
#Old dominion tracking drivers
Just before the union called the end of the strike, ODFL drivers in Richmond decided to leave the union and return to work. ODFL was one of many unionized carriers impacted by a Teamsters strike that lasted over 10 weeks in 1946. ODFL semi-trailer truck in Manhattan in 2019 By 1944, the company operated 14 straight trucks, 18 tractors, and 25 trailers with 74 employees. and Lillian became 50-50 partners in the business officially, though through the late 1940s Lillian stepped back from day-to-day operations as the company hired additional staff. This facility also housed the company's offices and its first maintenance shop. The company converted a disused lumber mill into a trucking terminal in 1942 to support the volume of business they were doing during the war. With a focus on its Virginia operations, especially transporting equipment and supplies for the military to ports, ODFL chose not to renew their lease of New Dixie's CPCN making them solely a Virginia intrastate operator again. This was one of three routes Wilson had acquired from former ODFL competitor Hampton Roads Transport Company earlier that year. ODFL also received broader authorization to run routes within Virginia and acquired an additional route from the Wilson Trucking Co. This allowed ODFL to operate between Richmond and a number of points in North Carolina and South Carolina. Wartime expansion ĭuring World War II, ODFL expanded outside Virginia beginning in 1941 by buying the trucks of New Dixie Transfer and leasing New Dixie's CPCN for a year. Instead of repainting the new trucks to match its older trucks, ODFL chose to repaint the older trucks to match the new ones. The reason for the change was that it had purchased vehicles from International Harvester which were delivered dark green. In the 1940s, ODFL switched from a navy blue and red livery for its tractors to the dark green color which it continued to use throughout its history. In 1940, the company's drivers were successfully unionized under the Teamsters this time supported by Earl, Sr. Despite some challenges, the company remained profitable thorough the end of the decade but used its proceeds to finance expansion and by 1940 had three service centers, 45 employees, and 12 drivers. An attempt by employees to unionize under the Teamsters Union was unsuccessful in 1939 after a 3-month strike. in 1936 and unsuccessfully attempting to lease operating authority from Carter Brothers Express Lines in 1939 to expand ODFL's routes. These included wet leasing a significant portion of their fleet to the Manchester Board and Paper Co. Through the late 1930s, the company made several moves to remain solvent under regulation. By the end of that year, ODFL was operating six tractor-trailers and 12 straight trucks and shortly thereafter moved to a dedicated 7-bay facility. The facility was shared with Overnite Transportation with the two bays split between them. But, with that space lacking a loading dock, they moved again in 1936 to a facility with two truck bays. The company moved its operations out of the Congdon's house into its terminal, a space outside a grocery store, in 1935. The only other type of shipments ODFL was allowed to carry were interline shipments, transiting freight along this route on behalf of other carriers who did not possess a CPCN for that route. ODFL was initially granted a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) by the ICC to transport interstate freight on their original route between Richmond and Norfolk but this freight had to be destined for transit outside the state of Virginia either internationally or interstate. įollowing passage of the Motor Carrier Act of 1935, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) began regulating the trucking industry.
#Old dominion tracking driver
The company initially operated with Earl as its only driver and Lillian both running business operations from their home and serving as an alternate driver if Earl was unavailable. The name is a reference to a common nickname for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the "Old Dominion". and Lillian Congdon (née Herbert) founded the company with a single straight truck running between Richmond and Norfolk, Virginia. traces its origins to 1934 when husband and wife Earl Congdon, Sr.
