FEBRUARY 2003 WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO...

ANOTHER VICTIM OF DEREGULATION Story and Photo by Truck Historian/Author Stan Holtzman (Click on image for larger photo) For over three decades, Hills Transportation ran a fleet of dark green Kenworths from Los Angeles to San Francisco, hauling all kinds of freight. Seen here is a 1950s high-mount KW, hooked to a 35-foot Trailmobile trailer, in Vernon, California. It would be safe to say that this rig had a 220 horsepower Cummins, backed by a five-speed main and a three-speed auxiliary tranny. Besides the Kenworths (which they used as their highway rigs), Hills also had a fleet of local bobtail trucks that would pickup and deliver LTL (less-than-loaded) freight. Hills Transportation and similar outfits like Savage Transportation, Valley Motor Lines, Willig Freight Lines, California Motor Express (CME for short) and Delta Lines were “major players” in moving intrastate freight within California, but by 1980, when deregulation came into being, many of these (and other) companies faded into trucking history.