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4 THE JOURNAL OF COMMERCE www.joc.com Editor's Letter William B. Cassidy J. HARWOOD COCHRANE, who died July 25 at 103 years of age, began his career in the 1920s driving a horse- drawn milk wagon in Richmond, Virg inia, and went on to found Overnite Transportation, now UPS Freight and one of the largest U.S. trucking companies. Cochrane was one of the last — perhaps the last — surviving mem- bers of a generation that transformed the industrial distribution landscape of America by establishing trucking as a mode of long-distance freight transportation, ending the domi- nance of freight railroads. "He ran a tight ship, and he was proud of his people and he was proud of his facilities," said Chuck Clowdis, managing director for transporta- tion at IHS Markit Economics and Country Risk and a long-time truck- ing veteran. Among trucking CEOs, Cochrane, he said, "set the standard." Cochrane was also a fierce foe of the Teamsters union. From the 1930s through the 1980s, his less- than-truckload company was one of the few non-union businesses in a highly organized industry. Cochrane also helped draft Virginia's "right to work" law in the 1940s. Cochrane sold Overnite in 1987 to the nation's largest railroad, Union Pacifi c, for the then-staggering sum of $1.2 billion, and founded another trucking company in Richmond, truckload carrier Highway Express. He sold that company to Celadon Group in 2003. Although he retired from truck- ing at the age of 91, Cochrane kept an active interest in the industry and was a close friend and informal adviser to Jack Holmes, president of UPS Freight from 2007 until his retirement last month, often visiting the company's headquarters. When Cochrane started Overnite in 1935, "I did everything wrong," he told The Journal of Commerce in 2013. "I bought the wrong tractors, the wrong tires. How I survived nobody will know." He did survive, and after 52 acquisitions expanded Overnite coast-to-coast. Cochrane's career spanned enor- mous change in transportation, from the decline of the railroad to the rise of containerization. He saw the regu- lation of trucking in 1935, which he supported, and deregulation in 1980, which he also supported, with some reservations. One thing that hasn't changed is the importance of the personal touch in customer relations. Cochrane learned that lesson early. "When I fi rst went to see R.J. Reynolds, people warned me, 'Don't you dare go up there without a pack of cigarettes in your pocket, because he's going to ask you for one.' " Cochrane brought the pack with him, and he won the business. In many ways, Cochrane personi- fied the entrepreneurial drive that fueled the growth of many trucking companies, and that continues to do so. Trucking is still dominated by small businesses. Necessity drove him, and he continued to be driven all his life. "I came from a family of seven where only one fi nished high school," he told The Journal of Commerce. "My kinfolks were all poor. I knew I wasn't going to get much of an edu- cation. I was looking for something I could succeed in, and trucking looked like something I could do." He did it well, but his most important legacy, Holmes said, was not the company, but the people of Overnite. "One of his first lessons for me was don't focus on the people above you, focus on the people below you," Holmes said. "If you do, they'll take care of everything else." JOC A Legendary Trucker's Legacy The Journal of Commerce (USPS 279 – 060), ISSN 1530-7557, August 8, 2016, Volume 17, Issue No. 16. The Journal of Commerce is published bi-weekly except the last week in December (printed 26 times per year) by JOC Group Inc. 2 Penn Plaza East, 12th Floor, Newark, N.J. 07105. Subscription price: $344 a year. Periodicals postage paid at Newark, N.J., and additional mailing offi ces. © All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be copied or reprinted without written permission from the publisher. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to The Journal of Commerce, Subscription Services Department, 2 Penn Plaza East, Floor 12, Newark, N.J. 07105-2257. AUGUST 8.2016 EXECUTIVE EDITOR, THE JOURNAL OF COMMERCE AND JOC EVENTS Chris Brooks 973.776.7818 chris.brooks@ihsmarkit.com MANAGING EDITOR Barbara Wyker 973.776.7817 barbara.wyker@ihsmarkit.com EXECUTIVE EDITOR, JOC.COM Mark Szakonyi 202.872.1234 mark.szakonyi@ihsmarkit.com SENIOR EDITORS Joseph Bonney, Breakbulk/Project Cargo, Gulf Coast 973.508.2417 joseph.bonney@ihsmarkit.com William B. Cassidy, Trucking and Domestic Transportation 202.872.1228 bill.cassidy@ihsmarkit.com Bill Mongelluzzo, West Coast 562.428.5999 bill.mongelluzzo@ihsmarkit.com Hugh Morley, Northeast, Mexico 973.776.7811 hugh.morley@ihsmarkit.com Greg Knowler, Asia Editor, IHS Maritime & Trade +852 3975 2647 greg.knowler@ihsmarkit.com Turloch Mooney, Global Ports, IHS Maritime & Trade +852 9011 9109 turloch.mooney@ihsmarkit.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Reynolds Hutchins, Intermodal, Government/Regulation, Southeast Ports 202.572.1487 reynolds.hutchins@ihsmarkit.com RESEARCH EDITOR Marsha Salisbury 973.776.7828 marsha.salisbury@ihsmarkit.com ASSISTANT WEB EDITOR Dustin Braden 973.776.8652 dustin.braden@ihsmarkit.com ECONOMIST Mario O. 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