‘THIS PLACE IS GOING TO BE SPECIAL’
Phil Pierce Shares His Thoughts On Our 50-Year Anniversary
Phil has been with Averitt for 40-plus years, and he learned early in his career that our team was different from the competition. Phil recalls a story that drove the point home: as service center director for our Chattanooga facility, he was instructed to make sure the tractors there were washed every week. If there’s anyone who knows about our culture, where we’ve been in 50 years as a team, and where we’re going in the future, it’s executive vice president of sales and marketing PHIL PIERCE.
Executive vice president of sales and marketing PHIL PIERCE (right), pictured with president WAYNE SPAIN (left), recently reached 40 years of service with Averitt. Throughout his Averitt career, Phil has seen how our culture and commitment to professionalism sets our team apart in the transportation industry.
hiring, retaining and developing the best people. “Our No. 1 business decision to this day is who we bring into our team,” he explains. “It’s the same as it was 40 years ago and 50 years ago. We want people who want to be in the environment that we’ve established. And once you get them here, we give people the opportunity to succeed to their full potential.”
Phil says one way to secure our future is staying in tune with our customers, and showing them The Power of One by connecting them to the many services we offer. “We need to know what they need to be successful,” he says. “That’s how we’ve built all of our services. We always have to listen to our customers and what they need, and then we can find the services that can help them succeed. That’s worked very well for us.” Phil adds that it’s very important to continue to find People Like You – people who share our passion for teamwork and customer service. “We’re doing everything we can to get the right drivers and keep the right
“I thought, ‘Wow.’ I came from a carrier where I had been for two years, and the tractors had never been washed,” says Phil, who recently announced his retirement at the end of this year. “I knew right then, ‘This place is going to be special.’ Little did I know how special.” That story stuck with Phil because it showed our commitment to professionalism, positive image and raising the standard in the transportation industry. “Back in those days, you didn’t want to tell anybody you were in this business,” he says. “It had a bad reputation. It was unionized and not
Executive vice president of sales and marketing PHIL PIERCE (left), and president WAYNE SPAIN (right) present a Winner ’s Circle pin to one of our partner carriers in the 1980s.
very glamorous, but Averitt helped change all of that. When I came here, I saw that we had uniforms. That was unheard of back then. We began to stick out in a good way, because we were different.” Phil says something else that helps us stick out is our commitment to
drivers,” he says. “That’s a challenge, but we’re all in it together. We’re all teammates. And if we’ll keep the focus on Our Customers, Our Associates and Our Future, we’ve got a bright future ahead.” T m
Earl Hatcher
Frontline Leader MERCEDES Frontline Leader COLUMBIA Frontline Leader DALLAS Frontline Leader TIFTON Operations Leader COSTCO
Donald Hooper Carlo Mobley Jeffrey Norum Andrew Walter Robert Young
Baton Rouge Chattanooga Cincinnati
N EW L E AD E R S Jared Ahlstrom Transportation Specialist DALLAS Robert Babbitt Frontline Leader DALLAS Jason Block Frontline Leader COLUMBIA Samona Bumgardner Frontline Leader SUPPLY CHAIN SOLUTIONS Lucile Cormier Transportation Specialist SAN ANTONIO
R E T I R E E S Thank you for your service to our team! Timothy Carver Tri-Cities Michael Cress Corbin
David Lowery
Houston Lexington
Brendan Miller
One way our retirees can stay connected to Averitt is by becoming a member of the A+ Team, a special group of retired associates who stay connected to our unique culture of giving back. A+ teammates are annual contributors to Averitt Cares for Kids and are welcome to participate in the Team Up Community Challenge, People Like You Referral Rewards, and more! Email Dusty Barrow in Marketing and Communications at dbarrow@averittexpress.com to learn how to join. STAY CONNECTED THROUGH THE A+ TEAM
Garrett Pearce
Aaron Turnbow
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