Heartland Express Founder Russell Gerdin Dies

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Former chairman, CEO built one of trucking’s most profitable companies

Russell Gerdin, the son of a truck driver who founded one of the most profitable companies in trucking, died Oct. 15. He was 70 years old.

Gerdin founded Heartland Express, a North Liberty, Iowa, truckload carrier, in 1978, shortly before federal deregulation redrew the map of the trucking industry. Deregulation created the irregular route, long-haul truckload carrier, and Heartland Express expanded rapidly in the 1980s, going public as early as 1986.

Today the carrier is one of the most profitable companies in trucking, with an operating ratio of 76.2 percent and a 16.4 percent net margin in the second quarter. Heartland reported a $62.2 million profit last year on $499.5 million in revenue. The company is the 17th largest truckload carrier in the U.S. ranked by revenue.....................

Heartland Express Founder Russell Gerdin Dies | Journal of Commerce
 
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