LaGrange, former local port director, receives NTIL award

Port of New Orleans President and CEO Gary LaGrange received the 2015 McCullough Award at the National Industrial Transportation League’s 108th annual meeting, which is being held in New Orleans for the first time since 1985.
LaGrange was formerly the first executive director of the Port of West St. Mary.
The award is presented annually by the League’s board of directors and Logistics Management magazine to the ‘Logistics Executive of the Year” and is named after John T. McCullough, a former chief editor of Distribution magazine, a predecessor to Logistics Management.
“I first met Gary LaGrange right after Hurricane Katrina, certainly a historically challenging moment for the Port and the City of New Orleans,” said Bruce Carlton, president and CEO of the NITL. “I knew then that if there was going to be a successful recovery from the hurricane’s devastation, it was going to come from Gary’s single-minded determination to get the Port up and running again quickly. It’s that same urgent focus that has propelled the Port of New Orleans forward ever since.”
Nominations for the McCullough Award are submitted by League members and voted upon by its board of directors.
“Gary has an outstanding reputation in the transportation industry and we are extremely pleased to be able to single him out for this recognition and his many accomplishments,” said League doard chairman Doug Kratzberg.
“It’s certainly an honor to be recognized by this esteemed group, because they represent our shippers, customers and valued partners that contribute directly to our success,” LaGrange said.
Founded in 1907, the National Industrial Transportation League is the nation’s oldest association representing shippers’ interests in both domestic and international commerce in all modes of transportation. League members include shippers and receivers of goods, carriers, brokers, third-party intermediaries, logistics companies and other service providers. As “The Shippers,” the League’s mission is to advance the views of shippers on freight transportation issues and enhance their professional development.
The Port of New Orleans is a deep-draft multipurpose port at the center of the world’s busiest port system, Louisiana’s Lower Mississippi River. Connected to major inland markets and Canada via 14,500 miles of waterways, six class-1 railroads and the interstate highway system, the Port is the ideal gateway for steel, project cargo, containers, coffee, natural rubber, chemicals, forest products, manufactured goods and cruising.