obituary News Updates

Business

Harris Saunders, Truck Leasing Executive, First Trala Chairman, Dies at Age 93

Harris Saunders Jr., the former head of Saunders Leasing System and picked to be the first chairman of the Truck Renting and Leasing Association in 1978, died May 6. He was 93.

May 10, 2018
Business, TCA

Jay Kaplan, Owner of Freightway Corp., Dies at 76

Jay Kaplan, who owned the trucking firm his father founded and led industry advocacy groups, died Feb. 24 in Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg Township. He was 76.

March 2, 2018
Business, Equipment

Harvey Brodsky, ‘Voice of Retreading,’ Dies at Age 81

Harvey Brodsky, known around the world as the “voice of retreading” and who was the former managing director of the Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau and the Retread Tire Association, died Sept. 17 of complications from lung cancer at his home in Pacific Grove, Calif. He was 81.

September 28, 2017
Business

'C.B.' Crook Dies at 80; Built N.C. Used-Truck Dealership

Retired businessman Cletus Beatrix “C.B.” Crook Jr., who helped turn his father’s automobile dealership into a major platform for used-truck sales, died May 28 at his home in Albermarle, North Carolina. He was 80.

June 6, 2016
Business

Trucking Executive Bill Bender Dies at 84

William “Bill” Bender, a former senior executive at IU International Corp. and co-founder of Customized Transportation Inc., died Sept. 10 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. He was 84.

September 25, 2015
Business

University of Memphis Establishes Award Honoring Trucking-Industry Figure Mike Pennington

The University of Memphis has established the D. Mike Pennington Award for Outstanding Mentoring to honor a longtime trucking-industry figure who died in December.

May 15, 2015
Business

Philip Byrd Jr., Bulldog Hiway Fleet Manager, Son of Incoming ATA Chairman, Dies at 34

Philip Byrd Jr., a fleet manager with Bulldog Hiway Express and the son of Philip Byrd Sr., Bulldog’s CEO and the next chairman of American Trucking Associations, died Oct. 3 from complications of an extended illness. He was 34.

October 14, 2013
Business

Patrick Quinn, Former ATA Chairman, U.S. Xpress Co-Founder, Dies at 65

Patrick Quinn, 65, a co-founder of the nation’s third-largest truckload carrier who rose from a small Nebraska farm to national positions of trucking industry leadership after opting out of a corporate legal career, died Dec. 13 at his home near Chattanooga, Tenn., succumbing to brain cancer.

December 19, 2011
Business

Russell Gerdin, Founder of Heartland Express, Dies at 70

Russell Gerdin, the founder and former chairman and CEO of Heartland Express Inc., died Friday at the age of 70.

October 17, 2011
Business

Former Great Dane Executive Phillip Pines Dies in Plane Crash

Phillip Pines, former president and chief operating officer at trailer manufacturer Great Dane, died Sept. 5 in a single-engine plane crash near Racine, Wis. He was 76.

September 7, 2011