Airways Freight Corp.

Although Airways Freight Corp. of Fayetteville ships all sorts of goods domestically and internationally, it owns no trucks or airplanes.

It contracts the work out to make sure its clients’ items get to their destinations on time, said Airways CEO Dale Caudle, who is also the majority owner.

Airways Freight mainly handles shipments for trade shows and is considered an industry leader for shipping items for nuclear facilities. But it can handle everything from the delivery of set equipment for Broadway shows to same-day delivery of critical computer equipment.

It delivers anything when “time is important and where you can’t afford to be late,” Caudle said.

Caudle’s father founded Airways Freight, originally known as Caudle Freight Services in 1976 before it changed its name in 1980. The company was launched to fill a void in the industry, Caudle said.

“There was an opportunity to do a better job than was being done at the time,” he said.

The company has grown from fewer than five workers to about 75 employees with more than 200 independent sales agents worldwide.

The company suffered some turbulence, though, after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Its revenue dropped 25 percent after the attacks.

The revenue, which was less than $500,000 in 1980, has crept back up and was $32 million in 2003. Airways is expecting another 18-20 percent growth in revenue for 2004, Caudle said.

The terrorist attacks also brought “a lot more scrutiny to what was being shipped,” he said.

A company could get in trouble “if you don’t know today’s revisions of yesterday’s revisions,” Caudle said.

In 2002, it expanded its office building by adding 15,000 SF to its former 22,000-SF office.

In 2003 it won Entergy’s Supply Chain Leader for “demonstrating flexibility, consistency and quality service” for its work in the nuclear industry.

Caudle said the secret to the company’s success is its people.

“We have almost no turnover,” he said.

The firm’s nine managers have a combined 150 years logged with the company.