Allen Lund, Founder of Freight Brokerage Firm, Dies
Allen Lund, founder of third-party transportation broker Allen Lund Co., died April 7 after recently being diagnosed with cancer. He was 77.
The La Cañada, Calif.-based company announced his death, saying he was at home in Pasadena with family at his bedside and a small choir of Carmelite Sisters singing around him.
Lund started the company in 1976, “with a shaky $1,000 in his bank account and the goal of feeding his family,” the statement said, and built it into a national provider of freight brokerage, software and freight forwarding services with a special focus on food and other perishable products.
Lund
Lund held multiple positions with industry groups, including the Transportation Intermediaries Association and the National Association of Small Trucking Companies.
TIA President Bob Voltmann said the association and the industry had “lost a foundation member” with Lund’s passing.
“Allen Lund will be remembered in every community he touched,” Voltmann said during remarks at the TIA annual convention in Palm Desert, Calif., on April 10. “He had a huge hand in shaping and leading this industry.”
Lund was born Sept. 3, 1940, in Salt Lake City. After graduating from Davis County High School, he worked in heavy equipment operations while also serving in the U.S. Army Reserve for seven years. He then began working for a produce and truck brokerage company in Salt Lake City. Employment opportunities took him and wife Kathie to Glendale, Calif., in 1969.
Shortly after he was inspired to set out on his own. In 1976, the Allen Lund Co. was formed.
Lund was active in many local organizations and charities. He served on the boards at St. Francis High School, the University of Portland and Homeboy Industries, and had served on the finance committee of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
The company also supported a work-study at Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles.
Lund is survived by his wife, Kathie, and children David, Natalie, Kenny, Eddie, Anna and Christina.
“Dad had a lot of roles throughout his life and he excelled at all of them because of his humility, faith and approachability. He was a tremendous father, husband, grandfather, CEO, chairman of the board, leader, counselor and coach. We will work hard to honor his legacy,” his sons said in the statement.
The Allen Lund Co. has offices in 34 cities with 470 employees brokering 365,000 truckloads annually.
It ranks No. 19 on Transport Topics’ list of largest freight brokerage firms.
