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{{Short description|American freight transportation company}}
{{Infobox company
| logo             = Estes Express Lines logo.svg
| type             = [[Privately held company|Private]]
| industry         = [[Freight transport]]
| foundation       = {{start date and age|1931}} in [[Chase City, Virginia]]
| founder          = [[W. W. Estes]]
| location_city    = [[Richmond, Virginia]]
| location_country = United States
| num_locations    = 240 terminals
| num_locations_year = 2021
| area_served      = Global
| key_people       = Robey W. Estes, Jr. (CEO)
Webb Estes (President and COO)
| services         = {{ubl|LTL|Time Critical|Volume & Truckload|Global|Custom Solutions}}
| num_employees    = 20,000
| num_employees_year   = 2022
| divisions        = {{ubl|Estes Level<sup>2</sup> Logistics|Estes SureMove}}
| subsid           = Estes Forwarding Worldwide
| homepage         ={{URL|estes-express.com}}
| footnotes        = <ref>{{Cite web |title=Estes Express Lines |url=https://www.forbes.com/companies/estes-express-lines/?sh=458feaef670b |access-date=10 February 2022 |website=[[Forbes]] |archive-date=10 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210185546/https://gum.criteo.com/syncframe?origin=publishertag&topUrl=www.forbes.com |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

'''Estes Express Lines''' is a [[Privately held company|privately owned]] American freight transportation provider based in [[Richmond, Virginia]]. Founded in 1931 by [[W. W. Estes]], the company is still owned and operated by the Estes family. Robey W. Estes, Jr., became the company’s president in 1990, then chairman and CEO in 2001. He was succeeded by his son Webb Estes as COO and President in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Webb Estes PromotedTo President and COO {{!}} Estes Express Lines |url=https://www.estes-express.com/news/webb-estes-promoted-br-to-president-and-coo |access-date=2023-02-06 |website=www.estes-express.com|date=10 January 2023 }}</ref>

Estes is the largest privately held [[Less than truckload shipping|less-than-truckload]] (LTL) company in the United States. {{As of|February 2022}}, it had approximately 20,000 employees, more than 6,700 [[Tractor unit|tractors]] and 30,000 [[semi-trailer|trailers]], and a network of over 240 terminals.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cassidy |first=William B. |date=30 April 2021 |title=Estes positions trailers to ride US import wave |url=https://www.joc.com/trucking-logistics/ltl-trucking-logistics/estes-express-lines/estes-positions-trailers-ride-us-import-wave_20210430.html |access-date=10 February 2022 |website=JOC |archive-date=7 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507010445/https://www.joc.com/trucking-logistics/ltl-trucking-logistics/estes-express-lines/estes-positions-trailers-ride-us-import-wave_20210430.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Estes Express Lines Freight Truck in Parking Lot - 28792595115.jpg|thumb|right|Estes semi-trailer truck in 2016]]
The company was founded near [[Chase City, Virginia]], by cotton farmer Webb Wallace ("W.W.") Estes (1897–1971). Estes started providing livestock moving services for local farmers in 1931<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grant |first=Tina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hfUkAQAAMAAJ |title=International Directory of Company Histories |date= June 2007|publisher=ST JAMES Press |isbn=978-1-55862-590-7 |language=en}}</ref> with a used Chevrolet truck. By 1932 the trucking business was also hauling general freight and provided enough revenue for Estes to hire his first driver. The following year, Estes opened a home office for the trucking business in Chase City.<ref name="Thibault 2015">{{Cite web |last=Thibault |first=Myja R. |year=2015 |title=Webb Wallace Estes (1897-1971) |url=https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.php?b=Estes_Webb_Wallace |access-date=10 February 2022 |website=Dictionary of Virginia Biography |publisher=Library of Virginia |archive-date=21 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210621173702/https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.php?b=Estes_Webb_Wallace |url-status=live }}</ref>

