08/20/2026
Burns Motor Freight: Celebrating a West Virginia Trucking Legacy
Few companies have left a mark on West Virginia's trucking industry quite like Burns Motor Freight, Inc. of Marlinton.
Founded in 1949 when Fred C. Burns Sr. purchased a used 1948 Mack LJ, Burns Motor Freight grew from a one-truck operation into a respected interstate motor carrier and one of West Virginia's most recognizable family-owned trucking companies. For generations, those familiar dark green Burns trucks have traveled the highways of West Virginia and beyond.
Now, after 77 years in business, Burns Motor Freight will cease operations effective September 1, 2026, bringing to a close an extraordinary chapter in West Virginia trucking history.
For the West Virginia Trucking Association, this is much more than saying goodbye to a longtime member company. It is an opportunity to recognize a family whose leadership and service helped shape our Association and whose influence reached all the way from Marlinton, West Virginia, to the national trucking industry.
Fred Burns: From West Virginia Leadership to the National Stage
Fred C. Burns Jr. has been one of West Virginia's most influential trucking leaders, with a lifetime of service to the industry at both the state and national levels. Fred's leadership began close to home. A longtime supporter of the West Virginia Trucking Association, he served as President of WVTA in 1978. His commitment to the Association continued for decades, and he is recognized today as a Life Member of the WVTA Board of Directors.
That dedication to West Virginia trucking eventually carried Fred onto the national stage.
In October 2003, Fred Burns became Chairman of the American Trucking Associations, the nation's leading organization representing the trucking industry, serving through October 2004. The significance of that accomplishment cannot be overstated. From a family-owned trucking company headquartered in Marlinton, West Virginia, Fred rose to lead an organization representing motor carriers throughout the United States.
Throughout his involvement with ATA, Fred was particularly committed to making sure smaller, family-owned motor carriers had a voice. He helped establish ATA's Small Carrier Committee and served as its chairman, while also serving on committees addressing safety, human resources and technology. Fred also became an important national voice on the growing cost of litigation and insurance. As founding chairman of ATA's Insurance Task Force, he advocated for tort reform and worked to bring attention to the impact that excessive litigation and rising insurance costs were having on trucking companies across the country.
His career represents a remarkable progression of service: President of the West Virginia Trucking Association in 1978 and, 25 years later, Chairman of the American Trucking Associations in 2003.
For WVTA, there is tremendous pride in that history. Fred demonstrated that the leader of a family trucking company from a small town in the mountains of West Virginia could become one of the most influential voices in American trucking. And through it all, he never forgot where he came from. Fred's decades of service to WVTA, his advocacy for smaller carriers and his national leadership have left a lasting mark on an industry that extends far beyond West Virginia's borders.
Remembering John Burns
The Burns family and West Virginia's trucking community experienced a tremendous loss with the passing of John Barlow Burns on January 1, 2026, at the age of 61. John represented the third generation of the Burns family in the business his grandfather started. After graduating from Pocahontas County High School in 1983 and earning an associate degree in business from Fairmont State University, John returned home and devoted his career to Burns Motor Freight. He worked as a dispatcher and ultimately served as President of the company.
Like his father, John also believed in giving back to the industry that had given so much to his family. He served on the West Virginia Trucking Association Board of Directors, continuing the Burns family's longstanding commitment to WVTA. In fact, WVTA's current board history still reflects both generations: John among its board members and Fred among its Life Members. John's service extended well beyond trucking. He was a member of Marlinton United Methodist Church and served the Marlinton Volunteer Fire Department for more than 30 years.
John understood the responsibility that came with carrying on the Burns name. He spoke proudly of the standards established by his grandfather and passed through the generations: taking care of customers, putting safety first, keeping your word and doing whatever you could to get the job done. His loss was felt deeply by his family, the employees of Burns Motor Freight, WVTA and the entire West Virginia trucking community. And now, only months after John's passing, the announcement that Burns Motor Freight will cease operations makes this moment especially poignant.
The End of an Era, But Not the End of a Legacy
On September 1, 2026, the trucks of Burns Motor Freight will stop running as a company after 77 years in business. But the Burns Motor Freight story will not end on that day. Its legacy lives in the generations of professional drivers who sat behind the wheel of a Burns truck. It lives in the employees who built careers with the company, the customers who trusted Burns Motor Freight with their freight and the communities the Burns family served.
It lives in the West Virginia Trucking Association, where both Fred and John Burns devoted years of leadership and service. It lives nationally through Fred's leadership of the American Trucking Associations and the role he played in giving West Virginia and smaller motor carriers a voice on the national stage. And it lives in the example established by Fred Burns Sr. in 1949 when he climbed into that first Mack truck and started a business built on hard work, determination and a handshake.
From one used Mack truck in Marlinton to the chairmanship of the American Trucking Associations, the Burns family's story is one of the great stories in West Virginia trucking. For WVTA, Burns Motor Freight has never simply been another member company. The Burns family has been part of the fabric of this Association.
As Burns Motor Freight prepares to make its final run, the West Virginia Trucking Association extends its deepest appreciation to Fred, Larry, Mike, Doug, the late John Burns, the entire Burns family, and the generations of employees and professional drivers who made Burns Motor Freight what it became. We especially remember John, whose loss makes the closing of this chapter even more meaningful.
The trucks may stop running, but the Burns name and its contribution to West Virginia trucking will not be forgotten. Thank you, Burns Motor Freight, for 77 years of moving West Virginia and the trucking industry forward.
