diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6afb47b2..11b4b2bf 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ Environment Variables Added:
 | SKIP_TOKENIZER_IN_TGI       | True/False | False            | Skip tokenizer for input/output processing                                                                                       | add -e in docker run command |
 | TGI_PROFILER_ENABLED        | True/False | False            | Collect high-level server tracing events                                                                                         | add -e in docker run command |
 | WARMUP_ENABLED              | True/False | True             | Enable warmup during server initialization to recompile all graphs. This can increase TGI setup time.                            | add -e in docker run command |
+| QUEUE_THRESHOLD_MS          | integer    | 120              | Controls the threshold beyond which the request are considered overdue and handled with priority. Shorter requests are prioritized otherwise.                            | add -e in docker run command |
 </div>
 
 
diff --git a/router/src/queue.rs b/router/src/queue.rs
index 9961d27e..2b5f61b1 100644
--- a/router/src/queue.rs
+++ b/router/src/queue.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,10 @@ use crate::infer::InferStreamResponse;
 use crate::validation::ValidGenerateRequest;
 use nohash_hasher::{BuildNoHashHasher, IntMap};
 use std::cmp::min;
-use std::collections::VecDeque;
+use std::cmp::{Eq, Ord, PartialEq, PartialOrd};
+use std::collections::BinaryHeap;
+use std::env;
+use std::time::Duration;
 use text_generation_client::{Batch, Request};
 use tokio::sync::{mpsc, oneshot};
 use tokio::time::Instant;
@@ -132,11 +135,104 @@ async fn queue_task(
     }
 }
 
+#[derive(Debug)]
+struct IdentifiableEntry(u64, Entry);
+
+impl Eq for IdentifiableEntry {}
+
+impl PartialEq for IdentifiableEntry {
+    fn eq(&self, other: &Self) -> bool {
+        self.0 == other.0
+    }
+}
+
+impl Ord for IdentifiableEntry {
+    fn cmp(&self, other: &Self) -> std::cmp::Ordering {
+        let ordering = match self
+            .1
+            .request
+            .input_length
+            .cmp(&other.1.request.input_length)
+        {
+            std::cmp::Ordering::Equal => self.0.cmp(&other.0),
+            any => any,
+        };
+
+        // inverse to get min heap
+        return ordering.reverse();
+    }
+}
+
+impl PartialOrd for IdentifiableEntry {
+    fn partial_cmp(&self, other: &Self) -> Option<std::cmp::Ordering> {
+        Some(self.cmp(other))
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+struct QueueImpl {
+    regular_entries: BinaryHeap<IdentifiableEntry>,
+    overdue_entries: BinaryHeap<IdentifiableEntry>,
+    overdue_threshold: Duration,
+}
+
+impl QueueImpl {
+    fn new(capacity: usize, overdue_threshold: Duration) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            regular_entries: BinaryHeap::with_capacity(capacity),
+            overdue_entries: BinaryHeap::with_capacity(capacity),
+            overdue_threshold,
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn update(&mut self) {
+        if self.regular_entries.is_empty() {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        let mut left = BinaryHeap::with_capacity(self.regular_entries.capacity());
+
+        for entry in self.regular_entries.drain() {
+            if entry.1.queue_time.elapsed() > self.overdue_threshold {
+                self.overdue_entries.push(entry);
+            } else {
+                left.push(entry);
+            }
+        }
+
+        self.regular_entries = left;
+    }
+
+    fn push(&mut self, entry: IdentifiableEntry) {
+        if entry.1.queue_time.elapsed() > self.overdue_threshold {
+            self.overdue_entries.push(entry);
+        } else {
+            self.regular_entries.push(entry);
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn pop(&mut self) -> Option<IdentifiableEntry> {
+        if !self.overdue_entries.is_empty() {
+            self.overdue_entries.pop()
+        } else {
+            self.regular_entries.pop()
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn is_empty(&self) -> bool {
+        self.regular_entries.is_empty() && self.overdue_entries.is_empty()
+    }
+
+    fn len(&self) -> usize {
+        self.regular_entries.len() + self.overdue_entries.len()
+    }
+}
+
 /// Queue State
 #[derive(Debug)]
 struct State {
-    /// Queue entries organized in a Vec
-    entries: VecDeque<(u64, Entry)>,
+    /// Queue entries
+    entries: QueueImpl,
 
