Estes Express Lines
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Company Overview
Estes Express Lines is the largest privately owned less-than-truckload carrier in North America, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, with terminals across the country. The FMCSA lists it with 9,805 power units and 8,821 drivers on its July 2025 filing. Estes runs city pickup-and-delivery, linehaul and a growing truckload and final-mile operation, and it is family-owned, which tends to mean hiring decisions are made at the terminal rather than by a central scoring system. The roadside record is good: 4,565 inspections, 39 driver out-of-service orders, under 1 percent, and 544 vehicle orders, about 12 percent, both below the national averages. There are 583 recordable crashes in two years, a large number in absolute terms but in line with a fleet that runs thousands of local routes through city traffic every day. Estes is on this list from driver reports. LTL carriers are attractive to a driver in the follow-up testing phase because the schedule is regular and you are home to make appointments, and Estes has terminals in most metropolitan areas. Call the terminal nearest you rather than the national number: ask whether they hire drivers who have completed the SAP program, how long since the violation, and whether a dock or yard position is open while your return-to-duty test is arranged.
SAP Friendly — Driver-reported
Estes Express Lines is on this list because drivers have been hired here after a Clearinghouse violation. Hiring policy moves with the freight and insurance markets, so confirm with the recruiter when you call.
FMCSA Carrier Record
Matched to USDOT 121018 in the federal motor carrier census.
- Legal name
- ESTES EXPRESS LINES
- Location
- RICHMOND, VA
- Doing business as
- ESTES
- Operating status
- ACTIVE
- Power units
- 9,805
- Drivers
- 8,821
Safety record
- Crashes (24 mo)
- 583
- Fatalities (24 mo)
- 11
- Injuries (24 mo)
- 272
- Inspections
- 4,565
- Out of service
- 12.8%
- Driver OOS
- 0.9%
- Vehicle OOS
- 11.9%
Violations by category
Source: FMCSA motor carrier census, crash and inspection files · retrieved August 19, 2026 · carrier last updated its MCS-150 on 2025. Figures are self-reported by the carrier and are not audited by SAP Drivers.
Other SAP-friendly carriers in Virginia
Carriers in the same state, largest fleets first. Fleet sizes come from the FMCSA motor carrier census.
- Performance Food Group (PFG)Richmond, VA6,340 power units
- Tforce Freight (formerly UPS Freight)Henrico, VA4,155 power units
- Seven Hills TruckingHenrico, VA17 power units
- ATSHampton, VA1 power units
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*Disclaimer: Hiring policies change frequently. Always verify SAP acceptance directly with the recruiter.