Hermiston’s Northwest Beef Express a ‘Diamond in the Rough’

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Northwest Beef Express, located on Highway 207 in Hermiston, is a family-owned business that hauls commodities and cattle throughout the Pacific Northwest. Its home office is in North Powder with a second terminal in Nyssa. (Photos by Yasser Marte/Hermiston Herald)

Northwest Beef Express may be one of Hermiston’s best-kept secrets. The trucking company has been in business since 1998 with a main terminal in Hermiston but few people know of it.

So on Thursday, an open house was held and hosted by the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce to spread the word.

“We’re a diamond in the rough,” JoAnna Larson said.

Troy Murray, director of operations of Northwest Beef Express, walks inside the cattle hauler Thursday, May 18, 2023, at the company’s open house in Hermiston. Murray, of Stanfield, has been working for the company for five years.

Located on Highway 207 just past Bud Rich Potato, Northwest Beef Express or NBX is a family-owned business that hauls commodities and cattle throughout the Pacific Northwest. Its home office is in North Powder with a second terminal in Nyssa.

Larson, who is the recruiting coordinator, said NBX is a growing company with about five dozen employees, mostly drivers. It is owned by Beef Northwest Feeders which recently purchased Carlton Farms in Yamhill County.

NBX started out with five trucks and today has about 54, both cattle and commodity trucks.

JoAnna Larson, recruitment coordinator of Northwest Beef Express, discusses the future of the company during Thursday’s open house.

“We’re getting bigger all the time,” Larson said.

Commodities hauled by NBX include slurry (potato waste), WDG or wet distillers grain, barley and more. They are delivered to feedyards and dairies, primarily in the Pacific Northwest but they do make hauls to California, as well. NBX hauls cattle to wherever they need to go – feedlots or stockyards.

“We feed the cattle and we haul the cattle,” Larson said. “Basically, we feed America.”

Larson said the company’s growth means she’s always looking for qualified drivers to help carry the load.

“It’s an amazing company to work for,” she said. “It’s a company you can retire with.”

For more information about Northwest Beef Express, visit the company website.