Joined RVA757 Connects: 2026

Rob Estes is the third generation of his family to lead Richmond-based Estes Express Lines, which is North America’s largest privately owned freight carrier with more than 300 North American service centers, nearly 7,000 next-day lanes, and fleet of more than 10,500 tractors.

He began washing trucks at age 12 and worked at Estes Express every spring break and summer through high school and college.

After graduating from the College of William & Mary with a degree in accounting, Estes began working full time at Estes Express in 1975. He worked in sales and terminal operations for 12 years before becoming general manager in 1987. He became president in 1990 and was promoted to his current position in 1999. During his tenure, he has taken Estes from an east-coast carrier to a network of 210 terminals in all 50 states, the Caribbean, Canada, and Mexico.

He has been the recipient of several leadership awards. In 2002, he won the Lifetime Achievement Award Mid-Atlantic Region at Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, which he shared with his father, Robey Estes. In 2018, he received the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s Leadership Award, and he was recognized by his alma mater as someone who’s making a difference in the Richmond area. The Traffic Club of Philadelphia named him Person of the Year in 2020.

Estes is active in the community and trucking industry and serves on various boards, including Southern Motor Carriers, American Trucking Associations, Needle’s Eye Ministries, Science Museum of Virginia, and National Association of Christian Recovery. He is a former board member of Richmond Goodwill and Virginia State Chamber of Commerce as well as past chairman for the Board of Deacons of Bon Air Baptist Church.