It forgot about its people once. And the West Chester-based bright spot in the trucking industry nearly paid dearly for that mistake. The lesson learned is now central to what A. Duie Pyle does, according to a Philly.com interview.

“People think it’s all about the trucks and the technology and the buildings,” Chairman and CEO Peter Latta said in the article. “Those are all tools that we need to effectively operate, but ultimately it’s the user of the tools — the people — that creates the level of service for the customers.”

The growing non-union firm took the big issue then directly to its people, and today it heavily invests in training its drivers.

“We have our own driver training academy,” Latta said. “We’ll hire for attitude and train for skills. They’ll work on our dock for six months. Then they’ll apply to go into our driver training academy.”

It’s the same for Latta family members looking to get into the business; they have to put in time doing the heavy lifting — outside the parent company. Latta’s son, Billy, is working for the Midwest’s Dayton Freight Lines — one of two trucking allies in the business of getting shipments too large for UPS across the country. The other is Southeastern Freight Lines. Both are private and family-owned.

Read more about the A. Duie Pyle perspective on trucking and the future of transportation on Philly.com here.