legacies that bought Firestone’s sell and swayed Eisenhower’s way. Through the stories of industry van- guards, we explore the innovation and invention, leadership and vision that sparked mainstream commercial use of trucking in the United States. Firestone reinvented the wheel and gave it a spin. Eisenhower legislated how far it could go. A group of trucking pioneers embraced the vision and brought it home. Making a Name Today their identities are synon- ymous with the road, plastered on thousands of tractors and trailers, span- ning as many miles and more across the United States. Two and three gen- erations ago, Alexander (A.) Duie Pyle, Al Schneider, the Vander Pol brothers, Louis Saia Sr., Lillian and Earl Congdon, James Ryder, and John Ruan were the names answering the phone, dispatch- ing loads, driving the trucks, and selling their word. These forebears realized the syner- gies between transportation innovation and industrial demand. Where their trucks rolled, commerce followed. And where agriculture and manufacturing sprouted, they began. Duie Pyle was the product of a Coatesville, Pa., farm and the state’s famed steel industry. “He was working at a Lukens Steel mill when a neigh- bor came looking to unload a couple of hard rubber-tired trucks. It was April 1, 1924,” says Peter Latta, his grandson and current chairman of A. Duie Pyle. Duie figured he’d be a fool if he didn’t take the chance. So he bought the trucks,
JAMES RYDER AN HONE S T MI S TAKE Opportunities never passed James Ryder by. His willingness to take risks was a reflection of his philosophy. “He approached business like drilling for oil. Some wells are productive, others are not, but you have to keep drilling,” explains David Bruce, vice president of corpo- rate communications, Ryder. In 1938, Ryder began diversifying the company’s footprint outside of hauling concrete materials, acquiring his first warehousing facility to store and move furniture, liquor, general
merchandise, and building materials. At the same time, Ryder encountered a business proposition that would ulti- mately define his future. He heard about a company in New York that was leasing its trucks to customers. So when an oppor- tunity presented itself to deliver a similar offer to a Florida beer distributorship that had recently acquired the rights to move Champagne Velvet beer in Florida, he jumped. Ryder priced the deal at $37.75 per truck, per week, and nine cents a mile. The distributor jumped on his quote, but for the wrong reason – they believed it was far too high. Ryder, who had spent a long night crunching numbers to come up with the
James Ryder
quote, reacted “hotly” to their counter, explains Bruce. Eventually, the distributor accepted his bid because they believed his reaction was honest, which they valued more than the price. Ryder outfitted five Swamp Holly Orange-colored International Harvester trucks with Champagne Velvet splashed on the side, and his truck-leasing business was off and running. Years later, and in retrospect, Ryder admitted that the price he quoted the distributor was indeed too high – an honest mistake. But he also figured that he ultimately repaid the debt to the company because Champagne Velvet became the unofficial beverage of choice for Ryder employees, who demanded that their favorite establishments serve it all over Miami.
In 1938, James Ryder seized an opportunity to expand the business into truck leasing.
took on their existing customers, and added some others through his steel mill contacts. Al Schneider shared a similar upbringing and entrepreneur- ial spirit. Raised on
a Wisconsin farm, he sold the family car in 1935 and bought a sin- gle-axle tractor, operating as an independent contractor
in the Green Bay area. Then he man- aged a small, 60-truck operation until he
34 Inbound Logistics • September 2009
FACING LOGISTICS CHALLENGES? USE IL’S 3PL EXPERTS AND
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