A billionaire. Why would I write about a billionaire?
Because this guy, who just died at the tender age of 103, started one of the biggest trucking firms. And, when I was running my own trucking company, his trucks were everywhere around the Commonwealth. We might have been a big private carrier, but we were dwarfed by his frim.
Back when this guy started his trucking company, it was a radical idea. Because in 1933, freight was the bailiwick of the railroads. Trucks only delivered what we would now term the last mile.
But, with the advent of the national highway system and followed by the interstate highways (he was an advisor to the government about their construction and siting), trucking became the dominant freight carrier. And, Overnite Transportation thrived with those changes.
Overnite is spelled that way because someone had already started an “Overnight” firm. But that firm is long gone. This firm started and stayed in Richmond (Virginia)- where James Harwood Cochrane was born. Started in 1935, his firm went public in 1957 and endured- and won- a six year fight with Jimmy Hoffa [who ran the Teamsters union] who endeavored to unionize the firm. (Note that Virginia is a “Right to Work” state- which really means anti-union.)
As Overnite’s first (and primary) driver, Cochrane slept in his truck overnight. Back then, there were no sleeper cabs- he used the front (and only seat) as his bed and kept himself warm with kerosene heaters. He found ways to use the (newly formed) Interstate Commerce Commission to garner monopoly power and set truck prices that made his firm profitable. (The ICC no longer sets trucking rates.) It was monopoly because the ICC also carved out regions where truckers could operate- often by themselves.
Cochrane grew his firm organically and by purchasing (about 50) small trucking firms, converting Overnite from a regional carrier to a nationwide firm. (It didn’t hurt that he made inroads in the tobacco industry- Philip Morris was also a Richmond firm- which was growing dramatically before regulation changed the character of the tobacco business.) The Teamsters had a tough time organizing Overnite because Cochrane provided his employees stock options and was always present – on the road, in freight terminals, so the workers knew and trusted him well.
Cochrane also was frugal. (My employees would consider it cheap, as they endured the same practices). When travelling on business trips, Cochrane shared hotel rooms with those that accompanied him. When paper clips arrived on documents, they were saved when the papers were discarded. His concept was to set the tone to do things well- at the lowest cost possible.
When Union Pacific paid $ 1.2 billion to take over Overnite in 1986, not only Cochrane- but most of his employees- became inordinately wealthy. But, the railroad firm had no concept of running a trucking firm and spun it off 7 short years later. Now, Overnight is part of UPS (it’s called UPS Freight), where it provides LTL (less than truckload) deliveries for firms who need to move deliveries that are beyond the normal UPS ware. (The wine firm for which I served as CFO is one such customer.)
Oh, Cochrane also used his money for great things. He was a big help (about $ 40 million or so) to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond) and provided about $ 1 million to help those traumatized by Hurricane Katrina, among other charitable ventures
By the way, he personally dropped off that last check at the local Red Cross chapter!
