Duffy Express Freight driving it on
02/04/2026
Since starting out from humble beginnings in 1980, Duffy Express Freight has established itself as Donegal’s premier transport company. Irish Trucker touched base with co-founder William Duffy to get an update on this prompt, professional and progressive family-run operation.
Over the past four and a half decades Duffy Express Freight has consistently delivered industry-leading freight distribution, transport and logistics solutions into and out of Donegal from its base in Newtowncunningham, 20 minutes from Letterkenny.
Owned and managed by co-founder’s MD John and William Duffy, the company was initially established as a parcel carrier offering a next-day Dublin-Donegal service but has grown significantly in both size and services offered (including Donegal distribution, nationwide pallet distribution, freight forwarding and storage / warehousing).
Today operating a fleet of more than one hundred trucks, trailers and vans, trunking over 5,000 Pallets weekly to around 1000 delivery points. Duffy Express Freight truly is a one-of-a-kind transport and logistics provider.
Duffy Express Freight offer next day delivery from Dublin to Donegal and Donegal to Dublin, distributing across every area of Donegal County daily and provide internal freight movement within the county. Offering the most intensive range of transport services to and from all areas of Donegal daily, they cover everything from a parcel or pallet, bulk breakdown and picking to full load services. All Consignments are tracked from Collection in Dublin through the Depot and onto the delivery point. ePods are issues live back to our customers that require this service and hard copies scanned and forwarded the following morning.
Meanwhile, working with their numerous pallet network partners, they can provide a complete service shipping to and collecting from the island of Ireland, the UK and Europe.
Indeed, Duffy Express Freight has singlehandedly transformed the very face of the haulage sector in Donegal, utterly revolutionising how freight moves into, out of and around the county. Reflecting on the company’s influential four-and-a-half-decade journey to date, William comments: “As with a lot of transport operators in Ireland, we started on a farm. We were originally operated on a pig farm and had bought a lorry of our own to take pigs to the factory, bring in meal, etc. There was good demand for the lorry and we grew the business from there.
“When we started out, it took six weeks for a consignment to reach Donegal from Dublin, so there was an obvious opening there. We started providing a next day service.”
The business was established in 1980 by brothers John, William and Donal Duffy, with the latter involved for the early years. From one truck, they have grown to own and operate a vast fleet of trucks, trailers and vans. “We’ve come a long way with the size of the fleet and the services provided,” William concedes. “At the minute, we have 26 tractor units, 22 rigids, 14 vans and 42 trailers.”
The marque of choice is MAN and within twelve months the entire fleet will be MAN: “We’re predominantly MAN,” says William. “The vans and tractors are all MAN.”
Why MAN? “They are a brilliant product and we are blessed to have a great MAN agent located within two kilometres of our yard. [Newtown Trucks in Newtowncunningham will celebrate 25 years as a MAN dealer in 2026.] Liam, Gary and Rosie McDermott and their team of Mechanics look after all our trucks, vans and trailers and we get an unbelievable service from them. Everything is always 100 per cent and there are never any issues. The fleet is completely up to speed all the time.
“Another local business, Newtown Tyres run by Jonathan Doherty and Vinny O’Doherty , looks after all the tyre needs for us. 95 per cent of our tyres are Michelin and they give us no trouble whatsoever. We’re lucky to have Newtown Trucks and Newtown Tyres so close to our yard and really appreciate the service they give us.”
The policy at DEF when it comes to new acquisitions is to purchase quality pre-owned vehicles: “We don’t buy new but buy second-hand through the local dealer in batches , generally with 300-350,000 kilometres and we then run them up to 1.5million kilometres. This is an approach that makes sense for us and works well because of the service we get from Newtown Trucks.”
In addition to the stunning fleet, Duffy Express Freight operates from a 47,000 sq.ft. cross-dock facility across a four acres site, complete with twelve dock levellers and a 150,000 sq ft secure concrete yard. The lights are never off and the operation runs 24/7, facilitating the time-sensitive and critical nature of services provided.
“It’s literally 24/7 and the only day of the year we don’t do anything is Christmas Day,” William notes. “The fleet is running around the clock. We’d start trucking at 6 or 7am and the last lorry leaves the yard at 8pm going to Dublin with the last one coming back in at around 5.30am for next-day distribution.”
Duffy Express Freight are members of the Pallet Xpress, JMC VanTrans, ACE Express, Superior, Masterlink, DSV and Aramex networks and are Parcel Distribution Partners for Fedex and GLS in Donegal. Meanwhile, on the food side, they provide a vital link in the BWG Foods, PRL Logistics and Valeo Foods Group networks.
“We cover everything except Haz and can handle anything from a parcel to a full load. Our main route is Dublin-Donegal and Donegal-Dublin and within those hubs we can reach into the UK and Europe. Closer to home, we have thorough coverage of our own county. Nobody is left out and we offer a daily delivery service to all of Donegal and a morning service to Derry city.”
To make all of this happen, Duffy Express Freight lead a fantastic team and William and John are indebted to the superb, skilled and loyal workers they have surrounded themselves with over the years: “We’re probably lucky enough to be based here in Donegal, removed from the pressure of other operators and businesses, so staff tend to stay with us because we believe in looking after our team.
“We have 85 Staff including the night shift, the back office, the traffic management team and our Dedicated Team of Drivers. Many of our Staff came in as young lads and learned the ropes and were promoted internally to management positions.”
Looking to the future, it’s very much a case of onwards and upwards for Duffy Express Freight. “We’ll keep looking after our customers’ every need. Once we keep your customers satisfied, and their customers happy, you won’t have any hassle,” William concludes.
“We’ll keep doing what we’re doing. The economy is volatile and there will always be waves here and there along the way, but we tend to react quickly to any changes in patterns and adapt accordingly.
Duffy Express Freight,
Cottage Farm,
Newtowncunningham,
County Donegal.
Tel: 074 9156333
Email: [email protected]
Web: def.ie
First published in Irish Trucker magazine March/April 2026, Vol 29-2
