Truck Leasing Company Founder Ralph Ryder Dies

Ralph B. Ryder, a founding member of Ryder System, died of heart failure on Dec. 28 at a hospital in Coral Gables, Fla. He was 90.

The business Mr. Ryder helped create is listed among the Fortune 500 largest publicly traded companies. It ranked 13th in the Transport Topics 100, with revenue of $1.7 billion in 1999 for its trucking and logistics operations. That is a far cry from the company’s humble beginning.

“The Ryder family moved from Ohio to Florida in 1919. They were very poor and someone gave them a small piece of land on which to build a home,” said Leigh Culley, director of public relations for Miami-based Ryder System from 1952 to 1980.

“The house was built of lumber and any scraps that could be found and a small one-room structure was constructed,” he said. “The mother made separate rooms by hanging muslin from the ceiling.”

Mr. Ryder attended the University of Florida’s engineering school during 1930-33. He returned home after receiving word of family financial problems brought on by the Depression.

In 1933, his younger brother, James, bought a 2-year-old Model “A” Ford truck for $35 and started hauling concrete blocks. Ralph Ryder doubled the size of the company with the purchase in 1934 of another Ford truck for $100. A third brother, Harry, got involved, repairing the two trucks for what was then Ryder Trucking Co.

For the full story, see the Jan. 8 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.