Braun's Express was founded in the 1930s by Joe Braun of Medway, Massachusetts as a single-truck delivery business. The business was purchased and incorporated in 1967 by Roy Nutting.[1] The company's growth accelerated when it developed delivery of airfreight outside the Boston-Route 128 area. In 1978 Braun's became one of the first trucking companies in the area to use computers in the office.[citation needed] The company was bought by David and Cynthia Normandin in 1982. David had joined the company as a driver in 1978 and became Braun's president in 1981.[1] Cynthia, owner of LTL and truckload carrier Normandin Transportation[2] and a former math teacher,[3] joined the company in 1985.[1]
In 2009, Braun's operated five terminals along the east coast[1] and by 2011 was operating 120 power units and 300 trailers from four terminals.[4] The next year, Braun's acquired Surfaces Transport, Inc. and expanded its service area to include the Midwest, with new terminals in Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.[citation needed]
In 2015, a Braun's Express vehicle being operated in Brooklyn, New York, struck and killed a pedestrian.[5][6]
Operations
Braun's Express operates terminals in the following cities:
Braun's Express joined the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) SmartWay Transport Partnership at the program's inception in 2004. The company was an early adopter of fuel-saving strategies, including single-wide tires, automatic tire-inflation systems,[7] and battery-powered auxiliary power units (APUs) versus the more common diesel-powered units.[4] Braun's was named a "Massachusetts Energy Leader" in 2009[8] and was awarded an Environmental Merit Award by the EPA's New England region in 2010[9][10] and 2016.[11]