Inbound Logistics | September 2009 | Digital Issue

The labor and sacrifice that helped truck- ers survive the Depression allowed them to thrive in the post-war era. Challenges turned into opportunities. The capitalist spirit of founding fathers–and moth- ers – was recast by upstart offspring. They, in turn, sprung a new vision to emerging U.S. industries dependent on trucking services to grow. When President Eisenhower pitched the Interstate Highway Act in 1956, trucking companies were prepared for the longer haul and committed to mak- ing his speculative idea a reality. The Road Goes on Forever By the time the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 rolled around and suspended government regulation, the trucking industry was well entrenched in the U.S. economic psyche. The old guard had set an example that, borrowing from Harvey Firestone’s Ship By Truck pitch, was right then and is right now. From the very beginning, the Vander Pols and countless others were driving

their own trucks and interacting directly with customers. “Because it was a family-owned com- pany, generation to generation worked every job in the company,” says Mike Hobby. “They knew the operations inside and out. The Vander Pol name was attached to everything we did. They owned the level of service and commit- ted to high expectations because they knew they could do it.” With their names literally tied to their word, these trucking companies couldn’t hide behind excuses. They did things the hard way because they had to. They saw opportunities and seized them, took risks, rolled with the punches, and reaped the rewards. They believed customers and employees deserved respect, not just because some were family–everyone was treated as family. They didn’t squeeze pricing or pinch service; everything was set in stone. And they hauled every- thing and anything during the Great Depression, World War II, and beyond. As with Firestone and his Ship By Truck

mantra, then President Eisenhower and his Interstate vision, A. Duie Pyle, Al Schneider, the Vander Pol brothers, Louis Saia Sr., Lillian and Earl Congdon, James Ryder, and John Ruan are forever linked with one of the greatest legacies of U.S. enterprise. It took a chance encounter between a leading industrialist and a future war hero and president to excite the imagina- tion and carry it forward. It took another generation of risk takers and opportunists to share the vision and make it reality. Their legacies are part of your story and ours. It’s a grand narrative that speaks to the ethics and will of gener- ations before; it also cobbles together unique roadmaps of individuals who pioneered transportation innovation that continues to this day. “People that started in the truck- ing business had a dream; their story is about American ingenuity and engi- neering,” concludes Lubner. “The Al Schneiders of the world made change possible when it wasn’t popular.” ■

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