The trucking company took on the name '''Estes Express Lines''' in 1937 and a year later opened branch terminals in [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]] and [[Richmond, Virginia]]. After outgrowing its original offices and moving to a larger location in Chase City in 1941, the company purchased operating rights for several routes on the [[Northern Neck]] of Virginia in 1943. This made Richmond a more central location for the company's operations and in 1946 the company moved its home office to Richmond.<ref name="Thibault 2015" />

Estes Express Lines was incorporated on 26 November 1948 and by 1953 had over 50 employees with annual revenues of {{USD|695,000}}. During the early 1950s, the company experienced a series of traffic accidents involving the company's drivers and vehicles which led to the threat of losing its insurance coverage and operating certification. However, the company was able to improve both safety and efficiency sufficiently to allow it to continue to operate and grow its annual revenue to {{USD|1 million}} by 1957.<ref name="Thibault 2015" />

Estes expanded to interstate trucking with its 1965 purchase of North Carolina–based Coastal Freight Lines and in 1967 Carolina-Norfolk Truck Lines.<ref name="Tupponce 2016">{{Cite web |last=Tupponce |first=Joan |date=29 October 2016 |title=Estes Express builds on 85 years of change |url=https://www.virginiabusiness.com/article/estes-express-builds-on-85-years-of-change/ |access-date=10 February 2022 |website=Virginia Business |language=en-US |archive-date=18 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918073439/https://www.virginiabusiness.com/article/estes-express-builds-on-85-years-of-change/ |url-status=live }}</ref> During the 1960s the company established terminals in Newport News, South Boston, Springfield, and Winchester. By 1971, the company had terminals in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, employed approximately 650 people, and had annual revenues of {{USD|10 million}}.<ref name="Thibault 2015" /> By 1980 it had received operating authority for everywhere east of the [[Mississippi River]].

The company's leadership has been held by the Estes family since its founding. W.W. Estes' son Robey Estes, Sr. took on the role of general manager in the early 1950s as W.W. Estes stepped back from operations following a heart attack in 1953. W.W. Estes continued to be the president of the company until his death in 1971 when Robey Estes, Sr. took on that role.<ref name="Thibault 2015" /> He subsequently passed the role of president to his son Robey Estes, Jr. in 1990. Robey Estes, Jr. became the company's chairman and CEO in 2001.<ref name="Tupponce 2016" />

In the late 1990s and early 2000s the company expanded its service area significantly to Canada in 1996 and its first terminal west of the Mississippi in [[St. Louis, Missouri]] in 1999. These moves were followed by the addition of services to [[Puerto Rico]], [[St. Croix]] and St. Thomas in the Caribbean in 2000 and major commercial markets in Mexico in 2003. It expanded its Caribbean services to additional markets in 2004.<ref name="Estes History 2011">{{Cite web |title=2011 Estes History Brochure |url=http://www.estes-express.com/downloads/Estes_HistoryBrochure.pdf |website=Estes Express Lines |access-date=2011-05-09 |archive-date=2011-06-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110627002627/http://www.estes-express.com/downloads/Estes_HistoryBrochure.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

With its acquisition of Los Angeles–based G.I. Trucking in 2005,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Richmond |first=Sean Jones |date=2023-01-23 |title=39-year-old Webb Estes to take over as president of Estes Express Lines |url=https://richmond.com/business/local/39-year-old-webb-estes-to-take-over-as-president-of-estes-express-lines/article_4d43ff88-975b-11ed-91c9-6fa680758768.html |access-date=2023-01-28 |website=Richmond Times-Dispatch |language=en}}</ref> Estes expanded coverage to 46 states in the US. Estes had held an interline relationship with G.I. since the mid 1990s allowing freight to be transferred between the two companies to effectively expand each company's coverage. Additionally, in 2001, Estes and senior G.I. management had jointly purchased G.I. from its then-owner, [[Arkansas Best Corporation]] giving Estes partial ownership of G.I. until it acquired the remaining ownership in 2005.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 July 2005 |title=Estes Express acquires G.I. Trucking |url=https://www.ccjdigital.com/business/article/14900768/estes-express-acquires-gi-trucking |access-date=10 February 2022 |website=Commercial Carrier Journal |language=en-us |archive-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415225810/https://www.ccjdigital.com/business/article/14900768/estes-express-acquires-gi-trucking |url-status=live }}</ref> By 2008, Estes had established direct coverage for all 50 US states.<ref name="Estes History 2011" />

