Interstate gave them access to a larger swath of the country. “The advent of truckload transpor- tation allowed us to move goods on irregular routes from any point-to- point location in the United States,” says Lubner. This provided a competitive alter- native to traditional boxcar rail service. As the United States clawed itself out of a depression and began ramping up production to provision the U.S. military for World War II, the trucking industry was on the brink of another resurgence. A new generation was being groomed to take the helm, expectations were height- ened, and expansion was imminent. War and Peace The buildup to World War II had a marked impact on the United States’ manufacturing pulse and economic recovery, but the motor freight industry was beset by new challenges. Trucks became scarce as new equip- ment was swallowed up by the war effort and fleets were frozen. James Ryder had to temporarily abandon truck leasing because there weren’t enough trucks to lend. But it gave him incentive to concentrate efforts on trucking and warehousing, especially as military activity in Miami Beach picked up. John Ruan felt similar pressures. In 1937, he bought the majority share of McCoy Trucking of Waterloo, Iowa, which served Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Nebraska. He soon acquired two more trucking companies and later began hauling petroleum products, for which demand had increased as a result of World War II. “During the war, keeping up with business was a challenge as shortages in truck parts and drivers forced my father to become more efficient–to the point of driving loads himself to ensure deliv- ery,” says John Ruan III. Old Dominion had mixed fortunes. Serving an important lane between mil- itary bases in Richmond and Norfolk, it benefited from an increase in freight volumes. But a Teamster’s strike forced the company to reinvent itself as a non- union carrier shortly after the war. World War II presented the Saias with a different challenge. The family’s
workforce, namely John and Vincent, was called away to the U.S. Army and U.S. Marines, respectively. Louis and Christine Saia struggled to keep the busi- ness moving without their muscle. But sacrifices made during the first half of the decade were redeemed in spades following the war. As the “next generation” returned to the workforce, trucking companies were welcome beneficiaries. Peter Latta’s parents had married before his father, James, shipped off. When he returned, Duie Pyle offered his son-in-law a job with the company. It presented a natural continuity, shares Latta: “My grandfather had the entrepre- neurial spirit, but he needed the business
year, the company secured its first ded- icated contract carriage arrangement–a handshake agreement between James Ryder and John S. Knight, owner of Knight-Ridder Newspapers–to distribute daily editions of the Miami Herald . The contract remains in effect to this day. Between 1945 and 1949, Ryder’s fleet grew from 172 trucks to 450, and by the end of the decade it was operating five facilities in state. That same year it locked in an agreement with Minute Maid to haul 109 refrigerated trailers from the company’s Plymouth, Fla., location to Midwest and East Coast locations, tak- ing the carrier outside the confines of Florida for the first time. Earl Congdon’s death in 1950 pressed Lillian into a new role as president, and later chairman, of Old Dominion–at a time when matriarchal leadership was anything but common. Then her two sons, Earl Jr. and Jack, joined the company. With the acquisition of Bottoms-Fiske Truck Line in 1957, Old Dominion extended its market pres- ence throughout southern Virginia and North Carolina. Schneider, which had dabbled in stor- ing household goods since the 1930s, discontinued that part of the business in 1944. In 1958, it was granted its first interstate authority by the ICC, carrying a shipment for Procter & Gamble from a plant in Green Bay, Wisc., to Cheboygan, Mich. By 1961, Don Schneider, Al’s old- est son, joined the company as manager, bringing the office staff to five. “Al had a great entrepreneurial spirit,” shares Lubner. “Don took that and built a company that could innovate on a broader scale. When he took over, he said we need to lead with technology, bigger and better equipment, to deliver the ultimate value to the customer.” John Ruan did as much in 1948 when he bought 76 tractors, one of the larg- est deals in Iowa trucking history. By the end of the 1940s, Ruan had 10 ter- minals in Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota. One decade later the company was the largest hauler of bulk petroleum prod- ucts in the United States, operating 40 terminals across the country. The lean 1920s and 1930s made the boom years that much more rewarding.
discipline, which my father provided. This helped the transition from genera- tion to generation.” Equal fortune befell the Saias when the two brothers returned, and with their younger sibling, Louis Jr., resumed familiar roles in the family enterprise. Soon after, Saia opened its first terminal outside New Orleans in Lafayette, La. Following the war, trucking compa- nies began to expand their services and coverage areas by aggressively targeting new customers and acquisitions. When Ryder entered into a lease arrangement with an Anheuser-Busch distributorship in the summer of 1945, it took the carrier statewide. Later that Louis Saia Sr. initially delivered produce sourced in New Orleans to local customers. As demand grew, he began hauling different types of cargo.
42 Inbound Logistics • September 2009
FACING LOGISTICS CHALLENGES? USE IL’S 3PL EXPERTS AND
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