Hector Caballero's Story

Hector served as a Marine Corps Military Policeman and Special Reaction Team (SRT) operator — the USMC's equivalent of a SWAT unit — from 1994 to 1998. That training didn't stay at the base. It shaped the way he works, the way he leads, and the standards he holds every job to.

After the Marine Corps, Hector built JunkVets from the ground up in 2011. Starting in Chicago and Northwest Indiana, he spent 13 years earning a reputation job by job — taking on the hauls nobody else wanted, treating every customer with respect, and never letting a price change at the door.

When he moved his family — his wife and three sons — to West Palm Beach, Florida, he brought every bit of that reputation with him. The Florida operation is newer, but the standards are identical. The same discipline. The same integrity. The same willingness to tackle the hard jobs.

Along the way, the work caught some attention. History Channel's American Pickers featured JunkVets in Season 18, Episode 13 — "Slam Dunk Junk" (2018). Award-winning journalist Alison Stewart dedicated a chapter to JunkVets in her nationally published book, "Junk: Digging Through America's Love Affair with Stuff." When that book was discussed on a CNN national panel, the JunkVets truck appeared on screen in front of millions of viewers.

None of that was the goal. The goal was always just to do the work right.