Estes expanded beyond its core LTL services in 2003 by founding an air freight division<ref name="Thibault 2015" /> and in 2012 by establishing a division offering supply chain service for [[business-to-business]] (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) logistics called Level<sup>2</sup> Logistics. The company also launched the Estes SureMove division, an alternative to full-service household moving.

In 2019, Estes acquired South Brunswick, New Jersey–based [[truckload shipping|truckload]] carrier Eastern Freight Ways and [[third-party logistics]] (3PL) provider Carrier Industries, the two most profitable affiliates of bankrupt [[New England Motor Freight]] (NEMF). The move expanded Estes' services further beyond its core LTL offering by adding truckload and 3PL services to the flatbed and dedicated transport of Estes' Level<sup>2</sup> Logistics division. Prior to the acquisition, Estes operated over 6,000 tractors and nearly 30,000 trailers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Corrigan |first=Tom |date=26 April 2019 |title=Estes Express to Buy NEMF Affiliates for $15 Million |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/estes-express-to-buy-freight-carrier-nemf-for-15-million-11556211924 |access-date=10 February 2022 |website=Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |archive-date=20 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191120051310/https://www.wsj.com/articles/estes-express-to-buy-freight-carrier-nemf-for-15-million-11556211924 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Cassidy 2019">{{Cite web |last=Cassidy |first=William B. |date=5 June 2019 |title=LTL carrier Estes expands truckload, 3PL services |url=https://www.joc.com/trucking-logistics/ltl-trucking-logistics/estes-express-lines/ltl-carrier-estes-expands-truckload-3pl-services_20190605.html |access-date=10 February 2022 |website=JOC |archive-date=27 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127101210/https://www.joc.com/trucking-logistics/ltl-trucking-logistics/estes-express-lines/ltl-carrier-estes-expands-truckload-3pl-services_20190605.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the wake of [[Yellow Corporation]]'s Chapter 11 bankruptcy and likely liquidation, Estes placed the initial [[stalking horse bid]] at $1.3 billion for all of Yellow's terminals.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.freightwaves.com/news/yellow-chooses-dip-lenders-estes-sets-floor-for-terminals-at-1-3b#:~:text=The%20proceeding%20also%20revealed%20that%20less-than-truckload%20carrier%20Estes,by%20providing%20a%20%241.3%20billion%20stalking%20horse%20bid. | title=Estes sets floor to buy Yellow terminals at $1.3B | date=17 August 2023 }}</ref>

== Operations ==
[[File:Estes Express Truck driving in Utah.jpg|thumb|Estes [[Long combination vehicle|long combination]] with 3 pups in [[Utah]] ]]
In 2016, Estes reported having over 16,000 employees operating 32,500 tractors and trailers with service to the 50 US states and Puerto Rico. The company's revenues were over {{USD|2.39 billion}}. International delivery services subsidiary Estes Forwarding Worldwide represented 6% of Estes' revenue.<ref name="Tupponce 2016" />

By 2019, the company operated with over 20,000 employees, over 6,000 tractors, and nearly 30,000 trailers.<ref name="Cassidy 2019" />

== See also ==
* {{commons-inline}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website}}

{{Trucking industry in the United States}}

[[Category:Trucking companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Companies based in Richmond, Virginia]]
[[Category:Transport companies established in 1931]]
[[Category:1931 establishments in Virginia]]
[[Category:Privately held companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Transportation companies based in Virginia]]
[[Category:Family-owned companies of the United States]]