Our Story

In the 1930’s, Hub Harbour and his friend, Sam Bedwell of Arkansas, were looking to provide for their families during the time of the great depression, followed by the 1937 recession. They decided to find new work and began to submit contract bids with the postal service. They were each awarded postal contracts in California in 1938. They packed up their belongings and their families and moved out west. Hub operated the Graniteville route while Sam operated the Alleghany route, both out of Nevada City.

Hub operated the Graniteville route for 3 years and due to medical issues, gave the route to his parents, Walter & Genia Harbour who ran the route for another 25 years. Walter and Genia delivered the mail through all conditions. They drove as far as they could until the snow was too high to go any further. From there, Walter would travel by ski’s and continue toward Graniteville. On some days, he would be met by a retired railroad worker at Snow Tent to relay the mail to Graniteville. In the 1960’s, Walter & Genia gave the route to their daughter Ola while Ola’s husband Red Lynn ran transportation contracts that operated in Grass Valley, Nevada City, Marysville, and Sacramento.

Zola (Harbour) Rackley worked for her aunt Ola for a time, while Sue (Bedwell) Sturgell, Sam's daughter, operated the Allegany route. They operated a CB radio with Sue’s handle Pony Express and Zola’s handle Blue Eagle. Marvin Rackley began driving for Zola’s uncle Red and then due to health, Red subcontracted the routes to Marvin and Zola in 1972. The year of 1973 was the beginning of Marvin’s new career of contracting with the United States Postal Service, thanks to Red's trust in Marvin. In that year, Marvin and Zola bought their first truck; a 1973 Ford cab-over C-6000. During the next 30 years, ML Rackley Trucking, went from self-operated to over 20 employees, operating 8 routes of different types. Marvin and his favored truck that he bought later,"Old Blue”, retired in 2006, but Marvin remains involved in the business. Zola continues to train CDS drivers and has continued to support Marvin in his endeavors.

Marvin & Zola’s son Dan, began driving for the business in 1983. He drove for many years and then added CDS routes as part of his job. Marvin and Zola decided to incorporate in 1993 choosing Blue Eagle Contracting (Zola’s handle) as the company name. Dan was named president in 2003 but continued to drive for a time and then in 2006, Dan took over the daily operations of the business with a direct focus on company growth through restructuring and increased bidding. Each year, a new contract has been awarded to Blue Eagle which has now brought the company to over 60 employees operating 11 routes in 3 states. Blue Eagle Contracting has been richly blessed by God and looks forward to the years to come.