Two decades ago, James Davis was a one-truck owner-operator tooling around the Pacific Northwest.
By 2011, his budding James Davis Trucking (JDT) was up to three trucks and “a couple owner-operators that drove with me,” Davis said. JDT went on to add trucks, trailers and drivers, becoming a full-service trucking company.
The Central Point, Oregon-based fleet currently boasts a lineup of 27 trucks and an employee count of 31, including 22 drivers and nine non-driving positions that include two mechanics, dispatchers for company loads, a brokerage that handles sales for outside loads and an accounts payable and receivables staff.
The carrier primarily moves lumber, plywood, beams, steel and rebar. It specializes in over-length material, using flatbeds, roll tops and step deck trailers. Davis, who spent more than 10 years as an owner-operator, is still a trucker when the need arises, but now mostly serves as his company’s catch-all; full-time manager, sometime dispatcher, mechanic, driver and cross docking freight.
Having added 10 units in the last four years, JDT’s growth in many cases hasn’t been by design or customer demand but through Davis’ willingness to make room for a potentially exceptional employee.
“Our company has grown by great drivers walking through the door and our company building or buying a truck to get them hired, and a lot of those same faces are still here,” he said.
JDT’s benefits include healthcare, vision, dental, chiropractic, retirement (with a 3% company match), paid vacation, sick leave and flexibility around family schedules. Davis said the generous benefits package was a major source of personal pride and a key contributor to attracting and keeping drivers.
