Values, Exceptional Service Keep Hill Bros. on the Road
- published: 2024/09/16
- contact: NBDC Communications - Nebraska Business Development Center
- phone: 402.554.6256
- email: kjefferson@unomaha.edu
Omaha – Family values instilled by Pete Hill, Sr. when he founded the company more than 50 years ago continue to drive the current generation who own and operate Hill Bros. Transportation, Inc., Hill Bros. Logistics, Inc. and the Pro-Fleet Commercial Driver's License (CDL) Academy.
Started by the man known best as “Pops” Hill, the original Hill Transportation transformed to Hill Bros., Inc., in 1986 when ownership was assumed by brothers Pete, Albert, Pat and Jim. “That’s when the company really began to focus on moving freight 365,” says Jesse Boyer, vice president of Hill Bros. Logistics, Inc. “The brothers wanted to stay away from freight that had ‘hot cycles’ or was seasonable. Sustainable business means sustainable jobs.”
The company provides dry van and refrigerated trucking services to a wide variety of customers. “We concentrate on industries that are somewhat recession proof, including the food and beverage industries,” Boyer says. “Iowa and Nebraska are the protein capitals of the world, and there are a lot of refrigerator-based shippers in Omaha and Sioux City. We’ve been able to build a loyal customer base and distinguish Hill Bros. through exceptional service.”
He says the company has a healthy roster of owner/operator truckers, and a growing list of lease-purchase operators who came directly out of the company’s driver training school.
On the logistics side of the business, Boyer says the company operates 1,000 to 1,500 tractor-trailers each week, “and we have an additional 15,000 we can call on if we need to. That’s up from about 300 a decade ago.”
Most recently, Hill Bros. has actively sought government contracting opportunities. “Our ownership is very proud about caring for the country,” Boyer says. “We want to help build America’s infrastructure, and we can do that by putting our trucks behind meaningful moves like government transportation.”
We want to help build America’s infrastructure, and we can do that by putting our trucks behind meaningful moves like government transportation.
In its pursuit of government contracting opportunities, Hill Bros. is working with the Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC) and its APEX Accelerator program, whose consultants offer services aimed at enabling companies to more efficiently navigate government regulations and processes.
NBDC APEX Accelerator Consultant Harold Sargus has assisted Hill Bros. with three System for Awards Management (SAM) registrations, developing a BidMatch profile to receive notifications of government opportunities, and getting registered with the U.S. military as a Transportation Service Provider. Sargus has also made the company aware of cybersecurity requirements, how to use sam.gov to search for contract opportunities, conducted market research and provided a template for a capability statement and a subsequent review.
“A government contract is a commitment,” Boyer says. “If we secure a three-year contract to haul government freight regularly from Nebraska to Georgia, we have to focus on finding freight to haul back from Georgia for that same period of time.”
When the demand for freight is soft, he says, the competition for fewer loads increases. “A saturated market means shippers can force the rate-per-mile lower,” Boyer says. “At the same time, our costs stay the same or go up.”
There are other challenges. “We have to find drivers who don’t mind the hard life on the road,” he says. “Once they’re here, we do all we can to show them we appreciate them.”
Hill Bros. recently began a program to help boost the pool of drivers through a partnership with the State of Nebraska made possible with funding appropriated by the City of Lincoln through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
Boyer says the pilot program aims to provide CDL training to incarcerated individuals pending release. In the program, incarcerated persons who have earned work release privileges are shuttled from Lincoln to Omaha, where they study and practice driving skills on site with the Hill Bros. Pro-Fleet CDL Academy.
Upon completion of the program, which lasts from 12 to 16 weeks depending on the level of CDL license, participants receive certification and their Class A and B CDL. In May, Gov. Jim Pillen, Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird, and Director of the Nebraska Department of Corrections Rob Jeffreys recognized the first group of graduates.
“We hope this is a life-changing program,” Boyer says. “It all goes back to the values that the company was built upon.”