Author: priority1

Little Rock, AR—Priority1, a national third-party logistics service, is thrilled to announce that our family is growing! Grant Crawford will be joining Priority1 as our Chief Financial Officer.

Grant has tremendous experience in the transportation industry, including working for FedEx for 23 years on both the ground and freight sides. Grant started as an hourly Dockworker and has over 18 years filled with 12 different roles, which included managing 4 separate terminals (Charleston SC, Tampa, Toledo, St Louis) and Director of Operations for 19 terminals in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, and Maryland. He also led the expansion of FedEx Freight into Canada and ultimately was Vice President of International Operations for 7 years.

After his time at FedEx, Grant served as President of Roadrunner Freight for 3 years and most recently served as President of Emerge. Currently, he is also serving on the Board of Directors for My Freight Staff, based in Ontario, California.

“As for why I chose Priority1, there were a few core reasons. First off, from a reputation standpoint, there isn’t a Logistics company out there who has a better reputation from top to bottom than Priority1. From working directly with Dan Berardi and Will Sison when I was at Roadrunner, I saw firsthand what type of people and culture Priority1 had. Having really ‘grown-up’ at FedEx, taking care of the internal customer [the employees] is the top priority. I consider myself a Servant Leader and am hungry to represent and lead an organization that aligns with my personal and professional beliefs and Priority1 absolutely allows me to accomplish that need. From a growth standpoint, the fantastic track record that P1 has established already is just scratching the surface to what we can do long term and I can’t wait to be part of leading us into a bright future we have,”
Crawford said on his decision to come to Priority1.

Grant will focus on several offerings in addition to serving in the CFO seat including leading Priority1’s expansion into an International offering and working hand-in-hand with our existing team on revamping the enterprise offering.

Currently, Grant is in the process of relocating to Little Rock and his official start date is June 15th, 2020. 

Landing a career in logistics is sometimes easier said than done. Here are some tips from Priority1’s recruiters on nailing the interview and scoring a career in the logistics industry.

Preparation is crucial before you even walk into the interview. Always research the company you are looking to work for; know who they are, what they do, and exactly what you are getting yourself into. A great tip is to bring at least two questions to ask the Hiring Manager. Make sure your resume is up to date and print at least two copies to bring with you. Pick out a professional outfit and plan out your route to get to the interview on time. Look the part, feel the part, be the part.

The next step is the interview itself. During this time, it’s important that you are professional, however, make sure you show your true and genuine self. This is a prime opportunity for the Hiring Manager to get to know you and for you to show your potential and value. Don’t be afraid to be respectfully upfront. Ask the Hiring Manager what it is they are specifically looking for in their next hire and make sure you are asking questions about the process of hiring, training, and upward mobility; show them you want to be there for the long haul. Keep in mind that during this time, you are also interviewing the company. It is important that you are asking questions to make sure that the position and company are also going to be a good fit for you.

Lastly, you are ready to head out. You shake hands with the Hiring Manager. You will thank them for taking the time to sit and speak with you, and then you leave. Afterward, consider sending the Hiring Manager a ‘Thank you’ email. In this email you are, again, thanking them for their time and the opportunity to hear more about the position and the company, and whether you would be honored to take on the position or if you don’t think it is a good fit for you. Honesty is key, not every job you interview for will be the best fit for you.

Follow these steps and you are bound to land that career in logistics. If you are interested in joining Priority1, check out our latest openings at www.priority1inc.com/careers.

By: Alexis Neuendorff, Business Developement

Less than truckload (LTL)—some may say it’s just a service in the transportation world, while some may have no clue what it even means. To us at Priority1, it means everything. It distinguishes where it all began.

With our strong partnerships of over 70 LTL carriers nationwide, we have been able to create our top of the line LTL Division, including the Enterprise Program that focuses on Customer Specific Pricing (CSP). This program gives us the ability to offer the most competitive pricing to our customers in the logistics industry. “Work the work.” – Maria Damaskina. That is what she does. As Priority1’s Strategic Pricing Manager, she and her team work exceptionally hard to get that pricing.

As Priority1 has grown. We have been able to tack on many special projects such as roll-outs and time-sensitive projects. We also offer instant access to shipment statuses and have integrated almost all our LTL carriers to provide live data interchange—showing when freight has been picked up, is in transit, and when it has been delivered.

“The very definition of a partnership is working together to achieve a goal. Our goal is to satisfy our customers and we are proud to have partners of like mind.” – Will Sison. As the bread and butter of Priority1, our LTL partners are truly important to what we do and what we stand for; we cannot stress that enough. Our partners make us go ‘round and without them, we would not be who we are today.

By: Alexis Neuendorff, Business Developement

Little Rock, AR—Priority1, an industry-leading third-party logistics company, founded in the heart of Little Rock, has recently rolled out a game plan to add over 200 jobs across the United States, 100 alone in its founding city in 2020. Positions will include accounting & finance, customer service & support rolls, operations opportunities, as well as a large amount of sales positions. Priority1 will also be leasing a third location in downtown Little Rock to support the exponential growth of their corporate teams. Some of the great things Priority1 offers its employees are 100% paid family medical benefits, a substantial profit-sharing plan, as well as opportunities for upward mobility.

