David Yarbrough’s change of heart

Like many people who grew up in a family business, as a kid David Yarbrough tagged along with his dad to work. As a teen, he spent summer and holiday breaks mowing the grass and sweeping the shop. During college breaks he ran parts, mounted tires and even performed dispatch work for the family’s heavy haul company.

David Yarbrough, president of Yarbrough Transfer, and chairman of the SC&RA Specialized Transportation Symposium.

For nearly a century, Yarbrough Transfer Company (YTC) has been a cornerstone of the heavy haul and specialized transportation industry, built on a foundation of hard work, loyalty and long-term vision. Like many family businesses, its legacy is deeply rooted in generational commitment – and for Yarbrough, that connection runs just as deep, even if his career path to leading the company wasn’t always straightforward.

“In retrospect, perhaps foolishly, I didn’t have any desire to be involved with our family business as a teenager,” he said. “Instead, I wanted to forge my own career as a lawyer.”

But after about five years of practicing as a business lawyer, he concluded that the business part was more interesting than the law part.

“In 2007, I asked my dad if I could come work for him,” Yarbrough said. “I think he was genuinely surprised to hear the question because we hadn’t discussed it prior to that time. I worked directly under and alongside him for about 10 years, before becoming president in 2016.”

Running a family business successfully requires tenacity and grit. Yarbrough has embraced the responsibility, blending his father’s mentorship with his own forward-thinking approach to guide the company into the modern era.

“I think a few things have allowed our company to be successful over the years,” Yarbrough said. “Having long-term goals and strategies are important, because not all the years are good. During those times, we retool, plan, revamp our strategy and try to get ahead of the next economic curve so we are ready to serve when demand dictates.”

Loyalty is a core value that has been critical to his YTC’s long-term success.

“When it comes to our employees, we promise to make opportunities for people who are willing to work at what they want to achieve,” he said. “This involves our company making a long-term commitment to training and investing in people through the good and bad, and our people making a commitment to our company to learn, work, improve and grow.”

The same applies to customers, Yarbrough believes.

“We have valued relationships with customers who have been loyal to us for half a century,” he said. “Having a loyal relationship requires both parties to maintain the commitment. I believe our company has a pretty well-known reputation for keeping its commitments, and this fosters that loyalty.”

Thoughtful and accomplished, Yarbrough is committed to making YTC the best it can be. And he’s committed to the specialized transportation industry. This month he serves as chairman of the SC&RA Specialized Transportation Symposium, held in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. I think you will be interested in what he has to say about a variety of trends and issues faced by the specialized transportation sector.

In two years, YTC will celebrate 100 years in business, a huge milestone. Do you envision a fifth generation of family leadership?

We had a big celebration for our 90th anniversary and will have another one in 2027 to celebrate 100 years. The celebration will be all about our customers and employees. I am 48, and I have known many of them since I was a kid. It’s humbling to me that we’ve had so many friends and collaborators over the years.

As far as the fifth generation, my wife and I have three children, ages 16, 14 and 11, and it is certainly possible, but we have no expectations. That’s the attitude my dad maintained with me and that always felt healthy to me – nothing forced. Of course, as a parent and business owner, I am certainly thinking about the possibility of the next generation’s leadership, but that doesn’t have to be limited only to my children. We have a leadership team with young families, and there could be a future leader in there. We love working with friends and family.

How does YTC address hiring and retaining employees.

For hiring and retaining drivers and other staff, we focus on teambuilding. Putting together a group of people who like one another and genuinely want to work together sounds simple in concept, but it’s powerful in action. This industry is relationship driven and the old adage of “good people know good people” applies, so many of our hires who end up staying with us long-term are referrals. The teambuilding effect leads to employee referrals fairly often. The more important concept is that once you have found an employee who wants to learn and grow, you have to foster opportunities for them early and often.

The heavy haul business is essentially an apprenticeship business (i.e., you learn from other people), so making sure that you focus with intentionality on mentorship and teaching is the key to keeping that employee over the long term.

What keeps you engaged in the business?

I love the puzzle of building, running and maintaining a healthy business. You need customers, workers, equipment, knowledge, money, time and luck – figuring out how to balance it all is the fun part for me. Essentially that comes down to building and investing in people and relationships.

What distinguishes YTC in the markets it serves?

Our company is known in the industry for moving heavy iron – we specialize in high-touch roll-on roll-off transportation service for our customers. Our company also is known for industrial and manufacturing project work where we apply the same attention to detail and project coordination that we do with RORO freight. More than anything, I believe Yarbrough Transfer is and aspires to be known as a company that keeps its word.

What is your take on the economic picture in terms of specialized transport in 2025?

It’s been a tough few years by all accounts. With the exception of work being fairly plentiful, almost every other industry factor has been a headwind in recent years. Worker availability, insurance, increased regulation, benefits, equipment costs, inflation and interest rates are just a few examples. In 2024, some of those headwinds were becoming at least neutral with respect to the industry, and I would look for that to continue in 2025 with relief in some of the areas mentioned above. For those who have successfully navigated the past few years, I believe there will be opportunity in 2025.

Yarbrough Transfer specializes in open deck hauling and heavy equipment transfer.

What types of jobs do you like to see performed?

I like to see jobs we perform safely and on time. A lot can be done with all the fascinating equipment available in this industry.

I enjoy watching the coordination of movements with rear-steer and multi-axle steer trailers because it takes teamwork amongst a small team of the driver, rear driver and pilot cars.

As chairman of the Specialized Transportation Symposium. What were the goals in planning this event?

Members may have noticed that SC&RA has been tweaking the schedule, programming and opportunities at the Symposium over the past few years. The focus has been around enhancing member engagement by providing more education, networking and discussion opportunities in a concentrated period of time. This year, we are presenting topics focusing around SC&RA’s state advocacy efforts, technology and collaboration with enforcement on education and training related to our industry’s equipment. I think it should be especially interesting to hear state permit officials’ thoughts on how they would approach permit harmonization efforts. It should offer some interesting insights into how we might improve our advocacy efforts with state officials.

What do you like to do when you are not working?

I like to spend most of my time with my wife and family. I have children who play basketball and dance, and I like to watch them practice, play and perform. I love basketball and watch a lot across all levels, but I especially enjoy watching the Tar Heels. I’m also an avid gamer and have been into video games since I was a kid.