Webb Wallace Estes (August 12, 1897 – June 29, 1971) was an American farmer and businessman who founded

Estes Express Lines Estes Express Lines is a privately owned American freight transportation provider based in Richmond, Virginia. Founded in 1931 by W.W. Estes, the company is owned and operated by the Estes family. Robey W. Estes, Jr., became the company’s pre ...

, the largest privately held

less-than-truckload Less-than-truckload shipping or less than load (LTL) is the transportation of an amount of freight sized between individual parcels and full truckloads. Parcel carriers handle small packages and freight that can be broken down into units less t ...

(LTL) company in the United States.

Childhood and education

Estes was born in

Burke County, North Carolina Burke County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 87,570. Its county seat is Morganton. Burke County is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. ...

, the son of David Wallace Estes and Myrta Wilton Webb. He attended primary school and was an apprentice to his father, who was a timber farmer and sawmill operator.

Career

Early years and life

In 1920, Estes moved to a 100-acre farm that his father had purchased near

Chase City, Virginia Chase City is a town in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, United States. Chase City was incorporated in 1873 and named for Salmon P. Chase, United States Chief Justice and Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury. The population was 2,351 at the 2010 censu ...

. Estes began farming cotton, raising livestock, and producing eggs and butter.

Estes Express Lines

In 1931 during the height of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, Estes purchased a used

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

truck and began providing affordable livestock transportation services for local farmers near

. By the following year, he was able to hire his first driver, and had expanded services to include trucking and hauling general freight. The company continued to grow through the establishment of additional terminals, purchase of new routes, and acquisition of subsidiary trucking companies. The company was formally named "Estes Express Lines" in 1937. In his management style of the company, Estes was fiscally conservative and promoted slow and measured growth. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Estes was able to expand the business through contracts with the

U.S. military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

to transport and deliver military supplies. By the 1950s, the company had over 50 employees with annual revenues of US$695,000, reaching annual revenues of US$1 million by 1957. Estes led the company as president from its founding in 1931 until his death in 1971, when his son Robey assumed the role.

Other activities

Estes was an elected member of the Mecklenburg County

Board of supervisors A board of supervisors is a governmental body that oversees the operation of county government in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as 16 counties in New York. There are equivalent agenc ...

, serving for 16 years. He also served as a board member of the First Commonwealth Corporation and the Community Memorial Hospital.

Personal life

Marriages and children

In December 1919, Estes married Ruth Gladys Berry. They had four daughters and two sons, including: * Robey Webb Estes (1921–2006) * Charles Edwin Estes (1923–2015) * Margaret Estes Hupp (1926–2007) * Helen Estes Garland (1929–2003) * Mary Estes Speight (1932–2017) * Ruth Estes Tanner (1934–2020)

Death

Estes died of complications from

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

on June 29, 1971, in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. He was buried in

Woodland Cemetery Woodland Cemetery may refer to: * Woodland cemetery, a type of cemetery or it may refer to specific places: in Sweden * Skogskyrkogården (The Woodland Cemetery) in Stockholm, Sweden in the United States (by state) * Woodland Cemetery (Quincy, I ...

. At the time of his death, the company had over 650 employees and grossed $10 million annually.

Legacy

Estes Express Lines remains in the ownership of the descendants of Estes. In 2015, the family was listed as No. 149 in America's Richest Families, with a family net worth US$1.7 billion. ''Estes Road'' and the ''Estes Community Center'' in Chase City are both named for Estes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Estes, W.W. 1897 births 1971 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American farmers American trucking industry businesspeople American transportation businesspeople Baptists from Virginia Businesspeople from North Carolina Businesspeople from Richmond, Virginia People from Mecklenburg County, Virginia