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Piercy Honored for Lifetime Achievement
Fred Piercy, retired transportation director for Bernhardt Furniture, received the Alvin W. Daughtridge Lifetime Achievement Award from AHFA’s Specialized Furniture Carriers last month at the 2021 Logistics Conference in Wilmington, N.C.
Piercy began his transportation career in 1955 with Carolina Northwestern Railroad, a division of Southern Railroad. Three years later he was hired as traffic manager for Bernhardt and remained there for 43 years, retiring as director
of transportation in 2001.
Piercy remained active in the transportation industry after his retirement, including serving several years as a business development and consulting agent for CV International. He was a charter member of the Furniture Shippers Association and served as chair of AHFA’s Transportation and Logistics Division. He also served two terms as president of the Catawba Valley Traffic Club and was selected as its 1997 Person of the Year. He was on the board of the North Carolina Trucking Association for 15 years and served as chair in 1995. He also was an active member of the North Carolina League of Transportation and Logistics for over 20 years.
In his community, Piercy served on the Foundation Board for Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute (CCC&TI) for 20 years and helped establish its driver training program. He is a member of the Hudson Optimist Club in Lenoir and served as Club President in 1967.
Two additional service awards were presented in honor of industry executives who died recently. Michael Massood Sr. (1924-2020) was chairman of MGM Transport Corp. He and his brother, George, launched the company in 1952 as a railcar distributor of furniture for the New York City area.
Massood built the business from a one-truck operation to one of the Northeast’s premier railcar distributors with more than 700 employees. Massood was an ardent supporter of industry trade associations, serving on the boards of the American Home Furnishings Alliance, the National Home Furnishings Association, Greater New York Home Furnishings Association, Specialized Furniture Carriers and International Federation of Transportation Association. He was also a strong supporter of City of Hope and St. Joseph’s Hospital Medical Center in Paterson, N.J., where he started a foundation for cancer research. He has been honored with the International Home Furnishings Representatives Association’s Pillar of the Industry Award, City of Hope’s National Home Furnishings Industry Man of the Year and the Anti-Defamation League’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Also honored was William “Billy” Wayne Crawford (1943-2019), who worked for Lightning Transportation Inc., a Specialized Furniture Carrier, for 18 years. Prior to Lightning, Crawford was president of J&B Transportation for 11 years. ★
“Fred left an indelible mark on CV International and my family. He was a mentor to both my father and me, and he helped CVI grow into the customer focused company we are today. I am blessed to be able to call him a colleague and a friend, and I am beyond thrilled that the AHFA honored him with this well deserved award.” – Mike Coleman (President & CEO, CV International)
