Unlike Laredo, the Valley’s trucking industry is dominated by locally-owned, family-operated businesses.   From food and furniture to clothing, electronics and medical devices, almost everything we use is delivered by trucks belonging to regional and national freight lines. The businesses that keep all the trucks rolling and the supply chain serviced are generating enough income to stay in business and provide employment to a busy segment of the local population. Retailers and maquilas that expect just-in-time deliveries and a growing population are fueling the demand for efficient, timely and safe long-haul truck fleets.

Trucks are the first ingredient in the transportation equation. The Highway 281 frontage in Pharr resembles a tractor-trailer miracle mile packed with truck dealers, freight companies and service centers.  Overseeing sales and service of Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks at Rush Truck Center keeps south Texas regional general manager Mario Trevino busy.

“They are kind of like Harley Davidsons, an elite product,” he said … and relatively, they are equally expensive.  New trucks range upwards from $120,000, not counting the trailer.  Rush is the largest truck dealer group in the U.S.

“We believe that service sells trucks. We afford our customers a footprint of support that has been a big key to our growth,” said Trevino.  That support requires 83 employees in five Rush stores south of San Antonio, with some diesel technicians permanently stations at different locations, such as Halliburton’s in Mission and at key oilfield locations around the country.

Utility Trailer Sales in Pharr supplies the industry with numerous tanks, trailers and flatbeds.

Logistics

The region’s biggest trucking fleets include the Garza family’s Spirit Truck Lines of San Juan and Royal Freight.  Started as Bill Head Enterprises and running refrigerated trucks, Royal Freight now has over 300 non-refrigerated (dry goods) Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks which are delivering loads across the country.  Set on 60-plus acres of prime real estate at the northwest side of the 281/83 junction, Royal employs 40 mechanics, 350 drivers and 30 office staff.

“We hire and sell ourselves as a long haul carrier,” said Mike Kelly.  Staying in business requires working with customers’ just in time delivery schedules while taking into account all the regulations that govern drivers who can cover about 150,000 miles annually.  The Pharr company delivers major brands like Rheims, Carrier, GE, LGTV and Panasonic as far as Canada.

“Our trailers go into Mexico, but not the trucks,” he said. Royal, like many border trucking companies, works closely with ICE’s C-PAT (Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism) program to fight the criminal element that tries to smuggle contraband into trailers.

Consistent on-time deliveries require equipment in top shape.

“Every time our trucks return to the terminal, they get inspected and serviced,” said Royal Freight operations supervisor Daniel Campos. During a truck’s three year warranty period, it racks up between 500,000 to 600,000 miles, most of them with the same driver.  Once a truck is out of warranty, Royal trades it in, because of the expense associated with maintaining it.  The company’s trucks have satellite tracking devices installed that improve communications with the drivers.

“The most important thing is to keep the client notified of the schedule,” added Kelly.

At the other end of the spectrum, Adrian Cavazos is general manager of the family-owned First Truck Choice which runs 20 trucks.  His mother, father and sister are actively involved in running the Harlingen company, which evolved from serving a railroad niche market to become a general commodities trucker dealing primarily with Matamoras and Reynosa maquilas and their freight bound for Canada and U.S. distributors.

“My dad has always tried to be on the edge of technology,” Cavazos said.  First Truck Choice was an early adopter of satellite tracking. “It’s more for the accountability of the equipment and real time information on where the shipments are.” Cavazos, who has warehouses in Brownsville and Laredo, has adopted cloud storage for records, reducing document storage problems.

Cavazos is another believer of in-house mechanics and garage in order to keep costs under control and the equipment in top shape. “Trucks are more computerized.  They have over 100 sensors, and you need to be on your toes.”  The seven-acre gated facility on Expressway frontage in Harlingen leases parking space to owner-operator rigs.  For all the region’s truck traffic, the Valley has limited full service truck stops.

The true independent owner-operator of a single rig is becoming a rare species in the trucking industry according to Campos. Some big companies have a group of owner-operators under their umbrella.

Drivers

When 80,000 pounds of truck and trailer are moving down the road at 65 mph, you want someone rested and qualified at the wheel.  But nationwide, there is a shortage of truckers. Signs seeking drivers with Commercial Drivers Licenses abound.

“The issue in the Valley is we share the same pool of drivers, and they rotate through us,” said Campos of Royal Freight. Royal’s employees include female drivers, noted for their punctuality, and husband and wife teams.

Nevertheless, the high salaries offered in the Eagle Ford Shale oil field, southeast of San Antonio, are like magnets, pulling away big rig drivers and diesel mechanics and leaving Valley trucking companies scrambling.

“One of our big customers has a battle every day trying to retain drivers,” said Trevino at Rush.

In addition, new regulations are reducing the allowable driving hours, which impacts productivity.  Truck lines have to balance keeping owners and drivers happy, while driving hours decrease and JIT demands increase.  Drivers are allowed to drive for 11 hours and then must have 10 hours not driving.  After 70 hours, they have to take a mandatory 34-hour reset off the road.  Campos said a proposed regulation would mandate electronics log books.

ACT in Pharr offers a four week CDL training course.  Rush Truck Center partners with South Texas College on its Diesel Technology program in a symbiotic relationship.

“We employ techs part-time as they’re going through school, and students come here on field trips,” said Trevino. “Our foremen and techs go to STC for a few days to show them new diagnostic procedures.” Of course, that means Rush often gets first shot at the diesel techs completing the program.

Logistics

Trucking is an ongoing exercise in logistics, moving goods from A to Z.  The APICS course, for example, provides a holistic view of the total supply chain. David Ortiz of UTPA’s Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center, teaches APICS supply chain management methods, which include master planning of resources, scheduling and understanding the customers’ lead time needs, at UTPA’s McAllen site.

“Some of the things we discuss in class are what a local company offers that a big company doesn’t.  We have people from different industries saying, ‘This is the way we deal with that problem.’ There’s a lot of cross industry exposure and customer oriented material.” Individuals who complete the program are certified as production and inventory management professionals.

Will the Valley’s biggest long-haul trucking companies get bigger?  Will the smaller companies remain successful in their niches?  Whatever the pathways chosen, the successful businesses will keep on trucking.

October cover story by Eileen Mattei