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“
I’m a young
leader myself, so I’m
still learning. When we
encourage feedback and
participation, we build a
team while learning how
to do our jobs better.”
— Harman Cheema
President and CEO
of Cheema Freightlines
“We really do have an open-door policy,”
he stated. “Drivers call me, sometimes just
to vent. We try to stress to office employees
as well as drivers that no feedback is
bad feedback.”
Cheema considers feedback as a part
of his own leadership development. “I’m a
young leader myself, so I’m still learning,”
he explained. “When we encourage feedback
and participation, we build a team
while learning how to do our jobs better.”
Pay, equipment, and a great working
culture have paid off in terms of reduced
driver turnover. “We have a core base of
safe drivers,” said Cheema. We have an
excellent retention rate in comparison to
the industry.” The company currently experiences
30% to 35% annual turnover.
The Cheema Freightlines running area
helps with both driver retention and operational
efficiency. “We run primarily in
the western 11 states with a lot of traffic
on the I-5 corridor. We don’t have plans
to go outside of the western 11,” added
Cheema. The company’s driver hiring area
primarily consists of the states of Washington,
Oregon, California, and Arizona.
Expansion of the running area isn’t being
discussed. “We recognize that there are opportunities to get stronger and
improve lane density within our current network,” he explained.
From his father’s single truck, Cheema Freightlines now stands at
325 and growing, with full-service terminals in Lathrop, California,
and company headquarters in Sumner, Washington. With more than
1,000 trailers, Cheema can set up trailer pools and take advantage of
drop-and-hook opportunities when possible.
Safety is serious business at Cheema, as evidenced by the way new
trucks are equipped. The leadership team does their best to make
sure safety is a part of the carrier culture.
Executive Leadership
Harman Cheema
president and CEO
Scott Thompson
chief financial officer
Doug Mayle
vice president
Harman K. Cheema
director of human resources
Harry Cheema
director of maintenance
DRIVERS
350
TRUCKS
325
By the Numbers
TOTAL EMPLOYEES
385
TRAILERS
1,000
*Number of drivers includes 25 owneroperators.
The total number of employees
does not include owner-operators.
“We start every day, every meeting with
a safety message,” said Cheema. “Safety
is, and has to be, our no doubt No. 1 priority.”
The company’s Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration inspection ratings
are well below industry averages.
The amount of freight Cheema runs
through West Coast states requires the
company to adhere to strict emissions
rules, especially in California, where
California Air Resources Board wields
enormous power. That’s not a problem
for Cheema. “We’ve usually been ahead
of the curve with emissions requirements,”
he said. “We trade our equipment
at the three-and-a-half to fouryear
mark, so we’re always running the
latest technology.”
As emissions requirements push
the trucking industry away from petroleum-based
fuels, equipment powered
by alternative energy sources is being
discussed more frequently.
“We’re talking to Freightliner about
electric trucks and where they might
fit,” noted Cheema. “Right now, we’re
looking at them for some of our local
runs.” Like leaders across the industry,
Cheema foresees difficulty incorporating
vehicles that don’t return to company
terminals each day. “It will be difficult
to fit them in until the infrastructure is in
place for charging them,” he said.
Like many carriers, Cheema is focused
on guiding the company through
the current COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s
definitely been challenging,” he said. “At
first, like everyone else, we were trying to
get a feel for what was going to happen.”
Cheema’s familiarity with available
technology helped in making decisions
about which employees would work
from home. “We didn’t have much of
a learning curve,” he said.
A bigger concern, he said, was the
necessity of closing some driver-support facilities. “We really want
to support our drivers, but we have to keep them safe, too,” he said.
“We realize that while we’re at home, they’re still out on the road. It
was difficult making decisions that took away some of our support
infrastructure for them.”
Cheema appreciates what drivers have done for trucking during
the COVID period. “People see truckers in a different light when they
know how much we’ve done to combat the pandemic,” he concluded.
“Truckers are heroes.”
At Cheema Freightlines, they’re family, too.
Opposite page, top: President and CEO Harman Cheema, right, is shown with Director of Maintenance Harry Cheema in front of one of the company’s 325
trucks. Opposite page, right: New Cheema drivers pose for a photo as they prepare for the job ahead. Above: Based in Sumner, Washington, Cheema drivers
are often treated to great scenery like this shot of Mount Rainier.
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