In this episode of the Last2First Podcast, Jason sits down with Lance Dearborn, founder & CEO of Take 2 Logistics (Central Florida), for a masterclass on people, numbers, and scaling the final mile the right way.
Lance shares his origin story dropping out of high school, rebuilding his life with a plan, earning an accounting degree and Master’s in Taxation, then making the pivotal decision that changed everything: buying a courier company instead of becoming a CPA.
From there, he breaks down how he grew a business from ~$1M to $25M, expanded to multiple states, built proprietary tech that unlocked scheduling scale, and why “the scoreboard” matters more than opinions. He also opens up about selling Fast Mile to Need It Now, the transition into a big-company structure with Geodis, and why he came out of retirement to launch Take Two Logistics driven by loyalty and the people who built the journey with him.
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 Intro: “Numbers guy” + why Lance is respected
01:10 What is Take Two Logistics? (on-demand + point-to-point in Central Florida)
03:10 Coming out of retirement in 26 days
04:30 Doing it with his wife, Tina
06:10 Lance’s origin story: dropping out, then rebuilding with a plan
08:10 Accounting degree + Master’s in Taxation (CPA path)
09:25 The pivot: buying Fast Mile at 26 years old
11:10 The early model: rush/on-demand in the pre-email era
12:45 On-demand declines → the shift into “Final Mile” before it had a name
14:25 First warehouse + “I’ll never fill it” moment
16:05 Scaling to 250k sq ft in Orlando + multi-state growth
17:25 500+ drivers + the $25M run
18:40 Leadership: “Right people on the team, right positions”
20:15 How Lance identified the Florida distribution model
22:20 Aggregating lanes + making the numbers work
24:30 The key: anchor customer to support the warehouse
26:10 Contractor model vs W2 (and why it mattered)
28:10 The real struggle: scheduling, missed appointments, route blowups
30:00 The breakthrough: taking over the software + building a scheduling module
33:05 Why software is the most important tool in logistics
35:10 Numbers don’t have bias people do
36:40 The “scorecard vs scoreboard” story (and how it changed everything)
40:20 Exit strategy: valuing the business + improving EBITDA
43:10 “Urgent vs Important” + working from home on Fridays
45:40 Selling Fast Mile to Need It Now (and knowing the number)
48:10 Need It Now model: keep entrepreneurs running their markets
50:20 Cross-selling: making 1+1=3 without forced integration
52:00 Building Final Mile Complete (nationwide 3PL)
54:10 Geodis acquisition: what Geodis wanted + contract logistics explained
56:10 Big-company structure vs entrepreneurial speed
58:40 Why Lance launched Take Two: loyalty is a two-way street
1:01:10 Lessons from 40 years + “meetings to discuss meetings”
1:03:10 The book: “It IS Whether You Win or Lose… AND How You Play the Game”
1:07:10 Lance’s Last2First moments (3 pivotal decisions)
1:09:30 Closing: Take Two Logistics + final thoughts
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