Doyle Beatenbough

W. Doyle Beatenbough (born November 12, 1929 as William Doyle Beatenbough in Danielsville, Georgia, United States) is a retired executive who has served as President for several large trucking companies across the U.S.

Career

With a high school degree, Beatenbough went to Atlanta to find a job and joined Great Southern Trucking Company in 1946 as a billing clerk, working his way through several positions including rate clerk. After Ryder Truck Lines acquired Great Southern, Beatenbough was transferred to Ryder headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida and became head of the Traffic Department in 1955. In 1964, Ryder Truck Lines became a subsidiary of International Utilities Corporation. In 1969, Beatenbough was named Executive Vice President of Ryder Truck Lines until he left in 1973 to become President of another IU subsidiary, Pacific Intermountain Express Co. in Oakland, California.^[1]

At that time, P.I.E. considered itself “the pace-setter in the industry.”^[2] During his first year on the job, Beatenbough hosted the Russian Minister of Transportation, E. Trubizin, and delegation.^[3] Beatenbough believed in his people performing at the top level. He said, “One of the most important – if not the most important employee in P.I.E’s success and growth is the driver salesman. No other P-I-E employee makes a more direct and regular contact with our customers than this man! His attitude literally shapes the future of P.I.E.”^[4]

In 1974 for the twelfth time, the company earned the American Trucking Associations’ President’s Trophy "for outstanding safety and courtesy on the highway.”^[5] That same year, Beatenbough announced a money-backed guarantee plan for on-time delivery service.^[6] He was also an early proponent of deregulation. During a period that was characterized by recession and fuel shortages, Beatenbough turned P.I.E. into a profitable company by adding dozens of terminals to the hauling network,^[7] and expanding service across the border into Vancouver, Canada.^[8] In 1978, P.I.E. headquarters moved to Walnut Creek, California.

In 1983, Beatenbough left P.I.E. to become President of another IU holding, Ligon Nationwide Inc. in Madisonville, Kentucky. In 1985, he also became President of C & H Transportation Co., Inc. in Dallas. He retired from Ligon in 1986 and from C & H in 1987.

Personal life

Beatenbough is married to Helen Alice Strickland. They live in Danielsville, Georgia on the farm he left at age 16 to launch his career.^[9]

Recognition

Beatenbough was a licensed practitioner before the Interstate Commerce Commission, a past President of Southern Shipper-Motor Carrier Council, member of the Board of Directors of the National Motor Freight Traffic Association, Chairman of the Florida Intrastate Rate Committee, and a member of the National Defense Executive Reserve.^[10]

Further reading

• Hagood, Richard (1982). Ryder Truck Lines –The First Half-Century, Columbia Publications, Inc.

References

1. ^ Gordon Currie’s Who’s Who, The Los Angeles Commercial News, April 30, 1973
2. ^ Transmission Topics, Volume 22, Fall 1973, p. 3
3. ^ P.I.E. Log, Volume 30, Number 5, October 1973, Oakland, California
4. ^ Commercial News, Lynwood, California, October 8, 1973
5. ^ Bert Goldrath, “P.I.E.: Safest Fleet of All”, Commercial Car Journal, November 1974, p. 85
6. ^ Business Week, June 22, 1974
7. ^ Los Angeles Evening Herald Examiner, “PIE Expands Facilities”, March 8, 1977
8. ^ New York Journal of Commerce, “P.I.E. Begins New Service”, November 22, 1978
9. ^ [1]
10. ^ Daily Guide, San Francisco, California, February 5, 1973