After five years of hard work, a South Carolina entrepreneur built a trucking outfit from a single rig to a 25-truck operation, earning him Minority Business of the Year honors from the Greenville Chamber of Commerce.
Justin Jenkins, owner of Paveway Express, was something of a jack of all trades. After setting his mind to opening a business, friends and family members encouraged him to consider an endeavor in the trucking industry.
“I’m an entrepreneur by spirit. I’ve promoted hip-hop concerts. I sold cars, and my goal was to open a car lot,” Jenkins reportedly said. “My uncle drove trucks for 15 years. I counted trucks. I saw the demand for trucking. We don’t get anything in America without trucks.”
Jenkins reportedly launched his company in February 2017, which now runs at least 20 loads daily. With increasingly high demand for qualified truck drivers, it didn’t take long for Paveway Express to catch a break.
Just two months after opening, he connected with an organization that shipped Volkswagen interior products. He hauled parts from a manufacturer in Spartanburg to a VW plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and returned with a load of racks. That consistent route helped fund the upstart company and grow the business.
Seeing a growth opportunity, Jenkins invested in a second truck and hired additional drivers. The freight hauling operation covered weekend runs to the tune of eight loads. His team worked on a rotation that involved each driver making a round trip and then another hopping into the cab and heading back out on the road. The strategy proved a smart and lucrative workaround to hours of service restrictions.
“I had to be creative to make it work,” Jenkins reportedly said. “I started trying to get more traction in the automotive industry. Before you know it, we were up to 10 trucks in 2020.”
The South Carolina business success has dealt with adversity along the route. He secured contracts almost exclusively in the automotive sector. Those profitable runs came to a screeching halt when the pandemic shuttered plants.
Although his struggles are no different from others during the economic disruption, Jenkins was quick to ramp up his operation when businesses reopened. The Greenville native now enjoys a workforce of 40 truckers and additional administrative support personnel. In keeping with his entrepreneurial spirit, Jenkins set a goal of operating more than 100 trucks within the next five years.
“I think we’re one of the fastest-growing truck companies in the Southeast,” Jenkins reportedly said. “I’m going to claim that narrative. With the will of God and hard work, all things are possible. And I think that narrative will come true.”
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