| Hodges Trucking Company: Follow the Lead |
| Featured Spotlights | |||
| Written by Ashley McGown | |||
| Wednesday, 31 March 2010 | |||
 This family business was sold four years ago. Here’s how the new parent company is helping its team drive growth.
Today, operating out of 10 offices spread across three states, the Oklahoma City, Okla.-based organization is able to provide trucking, crane, and maintenance services to customers at a close proximity. According to Justin Hodges, who currently serves as director of environmental health and safety compliance, the company’s local presence in each market plays a vital role in its ability to deliver top-quality service to all of its customers. “Roughly 90% of our operations involves moving drilling rigs from one location to another. It’s a very specialized service; there are just a handful of successful rig moving companies in the country,” he explained. From one generation to the next The oversight of operations at Hodges Trucking has been passed down through each generation of the family. Bill, the founder, helped each of his three sons learn the business from the ground up, initially hiring them as general helpers and then allowing them to climb their way up the company ladder over time. The trio came full circle in 1964, when the brothers purchased the company from their father. Throughout the years, the team at Hodges Trucking prided itself on its ability to continually raise standards across the Oklahoma oilfield and trucking market. “Originally we focused on bringing in large mobile cranes to streamline the rig-transportation process, moving the equipment from one location to another. Over time, however, we branched out and began to transport other things, like bridges and airplanes,” Justin explained, noting that a new headquarters and manufacturing facility was constructed in the mid-1970s to accommodate the growth. In 1991, the heavy haul division was created, enabling the company’s team to transport loads greater than 500,000 pounds for the first time. Then, in 2006, the Hodges family decided to sell the company. Chesapeake Energy Corporation ultimately acquired the business, which now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary, but according to Justin, the Hodges family is still very much involved and maintains control over day-to-day operations. “Not much has changed internally. We have moved more of Chesapeake’s equipment over the last four years, but we still move drilling rigs for all of the major companies in the industry,” he said, before explaining why the family chose to sell. “We wanted to secure growth for the future and ensure job security for our employees, and this seemed to be the best option in that respect. Chesapeake is one of the top natural gas producers in the US and a strong company overall, so we felt like it was a good fit.” Following the demand Recently, there has been a steady and an abundant supply of natural gas and oil in the US, which, according to Justin, has created a soft cycle. “Everything we do is directly affected by the natural gas stock. When there’s a large supply out there, companies cut back on their operations because the demand drops,” he explained, adding that right now, the team at Hodges Trucking is primarily focused on the major shale gas plays. He named the Marcellus and Barnett shale plays as two that have garnered a significant amount of attention as of late. “There’s a change taking place in the drilling industry today,” Justin continued. “Activity is shifting away from the areas that used to be very popular, moving into many of the larger shale plays. Given the nature of our business, we plan to follow that lead; we move our operations to wherever the drilling rigs are.” Despite the soft cycle and changing industry, Hodges Trucking continues to grow. Thanks to its relationship with Chesapeake, the company has been able to continually invest in state-of-the-art equipment throughout the last four years, which has helped it improve efficiency across the board. “Ten years ago, we were using much older equipment, but we’ve been able to purchase a lot of new equipment recently, and it has definitely made a difference,” Justin said. Looking to the future, the team at Hodges Trucking plans to continue growing its presence in the rig-transportation market. Currently, crane work makes up roughly 10% of the company’s portfolio, and although it’s not an area the organization is targeting for growth, it’s expected to remain stable. Y |
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