Large and small trucking companies are often family businesses, and Hubbard’s Express Air Freight & Delivery is no exception. The late Todd Hubbard founded the company in 1983 when he was just 21. The fleet is now run by his son Blake, the VP, and his widow Barbara. Blake noted that Todd’s legacy lives on in what they have accomplished since his untimely passing in 2017 at 54.
The air freight company operates adjacent to the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport—one of the nation’s largest, surpassing 1 million tons of cargo annually in 2022—and handled more than 100,000 shipments in 2023. Since 2018, the carrier has expanded its services tenfold.
Initially based in Tyler, Texas, about two hours from DFW, Hubbard’s Express opened a Dallas office and warehouse in 2018 to meet growing customer demand.“
“We had some customers tell us that if we put an office in Dallas they’d support us with more business,” Hubbard related. “With that assurance, we made the commitment. That’s when things moved—and moved fast.”
Initially, Hubbard added capacity at DFW, where it had two straight trucks, by leasing a tractor and trailer. Today, under a full-service lease with PacLease, the company operates 30 Peterbilt and Kenworth medium-duty trucks, along with 28 Peterbilt Model 579 day cabs. Hubbard’s Express fleet also includes roller bed, flatbed, step deck, dry van, and lowboy trailers.
The Peterbilt Model 579s are spec'd with Paccar MX-13 engines and Paccar 12-speed transmissions. The Peterbilt Model 337 and Kenworth T280 medium-duty trucks in the fleet have Paccar PX-7 engines and Paccar TX-8 transmissions.
See also: Streamlining logistics with customer focus
“My father believed leasing would make the company more efficient, so he began renting and then leasing straight trucks for daily runs to DFW and bringing freight back for our local customers,” Hubbard said. “With leasing, we have set costs so we can confidently set rates and don’t have to deal with variables that come with ownership."
“We also have equipment that is reliable, which is critical in our business because freight going to and from an airport is on a strict schedule,” Hubbard continued. “If there is ever an unexpected issue, our lease program comes with replacement vehicles as well, and PacLease comes to us with mobile service units, so we don’t have any unnecessary downtime.”
Hubbard noted that the range of services Hubbard’s Express offers requires that level of service. From its warehouse, five minutes from DFW, TSA-trained and certified staff handle air freight transfers of import, export, and domestic shipments from all major airlines. They also provide hot shot, direct, on-demand delivery, LTL, and dedicated fleet services.
For most operations, Hubbard’s Express trucks travel about 50 miles outbound. Some "hot shot" deliveries occur within a 400-mile radius of DFW. The furthest is Oklahoma City or parts of Louisiana, but all routes are completed in one day. Hubbard’s Express has upsized its fleet nearly every year since 2018 to support growth, Hubbard noted. “We’ve been adding about 10 trucks to our fleet annually, and from about six employees in 2017, we now have a team of more than 100 people,” he said.
Growth also drove the need for a new office in Austin, Texas, that will open by the end of the year, and the carrier is now adopting a more advanced transportation management system. Currently, Hubbard’s Express is implementing the Pallet TMS, an all-in-one transportation and warehouse management solution that will centralize its back-office operation on one platform and support multiple transportation modes."
“Our steady expansion is the result of hard work,” Hubbard emphasized. “It’s not always easy to grow and evolve, especially in specialized and expedited logistics. But everyone at Hubbard’s Express has a personal stake in the business. Every day, we work together to make customer service a top priority.”
Like most family-owned businesses, Hubbard’s Express is driven by its founder’s legacy. That, too, is seen on every truck. Blake Hubbard pointed out that every exterior door on the fleet's trucks displays his father's initials as well as the company logo.
“My father left us too soon, but we haven’t forgotten what he taught us about building a business based on service,” he said.
