysis while maintaining DOT compliance.
Implemented real-time supply chain monitoring using OTIF (On-Time In Full) metrics and Power BI dashboards to track customer orders daily, enhancing visibility and enabling rapid disruption response.
Cultivated a high-performing 30-person team by leading talent acquisition, mentoring operations staff, implementing training programs, and fostering data-driven decision-making.
Improved financial performance by reducing overtime expenses 15% and improving inventory variance, mitigating missed product sales through strategic cost-saving measures.

Manager of Yard Operations 2022 – 2023

Union Pacific Railroad | Mesquite, TX

Ensured quality customer service, timely deliveries, system fluidity, and daily coordination of over 700 freight cars.
Reduced safety incidents 3% by conducting Field Training Exercises, addressing rule violations, and enforcing Federal Code compliance.
Reduced terminal dwell time by 2 hours by streamlining processes to improve efficiency and throughput in yard operations.
Boosted departure reliability 5% through streamlined communication between yard operations and train dispatchers.

Corridor Manager 2016 – 2022

Union Pacific Railroad | Spring, TX

Led dispatching teams of 10+, monitoring terminal dwell and subdivision velocity, achieving a 5% increase in schedule adherence through a positive culture and strong field support.
Supervised transportation plans across 3 corridors, coordinating with yard masters and field crews to prioritize main track access and increase throughput by upwards of 10%.
Optimized operations across high-volume corridors, ensuring service quality for Class 1 railroads and reducing downtime 3 hours per week through revolving dispatcher shift plans.
Prioritized safety and compliance through shift check-ins, reducing safety incidents 8% by reviewing active traffic, incidents, and dispatcher well-being.

Train Dispatcher 2011 – 2016

Union Pacific Railroad | Omaha, NE

Directed train traffic and coordinated train and maintenance crews across 2,000+ miles of territory, remotely managing signal systems and ensuring safe, efficient operations.
Prevented a potential multi-million-dollar derailment by monitoring dispatch systems and intervening to halt an oncoming train when another went into emergency.
Dispatched 15–35 trains daily of diverse types — Amtrak, coal, auto, and intermodal — carrying passengers and cargo.
Elevated delivery timeliness by approximately 15% through strategic routing and scheduling adjustments, minimizing congestion across the rail network.

Land Surveyor / Survey Engineer 2009 – 2011

Clear Fork Surveying & Mapping Co., Inc. | Graham, TX

Performed all aspects of the entire field-to-finish land survey, including GPS data collection and total-station surveys to determine property boundaries, riparian boundaries, easements, and well-location surveys for as-drilled and permit plat requirements.
Conducted project research to obtain legal descriptions from deeds and leases, then drafted legal descriptions and associated survey plats for deed records.
Computed map projections between State Plane grid coordinates and geographic latitude/longitude.

Selected Projects — AI & Automation

Kansas Castings — AI-Driven Growth Engine. Built an AI-driven SEO and cold-outbound system for a manufacturer; reached Google's AI Overview within a week of launch and generated real inbound revenue (WordPress REST, Python, JSON-LD, Apollo/Smartlead, email deliverability).

AITrader — Autonomous Trading Agents. Engineered multi-platform autonomous trading agents with an eval-first research harness and hard risk gates across five brokerages/markets (Python, broker APIs, walk-forward evaluation).

OpenClaw — Self-Hosted Agent Platform. Deployed a self-hosted, 7-agent orchestration platform with hybrid local/cloud model routing and cron automation on a hardened VPS (Node.js, systemd, MCP).

Agentic Dev Tooling. Built a custom AI development workflow (skills, rules, hooks + a Rust token-optimizer proxy) that cut routine development token cost 60–90%.

Education

Associate of Spatial Sciences — Texas A&M University

Certifications: Google Data Analytics (Coursera): Foundations: Data, Data, Everywhere · Ask Questions to Make Data-Driven Decisions · Prepare Data for Exploration · Process Data from Dirty to Clean · Analyze Data to Answer Questions

Skills