“Priority1 is fortunate to be in the midst of a strong growth cycle. We have had exceptional success tapping into the Little Rock talent pool and we plan to continue to do so. We offer first in class benefits that include paid family health care and a very generous profit-sharing program. The human capital in the Little Rock area continues to be a huge advantage for our organization and it is a key contributor to our 25 years of growth. Little Rock has been good to us and it is nice to be able to continue to aggressively hire in the Little Rock market. Priority1 has far exceeded its commitments made last year to the AEDC, Chamber, and Mayor Scott.  To expound on that, we plan to add close to 100 employees in Little Rock and we will close to double our workforce nationwide in 2020.” — Dan Berardi, Chief Executive Officer of Priority1.

Priority1 was founded in 1995, and has morphed into a technology-enabled third-party logistics company deploying cutting edge automation.  Partnered with thousands of national and regional carriers, they offer full multi-modal transportation services, making Priority1 a true one-stop-shop for all your logistics needs. With their continuous technological advancements and core values, their mission is to become an innovator and continue to be a leader in the technology and logistics space. They are dedicated to establishing lifelong partnerships with customers, vendors, freight agents, and employees through their people, technology, expertise, and most importantly, their values. Their success is measured by how well they simplify your logistics needs.

By: Alexis Neuendorff, Business Developement

In an industry that is always changing and evolving, Priority1 must also change and evolve. Priority1 is ecstatic to share that they now offer many additional services catering to our number one fans, our customers. In the last 24 months, we’ve added five new services and developed respective support teams to ensure our customers’ freight makes it to its end destination without a hitch. Priority1 broke ground in 1995 with your basic less-than-truckload (LTL) and full truckload (TL) services. Teaming with MercuryGate, we created a one of a kind third-party logistics brokerage. We continue to climb the logistics ladder and now proudly offer expedited, dry van, flatbed, temperature-controlled, and carrier sales services.

“When your Priority is temp-controlled, we know how to keep it cold” — Calvin Jones, Manager of Temperature Controlled Operations. No one likes spoiled milk, especially Calvin! Our fully loaded temperature-controlled services are equipped with downloadable trailers and live temperature monitoring with compatible TempTale® Data Monitoring service, temps going as low as -20 degrees. We have the ability to access and integrate into our customer’s supply chain and monitor the temperature with those devices. Talk about a deep freeze!

Moving freight isn’t always the easiest thing to do. Sometimes it’s a multi-modal project. Our dry van team is equipped to handle all the needs of our customers. From partials and full loads to hazmat and inter-modal, we can move it! We even have a group of specialists that can assist with trade shows, tanker endorsement, and additional specialized truckload services as well.

Given the years of experience the flatbed department at Priority1 has, and the relationships our department members have cultivated over the years with some of the largest asset-based, over-dimensional flatbed companies in the United States, we have access to top-notch equipment for freight of all sizes. We are able to provide unparalleled service to customers regardless of the size of the product being moved and we will utilize whatever equipment is necessary to ensure the load is handled with care. No load is ever to heavy or too big for us.

“Every day is different when it comes to expediting with high-pressure shipments…Priority1’s expedited team thrives on it and enjoys the constant communication with the customer on the time-sensitive freight.” — Jimmy Andersen, Manager of Expedited Operations. Jimmy has been an expedited rock star since we brought him to Priority1 and we couldn’t be happier with what he’s been able to create for our customers. Our expedited services include sprinter vans, hotshots, straight trucks, cargo vans, and even air freight. When it needs to get somewhere, we will make sure it gets there! Our team also is equipped with spot market pricing, cost-effective equipment, real-time communication & coverage, GPS tracking and 24/7/365 support.

Our carrier sales team works diligently to ensure we are always getting the best pricing for our customers. The team sources carriers for all full and partial loads that come through the corporate office. The vast amount of carrier relationships we have enables us to buy aggressively, many times below market value. They also track loads throughout the life-cycle of the shipment.

When we say we are truly a one-stop-shop for all your logistics needs, we mean it. With the growth and evolution of the industry, Priority1 has also grown and evolved to make sure all our customers’ needs are being met to a T. With all the new services we offer, and the support to back them, we truly are listening to our customers and giving them what they need to successfully move their freight. “I am proud of the team we have put together at Priority1.  Over the past few years, we have added to our core competencies so we can confidently say that we have the most robust and customer-centric truckload offering in the industry.  By leveraging our strong reputation in the dry van space, we have expanded it to expedited, flatbed, and temperature-controlled freight over the past 24 months providing our customers best in class support across all modes and making us a true one-stop-shop.” — Chris Olsen, Vice President of Truckload.

By: Alexis Neuendorff, Business Developement