TOM Crowley heads up a 127-year-old firm founded by his grandfather Thomas Crowley and developed further by his father Thomas B Crowley until 1994.

As a third-generation owner of the firm, Mr Crowley has piloted Crowley Maritime through even greater successes in the past year.

Top of the list is the management by Crowley Solutions of the Defense Freight Transportation Services, which offers the US Department of Defense, other government agencies, customers and vendors a single touch-point for transportation services. 

"We are managing 1,600 orders a day for transportation requirements throughout North America and we're doing that with a 98.5% on time performance," Mr Crowley told Lloyd’s List. 

"It's been a very, very successful programme. We've saved money in terms of the way in which we move. We move the freight and we've done it in a way that has far exceeded their expectations in terms of performance and utilising small business," he said. 

The $2.3bn, freight all kinds contract encompasses all forms of surface transportation throughout the continental US, Alaska and Canada, including less than truckload, full truckload, expedited, time definite and rail services.

In February, Crowley Maritime Corp christened the US-flag combination container/ro-ro vessel MV Taíno in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the company’s investments have ushered in a new era of world-class supply chain services in the trade between the Caribbean island and the US mainland.

MV Taíno is among the first of its kind to be powered by liquefied natural gas, like its sister Commitment Class vessel MV El Coquí, which entered service in 2018.

Both Jones Act ships were constructed at VT Halter Marine in Pascagoula, Mississippi, with Crowley Solutions providing the construction management services.

Mr Crowley also appeared in the Top 100 in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.