The following op-ed from Derek Berlin, Logistics Plus Senior Vice President of Global Government Solutions, was published on GoErie.com and in the Erie-Times News on February 27, 2025.
Read the full piece below or online at https://www.goerie.com/story/opinion/columns/2025/02/27/erie-logistics-plus-derek-berlin-ukrainians-defending-freedom-after-russian-invasion/79181589007/
Letters of support solidify the bond between Erie, Pennsylvania, and Chornomorsk, Ukraine, as new sister cities.
ERIE, PA (December 20, 2024) – Logistics Plus, Inc., a global leader in transportation, logistics, and unique supply chain solutions, last week presented Chornomorsk Mayor Vasyl Huliaiev with numerous letters of support from Erie, Pennsylvania-based companies, universities, and organizations. Derek Berlin, Senior Vice President of Government Solutions for Logistics Plus, traveled to Chornomorsk, a major port city in southern Ukraine, to deliver the letters in person.
View copies of all letters at logisticsplus.com/chornomork-letters.
Erie Mayor Joe Schember and Chornomorsk Mayor Huliaiev entered into a Sister City Agreement on November 29th to deepen friendship and mutual understanding between the two cities through educational, cultural, industrial, and economic exchanges. Logistics Plus, a passionate supporter of Ukraine since the war began over two and a half years ago, played a key role in facilitating the sister-city agreement between the two cities.
In late 2023, Logistics Plus managed a complex delivery to Ukraine comprising 22 thousand tons of pipes, four ocean vessels, and over 1,000 trucks. The final ocean delivery was the first non-grain, U.S.-managed ship to the Port of Chornomork since the onset of the war. Logistics Plus continues to provide valuable relief to Ukraine and is helping many companies do business throughout the region.
In the opening letter, Logistics Plus Founder and CEO Jim Berlin wrote, “I know Derek will represent us well, and I look forward to my next visit and many good days ahead for you and the people of Chornomorsk, getting to know the good people of Erie, Pennsylvania, another port city.”
“I think this was a meaningful discussion with promise for a city that has been pounded relentlessly for almost three years,” Derek Berlin commented after the ceremony. “They fully understand that we are not a silver bullet for any of their challenges, but knowing that we will make an effort to be creative in connecting dots to help them seemed greatly appreciated.”
Jim Berlin added some additional comments, “We have been among the first ones in Ukraine from the day of the invasion. And, when the US and the rest of the world help rebuild Chornomorsk and other parts of the country once this war ends, Logistics Plus will lead the way. We are the ‘tip of the shovel.’ When others see what we are doing, they may join in and start digging with us, too.”
About Logistics Plus, Inc.
Logistics Plus, Inc. (LP) is a 21st-century logistics company and a leading worldwide provider of transportation, warehousing, fulfillment, global logistics, business intelligence, technology, and supply chain solutions. LP works in the background to help businesses manage their supply chains in an ever-changing world. Founded in 1996, today LP has annual global sales of over $600M with more than 1,200 employees located in 50+ countries worldwide. LP is recognized as one of the fastest-growing privately-owned logistics companies, a top 3PL provider, a top 100 logistics company, a top freight brokerage and warehousing provider, and a great place to work. With a Passion For Excellence™, its employees put the PLUS in LOGISTICS by doing the big things properly, plus the countless little things that together ensure complete customer satisfaction and success.
By: Karen Torres, Executive Director, Business Magazine
Click to view/download a PDF of the full article.
Logistics Plus, Inc. (LP) is one of the fastest-growing, privately owned logistics providers in the world.
It is also a top 100 3PL company, a top freight brokerage and warehousing firm, a top technology developer, a unique solutions provider for key verticals, such as solar, data centers, and many others, and a certified Great Place to Work®.
But what truly distinguishes LP as a company to watch is its innovative solutions and extensive global network that are impacting both business investment and humanitarian support.
Over the past two and half years, LP has provided a critical lifeline to Ukraine in its rebuilding efforts as the war with Russia rages on. The company has donated and raised more than $1 million worth of relief but also has provided vital transportation and logistics support to assist with Ukraine’s infrastructure and economic stability.
LP’s support for Ukraine is driving meaningful impact on the global stage — a call to action for other businesses to continue to invest in and support the country as more safe zones are created.
“We’re trying to lead by example,” explains LP Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jim Berlin. “I call it the tip of the shovel. We’re willing to go in before others are willing to go in. If others see, maybe they’ll join in and start digging too.”
Click the on-page image to read the full article or click the URL here https://www.logisticsplus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2024/10/Global-Logistics-Leader-Rallies-Support-in-Rebuilding-Ukraine.pdf
Jim Berlin pictured left of Penny Pritzker at the Ukraine Recovery Conference.
This new initiative is to support Ukraine’s economic stability and growth and pave the way for future reconstruction.
ERIE, PA (June 13, 2024) – Logistics Plus, Inc. (LP), a global leader in transportation, logistics, and unique supply chain solutions, is proud to report that on June 11 at the International Ukraine Recovery Forum, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the launch of a new initiative to support Ukraine’s economic stability and growth and pave the way for future reconstruction, a Business Advisory Council of 18 business leaders from across the G-7 nations, Ukraine, and key donor states.
Logistics Plus Founder and CEO Jim Berlin is one of three business leaders from the United States appointed to this international Council, alongside fellow US representatives from Northrop Grumman and McDonald’s, under the capable leadership of Siemens CEO Dr. Christian Bruch.
Jim and Derek Berlin at the URC Conference in Berlin.
