This article has been revised and corrected from the original version.
Eddie Lund grew up in the family business that bears his father’s name. After a stint as a minor league baseball player with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, Lund began working as a transportation broker in Lund’s Portland, Oregon, office in 1994. He was promoted to manager of Lund’s San Antonio, Texas office, where he worked for five years, and returned to California as vice president of sales and operations. In that position he oversaw 13 of the 26 offices the company then operated. In May 2018, Lund was named as president of the business. Lund has served on the La Cañada-Flintridge Chamber of Commerce Executive Board for six years and worked with United Fresh on their its distribution Council. According to the Business Journal’s list of Fastest Growing Private Companies, Allen Lund Co. grew by 101% between 2020 and 2022, putting it at No. 4 in the list.
Why has your company grown so quickly?
We have grown from a top-line perspective for a few reasons. One, the market. Freight rates were at their highest ever in 2022. We also increased our load count significantly and topped 500,000 loads for the first time. Third, acquisitions and organic growth. We made two acquisitions since early 2020, and although relatively small, they have grown significantly with us. And finally, our current offices all had positive growth.
What are your particular challenges of fast growth? Recruiting enough skilled people? The drive to expand supply chains? Acquiring enough space for your expanding needs?
The challenges to growth start with hiring. It was very difficult to find people in 2021 and 2022. We went from one recruiter to four in that time to try to keep up. IT is a challenging area as well. Shippers are demanding more and more information and reporting, and it has to be in their preferred format.
Growing companies often relocate out of California. Do you think that trend will continue? Are you tempted to leave the state?
From a tax, regulation and cost-of-living standpoint, it makes sense. But the majority of our executive team and support staff, along with two of our biggest sales offices, are all out of California. We have thought about it, but it hasn’t gone beyond that.
There’s been a long-standing prediction of a recession. Though many analysts are walking back that prediction, do you believe one is still possible? If so, what have you done to prepare for it? How do you project it will affect you?
We are not totally immune to a recession, but we feel like our business model of hauling primarily food and beverage products keeps us pretty well insulated.
If you could go back in time, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently at your company?
That’s a tough question because each situation where you have to make big decisions is unique. We are not accustomed to looking back and playing armchair quarterback. We always look forward. We have had pretty good success with acquisitions of late, so maybe we should have focused on that earlier.
What’s the most important piece of advice you’d offer to another leader whose company is experiencing fast growth?
Don’t lose your culture when you’re in the whirlwind. Your people are the most important thing, especially for a service company, so don’t lose your focus on taking care of them as you grow.