Central Asians Are Quietly Dominating U.S. Trucking 🇰🇿🇰🇬🇹🇯🇹🇲🇺🇿

Yesterday, we attended the 2nd annual Central Asian Business Forum (CABXPO) in Schaumburg, IL and honestly, we were blown away.

For those unfamiliar, Central Asia is made up of:🇰🇿 Kazakhstan, 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan, 🇹🇯 Tajikistan, 🇹🇲 Turkmenistan, and 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan.

Many of their immigrant communities have quietly built some of the largest and fastest-growing trucking companies in the U.S.

Here’s what we learned:

There are a lot of serious players in the game—especially from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.

We got to meet and interview some of them:

• Sultan Trans: Leased fleet of 482 tractors based in Ohio. Specializes in hazmat, reefer, and flatbed freight across 48 states.

• Aravan Cargo Inc: Based in Joliet, IL. Operates 456 trucks and employs 456 drivers. Provides dry van, stepdeck, and flatbed services nationwide.

• UGL Holding Inc: Headquartered in Montgomery, IL. Manages a fleet of 800 trucks and 700 trailers. Offers comprehensive logistics solutions with modern equipment. ​

• Globe Transportation: Operating over 300 trucks, Globe Transportation is based in Palatine, IL. Specializes in general freight and hazmat transportation.

• UZB Freight, Inc.: Located at Crest Hill, IL. Utilizes 183 tractors and 433 trailers. Transports general freight and chemicals, including hazmat services.

• Sam Express: Based in Palatine, IL. Operates 112 tractors. Provides general freight services with 24/7 dispatch support. ​

• STL Truckers: Headquartered in St. Charles, MO. Maintains a fleet of 750 trucks and 1,000 trailers. Offers nationwide freight services with a focus on major metropolitan areas.

• Linestar Group: Operates around 150 trucks. Provides dry van, reefer, flatbed, and container services.

• Delo Trans Inc.: Operating from Dayton, OH. Manages 392 tractors. Specializes in power-only trucking services across North America.

*Carrier info sourced from RoseRocket and CarrierSource.

☕ Culture at the Center

Beyond the trucking booths, CABXPO gave us a real taste of Central Asian culture.

Right in the middle of the expo floor, there was a traditional tapcha—a Central Asian tea setup with rugs, pillows, and a low table. It became the social heart of the event, where people sat down to sip tea, snack, and talk.

I ended up sitting on the tapcha and chatting in Russian with the father of the owner of Sultan Trans. Amazing guy. Incredible story.

This wasn’t just a trucking expo, it was a cultural experience.

Also want to give a big shoutout to Angie Twardawa (CEO of Angie’s Transportation, LLC & RoadLites) and her brother Rafael for driving in from St. Louis to link up with us and check out the scene.

Here is a quick spontaneous interview we did with @TruckingBrother & @AngelinaTwardawa at the convention parking lot.

🎬 What’s Next

We filmed over 3 hours of FreightCaviar content that we’ll be dropping soon.

We also met Strong Solo Sergey in real life:

And yes—a FreightCaviar Uzbekistan documentary is officially in the works. Stay tuned.

Just like Reed always says:Go meet people in real life.

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