Jim was joined at the conference by Logistics Plus SVP of Global Government Solutions Derek Berlin. Penny Pritzker, Special Representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery, served as Head of Delegation.
Of the initiative, Berlin said, “The first meeting of the Business Advisory Council brought together a group of committed and proactive business leaders, and I am confident that working together, we can serve as the ‘tip of the shovel’ of international business engagement in Ukraine at this critical time and onward to rebuild the country.”
In his welcoming remarks at the Ukraine Recovery Conference, Chancellor Scholz said, “The recovery of Ukraine is and has to be a business case too, and (those businesses) will be front and center to engage right from the start. Together with the United States, (this is) why we have taken the initiative for the Business Advisory Council. (It) will be the voice of the business community.”
Logistics Plus has over 70 employees across three locations based in Ukraine. Since the 2022 invasion, Logistics Plus has donated and raised over $1 million worth of total relief for Ukraine. Last year, working with an American oil and gas supplier, Logistics Plus managed the complex delivery of 22 thousand tons of gas pipes to Ukraine to help with infrastructure rebuilding efforts (as shown in the photos below).
Audio comments from Jim Berlin:
About Logistics Plus, Inc.
Logistics Plus, Inc. (LP) is a 21st-century logistics company and a leading worldwide provider of transportation, warehousing, fulfillment, global logistics, business intelligence, technology, and supply chain solutions. LP works in the background to help businesses manage their supply chains in a constantly changing world. Founded in 1996, today LP has annual global sales of over $600M with more than 1,200 employees located in 50+ countries worldwide. LP is recognized as one of the fastest-growing privately-owned logistics companies, a top 3PL provider, a top 100 logistics company, a top freight brokerage and warehousing provider, and a great place to work. With a Passion For Excellence™, its employees put the PLUS in LOGISTICS by doing the big things properly, plus the countless little things that together ensure complete customer satisfaction and success.
One of 1,000 truckloads of pipe for Naftogaz delivered in a global operation carried out by Pennsylvania-based Logistics Plus and Vorex USA. (Company photo)
In a recent interview with Ukraine Rebuild Newswire, a news site founded by respected foreign correspondent Adam Brown, Logistics Plus COO Yuriy Ostapyak shares details of a complicated, sometimes dangerous mission to deliver four shiploads of pipe from Asia to Ukraine.
The joint operation between Logis-ukraines-port-of-chornotics Plus and Vorex, LLC, an American oil and gas equipment supplier that won the contract to supply the pipe to Ukrainian state gas producer Naftogaz, entailed $100 million worth of gas pipes, delivering $100 million worth of gas pipes, weighing over 22-thousand tons, to hundreds of sites in Ukraine in a complex effort that involved filling and then offloading four break bulk ships onto 1,000 trucks to avoid anti-ship mines and missile attacks. The entire project took 14 months to order, fabricate, and prepare, then eight months to deliver.
“It’s hard to think of a more complex operation from all my years in the business,” said Fedor Zakusilo, the Ukrainian-American founder and president of Vorex USA, who started out in the oilfield supply business in 2000. “At times, the staff was pushing it dangerously hard, and we had to rein them in – people were actually unloading pipe while a factory just across the road was exploding from a Russian attack. The dedication to getting the job done was off the charts.”
“Everyone was quite on edge throughout this operation,” said Chief Operating Officer Yuiry Ostapyak, a Ukrainian-American who, at 39 years of age, has worked for 20 years for the Erie, Pennsylvania-based Logistics Plus. “This was definitely one of the biggest logistics challenges we have seen – it’s one that a lot of companies would have shied away from.”
“I think the future in logistics will go to the companies that learn to find a way to say ‘yes’ quicker, even as circumstances get more and more difficult,” Ostapyak said. “When the war broke out, many Western companies were running away. We were running toward Ukraine, to help. That attitude will become increasingly essential in the future.”
You can read the entire story online at https://www.ukrainerebuildnews.com/urn-behind-the-scenes-logistics-plus-describes-the-delivery-of-100-million-worth-of-gas-pipe-from-china-to-war-time-ukraine/.
About Ukraine Rebuild Newswire
Ukraine Rebuild Newswire is the brainchild of Adam Brown, a foreign correspondent with 35 years of experience in Latin America, West Africa, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia for The Associated Press and Bloomberg News. His work has appeared on the front page of virtually every major newspaper in the world and he has appeared on CNN, BBC, ABC, CBS and elsewhere from Afghanistan, Kosovo and many other wounded places.
About Vorex USA
Wherever there’s oil and gas, Vorex USA has the equipment and expertise you need to extract and transport it. They distribute products for more than 40 North American and European manufacturers in more than 15 countries around the world. Its goal is to provide the expertise to help you meet any technical challenge. Their products meet the industry’s highest standards and they deliver them on schedule, at the lowest cost to you. Learn more at usavorex.com.
About Logistics Plus, Inc.
Logistics Plus, Inc. (LP) is a 21st-century logistics company and a leading worldwide provider of transportation, warehousing, fulfillment, global logistics, business intelligence, technology, and supply chain solutions. LP works in the background to help businesses manage their supply chains in an ever-changing world. Founded in 1996, today LP has annual global sales of over $500M with more than 1,000 employees located in 50+ countries worldwide. LP is recognized as one of the fastest-growing privately-owned logistics companies, a top 3PL provider, a top 100 logistics company, a top freight brokerage and warehousing provider, and a great place to work. With a Passion For Excellence™, its employees put the PLUS in LOGISTICS by doing the big things properly, plus the countless little things that together ensure complete customer satisfaction and success.
