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Peter Latta, 67, CEO and third-generation owner of a transportation and logistics company based in West Chester, Pennsylvania A. Due PyleHe was just 12 years old when he first started working in the family business.
“On my first day, the manager asked me to fill up a truck next to two gas pumps,” Latta said. entrepreneur“I went outside and tried to figure out how to put fuel in my truck, and he came up to me and said, ‘Son, do you know the difference between diesel fuel and gasoline?’ I said, ‘Um, I don’t.’ And he said, ‘Well, you just put the wrong fuel in your truck.’”
Despite the tough start, Latta worked hard to learn the ins and outs of the company founded by his grandfather, Alexander Dewey Pyle, 100 years ago and lead it through a period of great growth.
Image courtesy of A. Duie Pyle. The Latta family, Peter Latta in the center.
The story begins with the purchase of a used truck in 1924. Alexander Dewey Pyle drove it, and his wife, Mary Ellen, Latta’s grandmother, served as bookkeeper and dispatcher for the small business. The couple had one daughter, and Latta’s mother, Eleanor, married James (Jim) Latta. Latta joined A. Dewey Pyle after returning from World War II for what he thought would be a temporary job, but stayed until his death in 1995, Latta says.
Image courtesy of A. Duie Pyle. Mary Ellen and Alexander Duie Pyle.
Ten years ago, in 1985, Peter Latta returned to A. Dewey Pyle full time after working as a certified public accountant and then an attorney. At the time, the company had fewer than 100 employees and annual sales of about $10 million, Latta said. Today, Pyle has expanded its reach to the Southeast, Midwest and the Northeast through partnerships in Canada, and boasts more than 4,300 employees and expects sales of $850 million this year.
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The company’s largest business segment is parcel transportation, which involves the transportation of smaller loads or volumes of freight for a fee. In 2013, Pyle launched its dedicated services business, which has clients such as supermarket chain Wegmans as full-time contracts. Pyle also operates a warehousing and distribution business, truck load management services, and a traditional steel transportation business.
“When people trust each other [and] We depend on each other and we don’t want to let each other down.”
While Pyle’s footprint and revenue are now impressive, it had to overcome some significant challenges and capitalize on certain opportunities to achieve the success it enjoys today.
In 1979, a year before the deregulation of the motor carrier industry began, Pyle endured a three-month strike when Latta’s father, then CEO, tried to negotiate the terms of Jimmy Hoffa Sr.’s Teamsters National Motor Freight Agreement. Latta’s father believed he could not maintain his 30-year union relationship if Pyle had to weather the impending storm, and offered a new layoff date and a 5-cent pay differential an hour.
Images courtesy of A. Duie Pyle, Jim and Eleanor Latta.
Ultimately, Jim Latta’s leadership saved the business. After a 14-week strike, about 30 of the nearly 100 employees quit the union and crossed the picket line. After a disqualification election, Pyle became a union-free company. “Trust is a powerful thing,” Latta says. “I learned that in the Teamsters strike. When people trust each other, [and] We depend on each other and we don’t want to let each other down.”
Related: Distrust is the biggest obstacle leaders face. Here’s how to build trust on your team.
Then came the process of deregulation in 1980. The motor carrier industry was unregulated until 1935, but then it started to be treated “like a public utility,” Latta said: The Interstate Commerce Commission regulated interstate movement, and each state’s Public Utility Commission regulated intrastate movement.
“If you were operating, you still had the right to operate in the areas you were operating in,” Latta said. “That was the situation from 1935 to 1980. It was very difficult to get a license from the Interstate Commerce Commission or a state public utility commission, so carriers would buy other carriers in order to get licenses.”
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Image courtesy of A. Duie Pyle. Alexander Duie Pyle at the 1939 exhibition.
Additionally, during that period of regulation, carriers had antitrust exemptions to set rates jointly. This practice, known today as competitor price fixing, limited price competition and meant “a pretty cushy world,” Latta says. Then, in 1980, deregulation began, making it easier for carriers to gain operating authority in new territories and eliminating the antitrust exemption to joint rate setting. This meant an influx of new carriers and more price competition.
“Nobody knew what it meant,” Latta recalls, but it would completely upend the industry. Until 1980, companies in the motor carrier industry reported their profits to the government, but of the top 60 companies by profit that year, only three, including Pyle, are still in business today, Latta says, noting that 55 of those 60 were Teamsters carriers.
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“Deregulation has been a disaster for many airlines, but it has also been an opportunity to expand, grow and profit.”
Until 1996, Pyle operated one less-than-truckload terminal serving an area of about 50 miles around West Chester, Pa., and the company did not serve any states. As turmoil in the industry continued and customers sought broader service offerings, Pyle rose to the challenge and sought to become a regional carrier for the Northeast.
“At the time, there were six regional airlines that pretty much dominated the market,” Latta says. “Our geographic expansion into that area made us overwhelmingly strong. Now all six are gone, but we survived. So deregulation was a disaster for a lot of airlines, but it was also an opportunity to expand, grow and benefit from deregulation and increased competition.”
According to Latta, the key to Pyle’s success in business for 100 years has been “the engagement of the people at Pyle, and I always attribute that to our six core values. [empathy, candor, citizenship, service first, integrity and profitability]When we embrace them, it creates a very healthy culture for all members of the Pyle team, and with that culture comes trust.”
Related: How listening helps build a culture of trust in your business
“Our secret is the collective discretionary effort of the people of Pyle.”
That trust was on the table again on June 15, 2019, when Pyle was hit by a cyber-ransomware attack that left it unable to access voicemail, email, and its home-grown operating applications. The company reverted to a paper-and-pencil approach and was honest with customers about its predicament. Latta says customers appreciated the transparency, and some even temporarily resumed business with the company, promising to return once the situation was resolved.
“The connection between core values, culture and trust has led to a term I like to use: ‘discretionary effort,’ or more effort than that,” says Latta. “Our secret sauce is the collective discretionary effort of the people at Pyle. After all, we live in a world of service. Trucks, trailers, facilities and technology are all tools of the trade, like saws and hammers to a carpenter. But it’s the people who use the tools and their discretionary effort that ranks us against our competitors.”
Related: 12 ways to instantly motivate your employees
Image courtesy of A. Duie Pyle
Latta said he loves Pyle’s people and company culture, and is pleased to know the company is “financially improving the lives of 4,000 families.” He recalled an interaction he had about a month ago, when he was at the New York Terminal in the Bronx for an early-morning meeting. His driver showed him photos of the home he and his wife had just purchased. He said he “never dreamed” it would be theirs, so they could save for their children’s education.
“From a longevity perspective, [it’s about] “Earning — and I say ‘earn’, not ‘win’ — the trust of customers, employees and employees’ families, because that’s the quiet force behind the curtain — family — and it motivates the people at Pyle to do great things,” Latta said.