Russell Gerdin, the founder and former chairman and CEO of Heartland Express Inc., died听Friday at the age of 70.
In a release announcing Gerdin鈥檚 death, Heartland Express described its founder as 鈥渁 visionary and a respected leader in the trucking industry鈥 and 鈥渁 tireless worker who led by example.鈥
Gerdin founded the truckload carrier in 1978 and took the company public in 1986.
Gerdin recently retired from Heartland due to health reasons and passed the chairman and CEO positions to his son, Michael Gerdin.
鈥淗e was driven at making Heartland Express the best company he could and doing the best at anything he tried,鈥 Michael Gerdin said of his father in a statement. 鈥淗e was always focusing on giving it his 100 percent. We will miss his leadership and industry foresight.鈥
The leadership of American Trucking Associations expressed its condolences Monday at the group鈥檚 Management Conference and Exhibition in Grapevine, Texas.
鈥淩uss was a true visionary and pioneer in our industry. A giant,鈥 ATA President Bill Graves said in a statement. 鈥淥ur thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Ann and the entire Gerdin family.
Heartland Express is ranked No. 45 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire trucking companies.
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