Ronald Lhotak, owner and CEO of Reliable Transportation Specialists Inc., passed away Saturday, Feb. 18, at the age of 68.

Lhotak recently celebrated his 25th year in business for RTSI, located in Chesterton, Ind. He was a member of many industry groups, including Intermodal Association of Chicago, Detroit Intermodal Association, American Trucking Associations, Intermodal Motor Carriers, Illinois Trucking Association, Indiana Motor Carrier Trucking Association, Ohio Trucking Association and Intermodal Association of North America.

Kevin Lhotak, son of Ronald and second vice chair of RTSI, says his father was vital in forming the IMCC, a conference of ATA.

"Originally [IMCC] was only a committee of six members," Kevin Lhotak says. "A few years back, Bill Frasier of the ATA realized that in order to develop the current committee into a true conference that they would need to increase membership. They decided to approach Reliable Transportation as they realized we were an industry leader and if they got us, they rest should fall like dominos.

"At first Ron was really against it, but he realized this is something he wanted to be part of. He stood up, wrote a check and made history for the intermodal community. Today, the IMCC is an actual conference of the ATA and has over 600 members. To think, they started with six."

"Ron and Kevin started this company with five trucks out of the Detroit Area in 1985," says Michael Parise, director of international business development for RTSI. "They grew it to 350 trucks with gross revenues of $42 million. They went from having two employees to 60 employees. Ron has always been the heart and soul of the company, making all of us feel we were his family member not just an employee."

Ronald Lhotak was born in Evergreen Park, Ill., on Aug. 14, 1943. He married Virginia Thedens in Chicago in 1964. He is survived by his wife, two sons, daughter, seven grandchildren, brother, nephew, niece and many cousins.