Small fleets and owner-operators gain market share
In an article published Tuesday, FreightWaves CEO and founder Craig Fuller made a case that the trucking industry is not consolidating anytime soon. The prevailing wisdom following the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 was that there would be rapid consolidation as previously highly regulated unionized trucking companies, operating under the older regulations from the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), went bankrupt and...
Estes Express Lines is the largest privately owned freight shipping company in North America.
Estes has provided shipping solutions to its customers since its founding in 1931. Over the decades its leaders and employees have built a “robust transportation network, a reputation for dependability, and an award-winning safety record.”
Estes is an asset-based freight transportation and custom logistics solutions provider. Its fleet contains more than 7,000 tractors and 30,000 trailers; it also has...
Early life and career
On this date 110 years ago (March 14, 1912) W. Graham Claytor, Jr. was born in Roanoke, Virginia. He grew up in Virginia and Philadelphia. He graduated from the University of Virginia as a mathematics and physics major. Claytor then attended Harvard Law School, graduating summa cum laude in 1936 after serving as president of the Harvard Law Review.
Graham Claytor in his naval uniform during World War II. (Photo: navsource.org)He clerked for Learned Hand, who was a...
You can read Part 1 of this article here.
The Pullman strike
In 1893 the U.S. suffered one of its intermittent economic depressions (the Panic of 1893). By 1894, demand for Pullman railcars had diminished. Pullman’s response was to cut jobs and wages while also increasing working hours in his manufacturing plant to lower costs and continue to generate profits for shareholders. However, he did not lower rents or prices of goods or utilities in the company town. For those employees who lived in...
There are many people interested in former transportation companies, whether they were trucking companies, railroads, airlines or ocean lines. These companies are called “fallen flags,” and the term describes companies whose corporate names have been dissolved through merger, bankruptcy or liquidation.
Today’s FreightWaves Classics profiles another fallen flag in the trucking industry – Pacific Intermountain Express, which was known as P.I.E. and P-I-E. Unfortunately, there is not much...
This past Sunday was the 174th anniversary (February 20, 1848) of the birth of Edward Henry Harriman.
Early career and start in railroading
Born on Long Island, New York, Harriman was the son of a minister. Although he was a very good student, he left school in 1861 at the age of 13 to work on Wall Street. Harriman began as an office boy, but worked his way up to be the managing clerk of an investment firm. Thanks to a loan from his uncle, Harriman purchased a seat on the New York Stock...
To read Part 1 of this article, follow this link.
World War I
Despite going into receivership in late 1911, the Wabash did well because of its key corridors, which carried a diversified traffic base. Its network was slightly over 2,000 route miles and served Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha and Buffalo.
In 1912 the company adopted the slogan “Follow The Flag.” It was a simple marketing tactic that earned the Wabash one of the most innovative logos and slogans of all time.
To exit...
There are many people interested in former transportation companies, whether they were trucking companies, railroads, airlines or ocean lines. These companies are called “fallen flags,” and the term describes companies whose corporate names have been dissolved through merger, bankruptcy or liquidation.
Today’s FreightWaves Classics profiles another fallen flag in the railroad industry – the Wabash Railroad. Although many would say it was “only a Midwestern bridge line,” the Wabash Railroad had...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicsfallen-flags-wabash-railroad
Jervis Langdon, Jr. was born in 1905 in Elmira, New York. He was part of the fourth generation of a family of industrialists with ties to the railroad industry. His grandfather was Mark Twain’s friend and brother-in-law, and his uncle was president of the Lehigh Valley Railroad.
A Lehigh Valley Railroad boxcar that illustrates the railroad’s route. 
A young Jervis Langdon, Jr. (Photo: geni.com)Langdon graduated from Cornell University in 1927 and began his...
If you missed Part 1 of this article, here is a link.
Improving refrigerator railcars
Early wooden refrigerator railcars required insulation to help protect their contents from extremes in temperature. “Hairfelt” was compressed cattle hair, placed into the floor and walls of a railcar. It was inexpensive (a byproduct of the slaughtering process), yet quite flawed. Hairfelt would last three to four years, but it would decay, which rotted the car’s wooden partitions and often tainted the cargo...