photos by Kevin McKinnon

Hines Trucking is passing a major mile marker in their history this year as the home-grown company celebrates its 75th anniversary. A group of business and civic leaders gathered at the Hines offices Friday morning for a ceremony marking the special occasion. Hines Trucking has its headquarters in Prescott where everything is coordinated from. 

Hines Trucking personnel speaking at the ceremony included President Billy Hines, Controller Wendell Hoover, Maintenance Director Wayne Morrow, Operations Manager Bruce Olney, Senior Driver Walter McGill and Tire Manager David Jackson. There were also remarks from Economic Development Organization Director Mary Godwin, Mayor Terry Oliver and Jeff Weaver with Congress Mike Ross' office.

Mayor Oliver presented Billy Hines with a proclamation after declaring the day as J.D. and Billy Hines Trucking Inc. Day in Prescott. Weaver presented Hines with a flag flown over the nation's Capitol as a gift from Congressman Ross.

Wendell Hoover went over the company's history in his opening remarks, from 1936 when J.D. Hines started out with one truck hauling logs and gravel, to today when the company has 20 new trucks on order advertised to get 7 mpg, which is very good for a truck. 

Click here for the history of Hines Trucking

Hoover says Hines Trucking is has 170 employees with 25 contractors. They're the 15th largest trucking company in Arkansas, according to Arkansas Business Magazine.

He says Hines has 140 trucks, consisting of 100 chip haul trucks, 34 long haul trucks and 6 log trucks.

Hoover bragged about having APU's(auxiliary power units) in their long haul trucks and 35 of their chip haul trucks. These units provide heating and cooling and power for the truck cab and sleeper when the truck is parked, using much less fuel than it would require if the truck's engine remained running. The APU's also produce less pollution.

Hoover took advantage of the occasion to praise the advantages of driving for Hines. He says the company's chip haul drivers and log haul drivers are home everyday and long haul drivers are home every weekend.

Hoover says Hines' drivers receive a full range of benefits including health, dental, vision, life, short and long term disability, plus 401K and profit sharing. He says this along with bonuses for sign-on, referral, safety and fuel, make Hines competitive in hiring the best drivers. Hines also provides an annual Safety and Awards Banquet to show appreciation to its employees.

There are 14 drivers in the Hines Million Mile Club together having over 25 million safe driving miles. Hines has one driver that has been with the company for over 30 years with 3.9 million safe driving miles.

According to Hoover, Hines spends $175,000 a week on truck fuel. This makes fuel efficiency very important, so much so, that the difference between 5 mpg and 5.5 mpg could save the company $1 million per year. He said their average miles per gallon is 6 mpg and they have two drivers getting over 8 mpg.

Hoover says Hines Trucking pays a lot of attention to its equipment, with their chip haul trucks especially built to reduce weight. 

Hines has been an innovator using Super Single tires on its chip haulers for over 18 years, reducing weight and improving fuel mileage.

Hines chip haul trucks are very distinct as silver trucks with the HTI ball logo that is very visible along with orange tarps. The long haul trucks are varied bright colors with the Hines logo very visible. The log trucks are white and green with a checker board pattern on the side. Morrow says this is for safety and high visibility.

The company has four fueling sites to reduce fuel cost and encourage drivers to only haul the fuel they need to make the trip.

Hines chip trucks operate in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas. The company's long haul trucks run in the southeastern region. Their log trucks operate in north Louisiana, south Arkansas and east Texas.

Hines Maintenance Director Wayne Morrow told those gathered at the 75th Anniversary event that the Hines Trucking Maintenance Department has 17 shop employees running three shifts 24 hours-a-day, Monday through Friday. The shop is also open during the day on weekends. 

Morrow says they've always taken pride in maintaining their equipment by performing regular scheduled Preventative Maintenance to keep it safe and DOT legal.

"There was a time not long ago that most companies did not really put a lot of thought on how to improve Fuel Economy with trucks and equipment,"says Morrow. "But I can tell you now since 2008 and high fuel costs, we are very interested in finding ways to save fuel because those savings go straight to the bottom line."

He says that truck manufactures are now designing the exterior to be more aerodynamic on certain models and the engines are designed to be more fuel efficient. Plus, the interiors have been changed to be more like passenger cars which keeps the driver more comfortable during his hours of work.

Morrow said that emissions have been lowered because of new regulations passed during the last 10 years. He then pointed to a new 2012 model truck and said, "This truck on the end is a new 2012 model which is producing cleaner air out the exhaust than it takes in. All of this technology has cost the engine manufactures billions of dollars which has been passed to us the buyer, so I hope that in the near future our government or state will offer better tax credits which will help offset our increased cost."

Morrow also talked about new radar warning systems in the trucks to help monitor stationary and moving objects when the truck is parked or in motion. The systems can automatically reduce engine throttle and apply brakes if necessary to avoid a possible collision.

Roll-Stability Control Systems automatically reduce engine power and can apply brakes when it detects the vehicle is at a risk of rolling over.

Morrow closed out by saying that Hines Trucking has always been committed to operating safe equipment making our highways safer and our environment cleaner.

After the anniversary program outside Hines offices, visitors were invited inside for tours. Some of the visitors sat in on a demonstration of the technology used by Hines Trucking to dispatch drivers and monitor trucks conducted by Driver Manager Glenn Obenoskey and IT Manager Danny Stewart.

As the editor of HopePrescott.com I can tell you that our community is very proud to be the home of Hines Trucking Inc. and we wish them another 75 years of growth and success. 

The next time you see someone associated with Hines, tell them how much you appreciate the jobs they provide and the quality of business and innovation they represent.

http://www.hinestrucking.com/

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