     /// Id of the next entry
     next_id: u64,
@@ -166,10 +262,16 @@ impl State {
         max_input_length: u32,
         max_total_tokens: u32,
         block_size: u32,
-        window_size: Option<u32>
+        window_size: Option<u32>,
     ) -> Self {
+        let default_threshold: u64 = 120;
+        let threshold: u64 = match env::var("QUEUE_THRESHOLD_MS") {
+            Ok(val) => val.parse().unwrap_or(default_threshold),
+            Err(_) => default_threshold,
+        };
+
         Self {
-            entries: VecDeque::with_capacity(128),
+            entries: QueueImpl::new(128, Duration::from_millis(threshold)),
             next_id: 0,
             next_batch_id: 0,
             requires_padding,
@@ -187,7 +289,7 @@ impl State {
         entry.temp_span = Some(queue_span);
 
         // Push entry in the queue
-        self.entries.push_back((self.next_id, entry));
+        self.entries.push(IdentifiableEntry(self.next_id, entry));
         self.next_id += 1;
     }
 
@@ -209,6 +311,8 @@ impl State {
             }
         }
 
+        self.entries.update();
+
         // Create span for this batch to add context to inference calls
         let next_batch_span = info_span!(parent: None, "batch", batch_size = tracing::field::Empty);
         next_batch_span.follows_from(&Span::current());
@@ -221,7 +325,7 @@ impl State {
         let mut decode_tokens: u32 = 0;
 
         // Pop entries starting from the front of the queue
-        while let Some((id, mut entry)) = self.entries.pop_front() {
+        while let Some(IdentifiableEntry(id, mut entry)) = self.entries.pop() {
             // Filter entries where the response receiver was dropped (== entries where the request
             // was dropped by the client)
             if entry.response_tx.is_closed() {
@@ -263,7 +367,7 @@ impl State {
             {
                 // Entry is over budget
                 // Add it back to the front
-                self.entries.push_front((id, entry));
+                self.entries.push(IdentifiableEntry(id, entry));
                 break;
             }
 
@@ -303,7 +407,7 @@ impl State {
                 for r in batch_requests.into_iter().rev() {
                     let id = r.id;
                     let entry = batch_entries.remove(&id).unwrap();
-                    self.entries.push_front((id, entry));
+                    self.entries.push(IdentifiableEntry(id, entry));
                 }
 
                 return None;
@@ -399,7 +503,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         assert_eq!(state.next_id, 1);
         assert_eq!(state.entries.len(), 1);
-        let (id, _) = state.entries.remove(0).unwrap();
+        let id = state.entries.pop().unwrap().0;
         assert_eq!(id, 0);
     }
 
diff --git a/router/src/validation.rs b/router/src/validation.rs
index 1b47fc97..17e72b87 100644
--- a/router/src/validation.rs
+++ b/router/src/validation.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 use crate::validation::ValidationError::{BestOfSampling, BestOfSeed, EmptyInput};
 use crate::{GenerateParameters, GenerateRequest};
 use rand::{thread_rng, Rng};
+use std::env;
 use text_generation_client::{NextTokenChooserParameters, StoppingCriteriaParameters};
 use thiserror::Error;
 use tokenizers::tokenizer::Tokenizer;
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ pub struct Validation {
     max_total_tokens: usize,
     /// Channel to communicate with the background tokenization task
     sender: Option<mpsc::UnboundedSender<TokenizerRequest>>,
+    skip_tokenizer_in_tgi: bool,
 }
 
 impl Validation {
@@ -59,6 +61,10 @@ impl Validation {
             None
         };
 
+        let skip_tokenizer_in_tgi = env::var("SKIP_TOKENIZER_IN_TGI")
+            .ok()
+            .map_or(false, |value| value.to_lowercase() == "true");
+
         Self {
             max_best_of,
             sender,
@@ -66,6 +72,7 @@ impl Validation {
             max_top_n_tokens,
             max_input_length,
             max_total_tokens,
+            skip_tokenizer_in_tgi,
         }
     }
 
@@ -130,7 +137,11 @@ impl Validation {
             } else {
                 return Err(ValidationError::UnsetMaxNewTokens);
             };
-            let input_length = truncate.unwrap_or(self.max_input_length);
+            let input_length = if self.skip_tokenizer_in_tgi {
+                inputs.chars().filter(|&c| c == ',').count() + 1
+            } else {
+                truncate.unwrap_or(self.max_input_length)
+            };
 
             // Validate MaxNewTokens
             if (input_length as u32 + max_new_tokens) > self.max_total_tokens as u32 {