Welcome to Leadership Lessons — real stories from supply chain leaders on how they built their careers and what they’ve learned along the way. In this edition, we talk with Frank Granieri, Chief Commercial Officer at A. Duie Pyle. He shares how loading UPS trailers at 18, studying finance at Penn State, and earning his CDL later in his career taught him the value of staying close to the front lines.

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Frank Granieri didn’t picture himself as the Chief Commercial Officer of a logistics company when he was a kid in Philadelphia. His dad owned a neighborhood hair salon, and his mom spent more than 30 years at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“My dad was entrepreneurial, one client at a time, always talking with people,” he says. “My mom was public service, steady and dependable. They were both incredibly hard-working.” 

On Saturdays, he helped sweep floors at the salon or run errands. “My first official job was a paper route at 13. I’ve basically been working my whole life,” he laughs. 

School came easy, but he wasn’t obsessed with grades. “I did fine, but I wasn’t top of the class or anything. I just liked working.”

While in college at Penn State Abington, he took a seasonal job at UPS loading trailers. “It was supposed to be for the holidays,” he says. “Next thing I knew, I was back the next year in a part-time leadership role.” Frank was able to tap into the UPS tuition reimbursement program to fund his remaining years at Penn State Abington while getting a four-year degree and a major in finance. “I was lucky to have this opportunity,” he says. “UPS was paying part of my tuition, and I was learning a ton about how a business actually runs.”

By his senior year, he was working full-time as a finance specialist while still taking classes. “I had textbooks in one hand and coffee in the other,” he says. “Looking back, it was insane, but it shaped me.”

He credits UPS with giving him structure. “UPS teaches discipline and accountability. I call it my MBA in operations. Everything was about process, precision, KPI’s and doing it right the first time.”

After almost a decade, he faced a choice: keep progressing at UPS, which meant relocating every few years, or try something new. “I remember thinking, either this becomes my life for 40 years, or I see what else is out there. I decided to see what else was out there.”

From finance to the family business

Granieri landed at IKON, a technology and office-equipment company, where he spent five years in finance and sales support. “At UPS, I learned operations. At IKON, I learned about valuing customers,” he says. “It was the opposite end of the spectrum, marketing, sales, growth, and creativity.”

Halfway through his time there, IKON was acquired by Ricoh. “I got to see what happens inside a company when that kind of change hits. It was like a live case study in culture and leadership.”

Then came the unexpected turn. “People often ask how I found my way to Pyle,” he says with a smile. “I like to joke that I joined the family business, literally.” A. Duie Pyle remains proudly family-owned into its fourth generation. He didn’t join right away, and when he did, it wasn’t because of the family tie. “Honestly, the family part was secondary,” he says. “What appealed to me was the entrepreneurial side, the chance to build something, to have a say in growth and strategy.”

The onboarding was hands-on. “We went through everything, operations, freight claims, and admin. I even went through the truck-driving academy and got my CDL. “Going through the driving academy was humbling,” he reflects. “You can’t fully appreciate what drivers do until you’ve done it, the focus it takes, the responsibility, the pride. It grounded me in what this business is really about.”

“Going through the driving academy was humbling. You can’t fully appreciate what drivers do until you’ve done it, the focus it takes, the responsibility, the pride. It grounded me in what this business is really about.”

Over time, he took on more responsibility in process improvement, dedicated warehousing, and a non-asset brokerage group. Today, as Chief Commercial Officer, he also oversees enterprise sales and marketing.

“About 70 percent of our business is still LTL,” he says. “But watching our other services grow has been a blast. The best part is seeing the Pyle people step into roles of greater responsibility. “Nothing’s more rewarding than seeing someone you believed in succeed,” he says. “That’s what it’s all about.”

The road ahead

Granieri splits his time between the office, customer visits, and industry events. “I spend more time in the office than I probably should,” he admits. “But lately I’ve been back on the road more.. It’s important to stay close to what’s happening in the market.”

His read on the freight economy isn’t exactly rosy. “Honestly, I don’t think it’s going to turn around overnight,” he says. “Tariffs get a lot of headlines, but the bigger story is the economy itself. Tech has been driving growth, not the traditional freight movers like housing or manufacturing. Until those come back, the only thing that can really rebalance the market is capacity coming out, and that’s slow.”

He pauses for a moment. “I’d love to be wrong. Six months from now, I’d love to say I misread it.”

The key to innovation

If there’s one thing Granieri talks about with conviction, it’s that bureaucracy kills innovation.

“Anyone who thinks they have all the answers isn’t going to keep growing,” he says. “I’ve worked in big global companies. I’ve seen how layers of approval slow everything down. People stop raising ideas. You lose the edge that made you good in the first place.”

At Pyle, he focuses on empowerment instead of control. “As we get bigger, I’m hyper-aware of it creeping in,” he says. “Bureaucracy is the fastest way to lose relevance.”

He credits each stage of his career for shaping that view. “UPS taught me structure. IKON taught me how to listen to the customer. Pyle taught me how to lead. It’s a reminder that every experience adds to the leader you become.”