Hubbard’s Express Takes Off in Growth with Leased Trucks from PacLease
August 29, 2024
It’s a subtle remembrance. On the left-hand corner on every exterior door of its 62 fleet trucks are the initials of Todd Hubbard, founder of Hubbard’s Express. “It’s something important to me,” said his son, Blake. “He started this company in 1983 when he was 21 years old and left us too soon at the age of 54. It’s a way to remember his legacy and his dedication to building a business based on customer service.”
Hubbard’s Express is a thriving air freight company based adjacent to the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) airport – one of busiest hubs for air freight in the United States, surpassing 1 million tons of cargo annually in 2022. It has a fleet of 30 straight trucks, a combination of Peterbilt and Kenworth medium-duty trucks, along with 28 Peterbilt Model 579 day cabs. All are on a full-service lease with PacLease. The company also operates four delivery vans and has a team of 100 employees.
With warehouse space, along with TSA certified screening, the company has expanded its services tenfold since 2018. In 2023, the company handled more than 100,000 shipments and plans to increase this number in 2024 as it continues to expand its fleet of trucks.
Hubbard said early on, when the company transitioned from delivery vans to medium-duty trucks, his dad believed that leasing would make the company more efficient. “He began renting and then leasing 26-foot straight trucks from PacLease, and all was going well,” Hubbard recalled. “We were making daily runs to DFW and bringing the freight back to Tyler for our local customers.
“When my dad died suddenly in 2017, we were based in Tyler, about two hours from DFW. We were small then, just six trucks. My mom (Barbara) and I were active in the business – she was doing billing, and I was going to college full-time and driving full-time. I had always wanted to work for the company and be part of its success, but we never imagined we’d have to take over so soon. In the back of my mind, I felt if we could make a concentrated move to DFW, we could grow the business. And that’s what happened.”
Hubbard said they added capacity to DFW by leasing a Peterbilt 579 tractor with a 53-foot trailer. “We kept two straight trucks in the DFW run, so we essentially doubled our capacity by adding the 579. Then we had some customers tell us, ‘If you put an office in Dallas, we’ll support you with more business.’ That gave us the assurance that if we made that commitment, it would pay off. So, we made the decision to move from Tyler to Dallas, and that’s when things moved. And, moved fast.”
In August 2018, they opened a 400-square-foot office in DFW, and in November of that same year, they moved into a 6,500-square-foot warehouse. The company has upsized nearly every year since to support growth, culminating in the 117,000-square-foot warehouse it has now.
“Each year, we’ve been adding about 10 new PacLease trucks to our fleet,” said Hubbard. “That growth is the result of all the hard work we’ve done in customer service – we’ve made it a top priority. We wanted to partner with a ‘like’ company, and we’ve always felt that PacLease mirrored that commitment. Dad knew that from the very beginning. The quality of the PACCAR equipment is not lost on us. I know firsthand that equipment does make a difference to a driver, and the image the trucks portray showcases that we care about quality. Last year, we had a company call us after seeing our trucks – they were raving about how nice they were. We were able to gain them as a new account. Image does matter.”
The latest Peterbilt Model 579s are spec’d with the PACCAR MX-13 engine, rated at 455 hp, and driven through the PACCAR 12-speed automated transmission. They stand out thanks to a “chrome” package that includes aluminum wheels, grille crown, sun visor, cab mirror shells and air horn on top of cab. The Peterbilt Model 337 and Kenworth T280 medium duty models feature the PACCAR PX- 7 engine rated at 260 hp, and they were spec’d with the PACCAR TX-8 transmission.
According to Hubbard, the trucks have been ultra-reliable. “And of course, that’s critical in our business,” he said. “We have air freight going to and from the airport, so maintaining a strict schedule is a must. We have our P&D trucks that go out about 50 miles, and then we have some longer ‘hot shot’ deliveries all within about a 400-mile radius. We also have a ‘white’ glove service with two- to four-person teams. The furthest we will go out is Oklahoma City, or parts of Louisiana, with our turns completed in a day.”
Hubbard said his lease program with PacLease comes with replacement vehicles. “If there is ever an unexpected issue with downtime, we’re covered,” he said. “And the maintenance program we have with PacLease really saves us a lot of time. They come to us with mobile service units, so they get our trucks serviced without any downtime for our drivers. That’s a big benefit to us.”
Another benefit of leasing is cost accounting. “That’s huge,” said Hubbard. “We know what our costs are with PacLease and that allows us to confidently set rates for our customers. Leasing helps take out the guesswork of operating a fleet. We don’t have variables like other fleets who are in ownership. And, since we do cross into other states, we utilize PacLease for fuel tax reporting (PacTax). That takes another burden off our shoulders.”
Looking back, Hubbard said the company’s success was all based on determination and hard work. “My grandfather was in LTL transportation, and I think that inspired my dad to look at trucking as a career,” he said. “When my dad graduated from high school, he saw a future in air freight, so he joined a small air-freight company as a driver. When the owner got sick two years later, he wanted to sell the business, and dad borrowed enough money at the age of 21 to buy the company. That was the start of where we are at today and why my dad’s initials are on each door.”