Meet Jeff England. Founder & President of Pride Transport. 

In 1979 Jeff England founded Pride Transport from a lifelong love of trucking. Having been born and raised in a trucking family, England’s inherent industry knowledge and refined wisdom has been integral to Pride’s continuing success. 

For nearly 40 years since its founding, Jeff England has adapted to an ever-changing industry and been at the forefront of the trucking business. His goal was a simple one: to employ dedicated, caring people and to always be at the top of the industry.

What makes Pride Transport unique is it’s leadership, legacy of family tradition, and company culture. Pride was founded on family tradition and continues the same way today as many of Jeff’s children and grandchildren are passionately involved in the business.  

Pride Transport has cultivated an approachable culture for its employees that thrive on its open door policy and encourages everyone to know each other's names. It’s vital to Jeff England (and all of Pride’s 600+ team members) that people enjoy their work and know the people they interact with on a daily basis. 

Finally, what sets Pride apart from others is the fact that it’s founder and president is a truck driver first and foremost. In fact, he still loves trucking regularly. This unique distinction of leadership has created an environment that understands the importance of the individual first, rather than the company. 

Jeff England has always had a passion for beautiful trucks, especially ones with lots of chrome. His passion for being on the road and making the lives of truck drivers easier are at the core of everything Pride does.

Q&A With Jeff England

We chatted with Pride Transport Founder & President, Jeff England, to reflect on Pride’s past, his trucking experience and memories plus, what he believes makes a good truck driver. In his own words, here are some of Jeff’s answers to our questions. 

You come from a family of truckers, was it difficult to leave that family business and start a competitor?

Jeff England: Yes it was very difficult to leave the family business [C.R England]. This wasn’t an easy decision, in fact I spent a lot of time pondering it. I wasn’t very worried about the idea of being a competitor with C.R England as we were just a small carrier and there’s plenty of freight to go around. It was still a difficult decision.

What was the motivation for leaving the family business?

JE: While this was a difficult decision, I had a desire to do my own thing, create something for myself, and express myself in a different way.

What did you want to do differently with Pride?

JE: My desire to start Pride Transport didn’t stem from wanting to do things vastly different from my family but I wanted the opportunity to be my own boss and make my own decisions. Ultimately I’ve achieved everything I wanted when founding Pride. It’s been incredibly satisfying to find success on a personal and professional level. Plus, being able to support my family and provide employment for them as well has been very satisfying.

If you could change or improve one thing about Pride, what would that be?

JE: Pride is always striving to grow, innovate, and improve the lives of our drivers. Looking forward I want to work harder at building and maintaining good relationships between all employees, both drivers as well as non-drivers.

What would you say makes for a good truck driver?

JE: A good truck driver is one who is always pleasant and positive even when things get a little difficult. Drivers can be under lots of stress and it always makes things better if you can keep a positive attitude.

You still drive. What is it that makes you need to get behind the wheel again from time to time?

JE: I still get a lot of satisfaction out of driving a nice, well-maintained truck. From time to time it’s nice to be able to get some time to myself. It gives me the opportunity to reflect and usually helps give me the space to make decisions.

When you were driving, what was your favorite place to drive?

JE: I enjoy driving everywhere! However, I like to avoid major cities (that’s one thing i don’t miss about full-time driving). 

Why do some drivers thrive in the industry and others struggle?

JE: Most drivers are aware of the challenges that come with driving a truck and can accept and deal with them. Some thrive in this environment. The drivers that struggle however are the ones that have a more difficult time understanding and accepting the challenges that come with truck driving and allow it to affect their attitude. 

Do you think more women should be drivers and what are you doing to encourage that?

JE: We have many incredible women working for Pride and when we’re looking for new drivers we only care about the qualifications. 

We’re always striving to become a better ally for female truck drivers and have recently launched a “Women In Trucking” series that explores the challenges and successes of the women who are at the forefront of the industry. Read our interview with Anita Cavanaugh here.

What are the best and worst times of year to be a driver?

JE: Spring and fall are the best times to drive because you don’t have extreme weather conditions to worry about. Driving during the holidays can be tough because there’s lots more traffic to deal with. 

Has the fact that you were a driver and still drive, made a difference in how you manage drivers?

JE: Being a driver myself has allowed me to have a better understanding of what truck drivers deal with on a daily basis. This insider knowledge helps me appreciate and manage things better than a non-driver might. 

What’s something that you would like car drivers who your truckers have to share the road with to know?

JE: Car drivers need to understand that trucks are not nimble like cars and they need to be patient when maneuvering around big trucks. Trucks go slow up hills and when starting up. Car drivers need to be patient and give trucks the time and space it takes to operate these vehicles.  

Knowledge, understanding, and experience. This is what makes Pride such an incredible company and what makes Jeff England the ideal person to be leading it. 
For more information about Pride Transport and how you can join this impressive team as a driver or non-driver visit them here: https://www.pridetransport.com today. Who knows, maybe in your future you’ll be driving with Pride.