FreightWaves Haul of Fame

FreightWaves Classics/Haul of Fame: Groendyke Transport turned 90!

A Groendyke tanker truck heads into a beautiful sunset. (Photo: Groendyke Transport Facebook page)

FreightWaves Classics is sponsored by Sutton Transport, an LTL leader in the Midwest for more than 40 years. Sutton Transport proudly services Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. Request a quote here.

FreightWaves Classics missed an important milestone last month – Groendyke Transport and its employees, friends and customers celebrated the company’s 90th anniversary on July 12! Belated best wishes, and a hope for many more years of success to come!

The special image created for the company's 90th anniversary. (Image: Groendyke Transport Facebook page)The special image created for the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classicshaul-of-fame-groendyke-transport-turned-90

FreightWaves Haul of Fame: New Penn is a long-time Northeastern LTL

New Penn trucks at a dock. (Photo: New Penn)

On July 8, 2019 FreightWaves’ Mark Solomon reported that New Penn Motor Express (“New Penn”), one of three U.S.-based regional less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers controlled by YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:YRCW), that it would close its corporate offices in Lebanon, Pennsylvania after 88 years, and consolidate operations there with YRC’s Field Resource Center at the parent’s Overland Park, Kansas headquarters.

Prior to that announcement, what was the company’s history for the 88 years leading up...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-haul-of-fame-new-penn-is-a-long-time-ltl-in-the-northeast

FreightWaves Haul of Fame: Stevens Transport has done well for 40 years

A Stevens Transport tractor-trailer appears to be chasing a rainbow. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Stevens Transport was founded by Steven L. Aaron in Dallas, Texas in 1980 in the wake of the deregulation of the trucking industry. Steven had just sold his first business endeavor, Stevens Food, a meatpacking business based in Paris, Texas. 

Though he did not have much knowledge about the transportation industry, Steven did know the meat industry and began to search for customers there. In a time when other trucking companies were going under, Stevens Transport flourished. In the company’s...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-haul-of-fame-stevens-transport-has-done-well-for-40-years

FreightWaves Haul of Fame: NEMF’s 2019 bankruptcy shocked LTL sector

Without warning, New England Motor Freight (NEMF) and 10 related entities filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark, New Jersey, on February 11, 2019. The company announced that it would commence an “orderly wind-down” of the business. The filing cited rising operating costs, a shortage of drivers and financial difficulties in the bankruptcy decision. The company officially closed its doors one year later.

Origins

New England Motor Freight’s origins can be...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-haul-of-fame-nemfs-2019-bankruptcy-shocked-ltl-market

FreightWaves Haul of Fame: Epes Transport celebrates 90 years

Epes Transport was founded in 1931 in Blackstone, Virginia by Wilfred G. Epes as “The Transport Company.” By 1945, the company had established offices in Durham and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It continued as a family company for 55 years before being purchased on August 19, 1987 by Epes Carriers, Inc., a holding company established by A.M. Bodford.

 Early the next year, the company headquarters was relocated to Greensboro, North Carolina. Then Epes Carriers acquired Thomas Transport...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-haul-of-fame-epes-transport-celebrates-90-years

FreightWaves Haul of Fame: TIP led the truck and trailer leasing sector

A TIP trailer being hauled by a Penske tractor. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Transport International Pool began as Container Leasing, Inc. and was founded on September 12, 1957 by a group of entrepreneurs in Philadelphia. The company’s official filing stated that Container Leasing, Inc. would “engage in the business of buying, selling, renting and/or leasing for hire all type of trucks, automotive equipment, railroad equipment, marine equipment, aircraft equipment, and containers of any type and description, and any other items of like nature used in the transportation...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-haul-of-fame-tip-led-the-truck-and-trailer-leasing-sector

FreightWaves Haul of Fame: Roadway Express was an LTL leader for decades

The U.S. trucking industry grew in the years following World War I. Nonetheless, the industry was still in its early days, and railroads were the primary method of transportation for goods from point of manufacture to point of sale. 

Early history

This did not deter brothers Carroll and Galen Roush, who founded Roadway Express in Akron, Ohio in 1930. Roadway Express entered the trucking industry as a less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier; its first load was transporting tires between Akron and St....

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-haul-of-fame-roadway-express-was-an-ltl-leader-for-decades

FreightWaves Haul of Fame: Quality Distribution, Inc. has a heritage that harks back to 1913

A Quality Carriers truck heads to its next stop. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

The history of Quality Distribution, Inc. (QDI) is really the story of several companies that were combined or acquired over several decades. This FreightWaves Haul of Fame article provides an overview of that history.

Humble beginnings

Quality Carriers was founded by B.F. Leaman in 1913 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Leaman and his son Clair delivered loads of milk and lime around the county. By 1930, they were successful enough to purchase Mileage Motor Corporation, and began hauling fuel...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/freightwaves-haul-of-fame-quality-distribution-inc-has-a-heritage-that-harks-back-to-1913

FreightWaves Haul of Fame: Red Owl had loyal employees and customers

A number of Red Owl trailers stand ready to be loaded with groceries. (Photo: @RedOwlMemories/Facebook)

Red Owl was a grocery store chain headquartered in Hopkins, Minnesota, that operated in that state and the upper Midwest. Although the Red Owl stores and name have been gone for more than 30 years, there are many former employees and customers in its service areas that have not lost their attachment to the stores or its merchandise.

Founded in 1922, it was initially owned and operated by a private investment firm affiliated with General Mills. The company was purchased in 1968 by Gamble-Skogmo....

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/freightwaves-haul-of-fame-red-owl-had-loyal-employees-and-customers

FreightWaves Haul of Fame: Hill Brothers shows power of family

A Hill Brothers Transportation truck then and now. (Photo: Hill Brothers Transportation)

Hill Brothers Transportation

The four Hill brothers founded Hill Brothers in Omaha, Nebraska in 1986. Pete, Al, Pat and Jim came from a family that had been in trucking and they spent their youth working on the docks, washing and hanging meat hooks, and refueling trucks. After college, the brothers took over the business from their family, and changed the name to Hill Brothers. At the time, the business had about 50 trucks, a good reputation in the meat industry and with dry goods shippers.

Today...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-haul-of-fame-hill-brothers-shows-power-of-family

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