10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

QUIET GIANT
FAMILY + FAITH + HARD WORK = SUCCESS

From a nice but unassuming office at one of his main terminals in Southern California, Ron Lanting Sr. quietly leads a huge trucking organization right under all our noses. Based out of Chino, CA for over 30 years, Ron started out in the hay business, and later began hauling freight. Today, his enterprise is comprised of three large companies with a total of over 800 power units, 1800 trailers and some 1500 employees. At 68 years of age, Ron still comes in to the office every day and is very active as President and CEO of Lanting Hay, Gardner Trucking and Dirksen Transportation. But nothing was just given to this self-made man. It took hard work, creative ideas, a supportive family and a deep faith in God to achieve a level of success beyond even his wildest dreams.

Ronald J. Lanting was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He worked as a carpenter, but the winters were so harsh that business would slow down to the point of near starvation every year. So in 1961, Ron and his wife, along with their two small boys, headed out west to California. They ended up in the city of Inglewood, where Ron took a carpenter job that paid $3.00 an hour (back then that was pretty good). They later moved to Cerritos and then to Riverside, where Ron opened a car wash. By now, they had four sons: Ron Jr., Tom, Brad and Curt. Ron later sold the car wash and got into the hay business.

Lanting Hay began in the early 1970’s as a family enterprise ran out of the Lanting’s home in Riverside. With 100 heifers to feed, Ron bought hay from another dealer at that time, but began selling the excess to their neighbors. Pretty soon, they were selling a lot of hay, so they bought one bobtail truck. Back then, Ron would drive the bobtail and take the two older boys (Ron Jr. and Tom) with him to help load and unload the hay. Business really started to boom, so they bought another truck. And then another. Shortly thereafter, they moved to a larger site in Chino, then to an even larger site just across the street, and then to the facility they still occupy today. When they moved into the current location, they didn’t know what they were going to do with all of the space - now they are wondering where to put everything!

Ron Jr. and Tom got their license and started driving at 16. They had their own business called R & T Hay Company. Every day, after school, they’d run out to Blythe or Perris to pickup hay and bring it back. They earned $100 a trip. Younger brother Brad would often go along with them to help load and unload. The boys were always late for school in the morning because they were so tired from the long day before. At some point it became evident that they were wasting a lot of money by deadheading out to get the hay with empty trucks. They began hauling general freight out and hay back. Over time, the “backhaul” (which was really on the front of the haul) became more profitable and took over as the main source of income. The hay became the “backhaul” to the outgoing freight loads. Lanting Hay is still in operation today, hauling some 80,000 to 90,000 tons of hay per year, but it is only 10-15% of the family’s overall business.

To accommodate the general freight loads, Gardner Trucking was started in the late 1970’s. Ron bought an authority that already had the name Gardner Trucking, so he just kept it. The name has no significant meaning to the Lantings. Over the years, this operation has grown into a huge organization, covering eleven western states, from two terminals in California. They offer a full range of services to their customers.

One of the unique options Gardner offers their customers is the opportunity to be a dedicated site. At these sites, Gardner can provide companies with an entire, dedicated, transportation staff including an on-site supervisor, drivers and equipment. Gardner runs and manages the entire operation from the customer’s location. With over 70 dedicated sites, as well as several line hauls and other freight, Gardner Trucking has surged to the forefront of the trucking industry in the West.

Today, Gardner Trucking’s specialty is hauling corrugated paper products and general freight. They operate late-model Freightliner conventionals with Series 60 Detroit power under the hood. Ron always orders his trucks with lots of horsepower. Their extensive fleet of trailers includes flatbeds, double flatbeds, high cube vans, roller vans, curtain vans and double curtain vans. Their white trucks are always clean and well taken care of. They even have a few show-worthy rigs that they take to some of the local truck shows from time to time. Equipment Manager and Yard Supervisor Frankie Salazar makes sure that the entire fleet is clean and shiny. They have a full detail shop and staff at their terminal that keeps every rig looking great. Frankie buys all their chrome from Darryl at California Custom Truck Accessories in Ontario, CA. Darryl takes real good care of Frankie and the entire Gardner fleet, helping ensure that they always look their best.

About a year ago, Ron made a pretty big purchase - he bought Dirksen Transportation. At the time, Dirksen was struggling, but Ron turned it around rather quickly. They made a profit from the very first month. It just goes to show that it’s not what you have, but how you run it. Dirksen had just built a beautiful new facility in Manteca, CA which now serves as Ron’s northern terminal. Dirksen is famous for their fleet of cabover Petes that pull 57’ vans in and around California, Arizona and Nevada. They also have a fleet of trucks and trailers that operate in all 48 states. On any given day, while driving on Interstate 5 in Central California, you’ll lose count as to how many Dirksen trucks will pass by. Dirksen’s specialty is hauling empty cans and bottles to soda companies, but they also haul general freight. Recently, Ron bought the last ten Peterbilt 362 cabovers off of the assembly line to add to the Dirksen fleet.

But Ron Sr. doesn’t do all this by himself. All of his four boys are now involved in the business and each hold the title of Vice President. Ron Jr. handles the hay, Tom is in charge of sales for both Gardner and Dirksen, Brad runs the northern division and Curt is a dispatcher. Ron has always run his business from an ethical and moral standpoint, and has taught his boys to do the same. They were all raised around the church and went to private Christian schools. Ron and his wife, who have been married for 48 years, have been blessed with 10 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Ron considers all of his daughter-in-laws to be his own daughters. Ron attends Calvary Christian Church in Chino and enjoys it immensely.

When asked to divulge some “secrets” to his success, what he told us was not anything new (or secret) at all. His philosophy is simple: nothing comes easy. In life, as well as trucking, it takes hard work and good people to succeed. In trucking, Ron recommends that people be on time and provide the best service possible. And stay on top of everything - don’t let anything slip through the cracks. With faith and an honest effort, anything can be achieved. Ron believes his company’s greatest attribute is the family atmosphere which has helped create trust and long-term commitments between the company, its customers and its employees.

From one truck to 800; from no employees to 1500 of them; from a home office to multiple terminals; Ron has quietly built an empire. And the growth will undoubtedly continue, as Ron’s boys are groomed to take over at some point in the future. But not so fast, Ron Lanting Sr. has plenty of good years ahead of him and he ain’t goin’ anywhere.

The next time you see one of Gardner’s, Lanting’s or Dirksen’s rigs on the road, tip your hat and silently congratulate Ron for a job well-done. Trucking is still a good business if you do it right. Hopefully this story has helped you in some way - it wasn’t written to glorify Ron or Gardner Trucking, but instead to educate and inspire you to do bigger and better things. People like Ron Lanting are an inspiration to us all. We’d like to thank Ron for his time and wish the entire Lanting family many blessings in the New Year and beyond.