Safety Wins the Race
By Seth Nidever, Californian staff writer
July 10, 2004

Ron Lallo says it's hard for him to appreciate his financial success. There's a good reason for that. Sixteen years ago, at age 15, he fathered a daughter and had no college prospects.

This year, the trucking company he owns, Gazelle Transportation, won a sixth statewide safety award and earned upwards of $6 million.

"It's almost as if I'm in a dream world," he said.

Lallo's life since his early parenthood in Medford, Ore., plays out like a classic American success story.

He started working very early, abandoning his plans to go to the University of Oregon to study law.

"I thought, 'I'm gonna have to do it the old-fashioned way and work,'" he said.

A second daughter followed on the heels of the first. Toiling as a mechanic, Lallo dreamed of owning his own business.

He moved to Bakersfield in 1993 after his Medford boss and mentor, Jerry Eiler, invited him to come down and work as the mechanic at a new petroleum tanker truck company called Gazelle that Eiler had started.

Lallo took the offer and headed south with his wife, Kim, and two young daughters.

The rest is history.

In 1995, he left the greasy fingernails and blue coveralls behind to become general manager. A year later, he was president.

The business was teetering on the brink of disaster when he took over, he said.

One of Gazelle's two major customers at the time, Sunland Refinery, closed down because of safety violations.

"It was almost catastrophic from the beginning," Lallo said.

But business began to pick up as Lallo did the grunt work of making new contacts and straightening out the business.

In 2002, he exercised an option in his contract to buy a 15 percent share in the company. On April 1, 2004, he bought out the remainder from Eiler and became the sole owner.

Gazelle won first place this year in the California Trucking Association's annual safety contest, the sixth since Lallo arrived in 1993. Four of those have been firsts, he said.

"That's a pretty good track record," said Richard Leimbach, the association auditor who examined Gazelle's safety policy for the award.

Gazelle beat 13 other petroleum transport companies, all with good safety records, to win the 2003 award, according to Leimbach.

Last year, Gazelle's 41 drivers logged 2.5 million miles with only one accident, according to Lallo.

That didn't happen by chance. Lallo said Gazelle's strict requirements for drivers have made him let some go even though it's hard to find new ones.

"It's difficult to terminate drivers who are generating 700 to 800 dollars in revenue in a day," Lallo said.

Others in the industry said Gazelle has a solid reputation for safety.

"I noticed that he has a comprehensive (safety) program," Leimbach said.

Competitors sounded the same note.

"I think Mr. Lallo runs a very good company," said Ted Barnard, president of BLM Transportation.

Barnard said Gazelle hadn't lost any customers despite an increasingly crowded market.

Gazelle's safety reputation is the major reason, said Scott McGowan, president of Pan Pacific Petroleum.

"If you're going to haul a petroleum product, you're going to want someone who's safe," he said.

Lallo is building on his success. He said he just started a new company, Patriot Liquid Transport, to specialize in hauling petroleum-based fluids like gas and liquid propane.

But the Laurelglen Bible Church member is trying not to let prosperity go to his head.

"God has allowed this to happen to me. He has allowed it to happen, he can take it away," he said.
FELIX ADAMO / THE CALIFORNIAN

Ron Lallo, left, owner of Gazelle Transportation and Mark Antu, dispatcher.

Copyright, 2004, The Bakersfield Californian