We are often reminded of the fact that we can’t choose our family — yes, that means eccentric Uncle Bob is there to stay — but Bryan Hinsey has done just that.

It’s because Hinsey, managing partner of Dallas-based Interstate Truck Rental (ITR), doesn’t see ITR as just being his company, but an extension of his family. And choosing the right people to bring into that “family” is key.

“If I had to attribute our success to a single thing, it would be the ability to recognize quality people and bring them on board,” Hinsey said. “I would then have to attribute it to our people giving customers fantastic service. A lot of companies ‘lip service’ it, but when it comes down to it, I want the customer to say that this was a fantastic company to do business with.”

In his own version of a “light-bulb” moment, Hinsey — back from a stint in the Army and working for Avis car rental at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport — realized “there was more than turning wrenches.”

“When I returned home, the job availability in the electronics field was practically nonexistent, which is why I returned to working on vehicles,” he said. “But I wanted more than that.”

Hinsey took action and got transferred to the truck rental division, where he began learning that business.

Fast forward to 1998, a time when Hinsey operated a motor home business. He had bought a 1-ton diesel dually in order to pull a set dressing trailer. One day he received a call from a friend who had a customer whose vehicle was involved in an accident and needed a truck to tow his horses to a race in San Antonio.

That one transaction would set up the turning point in Hinsey’s career — the startup of Interstate Truck Rental.

“I rented the truck to him and when he brought it back, I figured up the bill and decided the motor home business was out and the truck rental business was just beginning,” Hinsey said. “I knew after the first rental that this was definitely a very promising opportunity.”

Hinsey paired with a partner, Dave Capps, and ITR was official — and small, with just one truck.

Today Hinsey oversees ITR’s 13 rental locations in seven states. Each day presents something new, which he has adapted well to.

“My job is different every day. The things that worked yesterday no longer work today, and I have to recognize this and change to meet the current day’s needs,” Hinsey said.

While a mix of multitasking, people skills and anticipating market conditions are key to the job, it is most important to Hinsey to care not only from a business perspective but an individual perspective, making a personal investment in each employee.

“What has been so fantastic about this company is that the people who have started with me have been able to see a company go from a few trucks to a few hundred trucks; and then we will get to see it go to a few thousand trucks,” he said.

Hinsey said there are people whose path he crossed that took a personal interest in him and played a tremendous part in shaping his life, from the people who took him in when he was having trouble at home, to his high school principal and to the captain in the Army who pushed him hard and taught him how to “dot my I’s and cross my T’s.”

“I’ve learned to always give your best, especially when no one is watching,” he said.

Going the extra mile and treating people like he’d want to be treated are other nuggets of advice that have become fundamental in how Hinsey runs his company.

Born and raised in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Hinsey graduated from high school one Thursday and left the next Thursday to go into the Army, where he spent three years working on the armament systems of the Cobra attack helicopter.

Hinsey and his wife, Billie, have two sons — Blake, 21, and Luke, 18. In his spare time, he enjoys being outdoors, especially on the water.