About
From the sort floor to the network core
I'm Nathan Treadway, a CCNA-certified network engineer in Monticello, MN. I spent 15 years keeping a high-volume operation moving at FedEx Ground. Now I apply the same discipline to keeping networks moving.
My story
For 15 years I led operations teams at FedEx Ground, first running pickup and delivery in South Bend, Indiana, then running a package sort in Maple Grove, Minnesota. A sort is a real-time flow system. Thousands of packages enter, get routed, hit bottlenecks, and have to leave on time. When I started studying networking, I recognized it immediately: traffic, paths, congestion, redundancy, and the people and process that keep it all running.
From May to August 2026 I trained in the NetworkChuck Academy CCNA program, showing up for Monday–Friday daily check-ins with Jeremy Cioara (CCIE), Zach Hill and Chuck Keith. I studied 2–3 hours a day around a full-time job and passed the Cisco CCNA on August 28. Since then I've built a working Cisco and UniFi lab at home and designed networks from scratch. I've started automating with Ansible, and I document all of it on this site.
My long-term goal is the CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure. Along the way, I want to help other career changers, people with jobs and families and limited hours, find a realistic path into networking.
Experience
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2026 – present
Network engineering: home lab, design & automation
Building and documenting a two-zone Cisco lab (OSPF campus, eBGP branch, VRRP, Layer 2 security) integrated with a production UniFi network. Also an out-of-band console server, a firewall security review, and an Ansible automation pipeline. See projects →
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May – Aug 2026 · NetworkChuck Academy
CCNA with Jeremy Cioara (CCIE), Zach Hill & Chuck Keith
Trained for the CCNA in the NetworkChuck Academy CCNA program, with live Monday–Friday daily check-ins led by Jeremy Cioara, Zach Hill and Chuck Keith. The daily structure and accountability carried me from my first lesson to passing the exam on August 28.
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2020 – 2026 · Maple Grove, MN
Sort Manager, FedEx Ground
Led a high-volume package sort operation: staffing and directing shift teams, keeping throughput on schedule, and clearing bottlenecks and equipment problems in real time. I enforced safety and process standards and reported on performance against service targets.
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2011 – 2020 · South Bend, IN
Pickup & Delivery Manager, FedEx Ground
Managed daily pickup and delivery operations: route planning, driver and contractor coordination, on-time service, customer escalations, and safety compliance across a multi-route territory.
How operations translates to networking
Troubleshooting under pressure
A stalled sort and a down link need the same thing: isolate the fault fast, restore service, then find the root cause.
Thinking in flows
Throughput, bottlenecks, redundancy, and capacity planning were my daily work long before they were exam topics.
Process and documentation
Safety and service standards taught me to write procedures people can follow. Every lab I build ships with build guides, test plans, and rollback steps.
Leading people
Fifteen years of shift leadership means I communicate clearly, coordinate across teams, and stay calm during an outage.
Certifications & learning
Earned
- Cisco CCNA (200-301), Aug 2026
- NetworkChuck Academy CCNA, May–Aug 2026
In progress
- CCNA Automation (200-901)
- Automate Your Network, applied to my lab
Roadmap
- CCNP Enterprise (ENCOR + ENARSI)
- CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure