Our History
At 21 years old, fresh out of the U. S. Army, Ronnie Eubanks began building Cannonball Trucking Inc. through investments in safety programs, top quality operations personnel, driver training, and equipment Cannonball was soon positioned as the premier trucking company serving the Houston petrochemical industry.
More than 50 years later, Cannonball Trucking Inc. remains focused on delivering the best customer service in the industry. Investing in quality personnel leads to long term success with the top 4 managers at Cannonball bringing more than 125 years of experience. Fonzell Johnson, the highest tenured driver, recently retired after his 50th anniversary with Cannonball. Most of our drivers have been with us for more than 10 years. The secret to our success is recruiting people who share our commitment to excellence and welcome them as family.
For more than 50 years the Cannonball family has been Delivering Excellence.
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1964 Harlan’s Hot Shot Delivery Founded
On December 3rd, 1964, Harlan’s Hot Shot Delivery was founded. One month later, Ronnie Eubanks began working for his brother-in-law at his new delivery service. After nine months of operation, Harlan decided to sell the company and focus his efforts on his other businesses. Not only did Ronnie give a personal guarantee to the bank for the notes on the seven new trucks and office equipment, he had to borrow the funds from his wife’s grandfather to pay Harlan in full. At the time of purchase Harlan’s Hot Shot Delivery operated out of Harlan’s garage and consisted of one employee, seven trucks and two customers. At 21 years old, fresh out of the U. S. Army, Ronnie Eubanks began building Cannonball Trucking Inc.
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1965 Tenneco Oil Contract
Cannonball’s first major victory came in 1965 when it earned the Tenneco Oil contract. The petrochemical industry’s need for 24hr service and strict safety standards became immediately evident. After further investigation, it was discovered that there were no carriers that specialized in meeting the demanding needs of the chemical plants and their vendors. It was at that point, the focus of Cannonball Trucking Inc. was cast. Implementation of a selective hiring process for drivers, development of an industry leading safety compliance program, recruitment of top level operations personnel, and a custom designed rate sheet built specifically for the petrochemical industry allowed Cannonball to earn almost 80% of the plant contracts in the Pasadena, Deer Park, Baytown, and Texas City.
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1985 Cannonball purchases TRC Certificate of Authority
In 1985, Cannonball purchased a Certificate of Authority for Intra-State regulated shipments under the Texas Railroad Commission. Shortly after securing the TRC Authority, an application was made and approved for Interstate Commerce Commission Authority enabling Cannonball Trucking Inc. to transport Inter-State shipments. Securing authorities to transport shipments in all 48 continental United States and Canada, provided greater flexibility in the types of service available to our customers and allowed expansion into new markets.
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1995 Deregulation in the Trucking Industry
Federal legislation deregulated the trucking industry in 1995. Although the governmental oversight of the industry changed, the needs of our customers remained the same. Years of experience and testing had allowed Cannonball to improve and stabilize business processes. Long before “logistics” was a common term, Cannonball was redefining the relationship between a carrier and customer. Cannonball, through partnerships with our customers, used shipment data to suggest ways to refine and streamline our customer’s shipping procedures. Our forward thinking initiative reduced unnecessary shipping costs and reduced logistical errors. While many companies were going out of business due to of the drastic regulatory changes, Cannonball’s 24hr service, exceptional safety standards, and first class customer service, ensured a stable growth through troubled times.
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2017 Delivering Excellence since 1964
For more than 50 years, Cannonball Trucking Inc. has remained focused on delivering the best customer service in the industry, maintaining exceptional safety standards, and building partnerships with our customers. Cannonball still operates as a family business today. The personal, small business approach to managing encourages employees and contractors to remain with Cannonball.
Every employee and contractor is treated like a person, not a number, and our open door policy allows each employee or contractor to have access to the owner for any concerns they may have. Policies like these are a few of the many reasons we have a driver that has been with Cannonball for more than 40 years and many more that have been here for 10-30+ years. The VP of Operations, with more than 30 years at Cannonball, leads a professional team with more than 40 years of combined experience. The sales staff has more than 30 years of combined experience.
Our business processes and qualified employees allow Cannonball to provide intricate solutions to complex logistical problems, and deliver quality service every day. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, we are here to service your transportation needs.