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History

WE ARE PROUD OF HOW WE GOT HERE

Many hours of hard work have gone into making our company the success it is today. Go ahead and read; there are a few good stories.

1938 – THE BEGINNING – Elmer Kottke moved from the farm to Buffalo Lake, MN. He started trucking for the local creamery; hauling milk, feed, and fertilizer.

1961 – Donald and Duane Kottke took over their father’s business (Kottke Bros.) They added freight and gravel to the business.

1963 – Kottke Bros. added hauling U.S. Mail from Minneapolis to Bird Island, MN.

1970 – Donald and Duane decided to split the family business. Duane acquired the mail route and added grain hauling part-time from Buffalo Lake to Savage, MN. Duane started-with a 1969 Chevy tractor and a 1957 rusty trailer. He named the business “Kottke Trucking.”

1983 – Kottke Trucking lost its shipper, the Farmers Co-op Elevator. The Buffalo Lake Elevator, one of the largest elevators in Minnesota, decided to ship by rail. This left Kottke Trucking with no shipper which resulted in a five year struggle. Kottke traded in hopper trailers for refrigerated trailers, and searched for new shippers, applied for ICC authority and went from a short haul intrastate trucking company to a long haul interstate trucking company. All this was accomplished in five years. This experience was hard to endure, but forced Kottke Trucking to diversify its company to new areas and commodities. This situation has helped us understand the value of our customers.

1995 – Kottke Trucking operated a fleet of late model equipment, which included 35 tractors, and 40 company owned refrigerated trailers.

1996 – Kottke Trucking entered its third generation with Kurt, Kory, and Kyle purchasing the company from Duane. The company’s standards and operations continued the same from the lessons learned from the first and second generations.

1998 – The company of 45 tractors and 55 reefers continued to grow modestly. The only terminal remained in Buffalo Lake, Minnesota. “Service is our Specialty,” a motto from our Grandfather, still rang true.

2008 – Continued our slow and directed pace of growth. Kottke Trucking operated 65 tractors and 95 trailers for our customers delight.

2011 – Kottke Trucking is operated 94 trucks and 200+, 53’ reefer & dry van trailers. With the addition of 21 new temp control/reefer trailers to our fleet, we continued to grow and expand to meet the growing needs of our customers. In October of the year, Kottke hired our first full-time sales executive to help with our needs in expanding our business operations. Continuous on-time pickup & delivery of over 99.5% has gained us a national reputation.

2013 – Celebrated our 75th year in business while we continued to build upon the values instilled in us by Duane & Connie Kottke.

2016 – Purchased the over-the-road division of Walbon & Company, Inc. In result, opening up a terminal in Wildwood, Florida and an office in Eagan, Minnesota.

2019 – Acquired Wayne T. Fellows, Inc. a trucking company focused on refrigerated less-than-truckload and truckload shipping based out of Davenport, Florida. In the acquisition of Wayne T. Fellows, Inc., Kottke Trucking added an additional 43 truck drivers and 22 non-driving positions in accounting, warehouse, dispatch and shop to the Kottke Trucking family. The acquisition added terminals in Davenport and Winter Haven, Florida.

2023 – Official launch of True Blue Warehousing with the opening of our Lake Alfred, Florida location. The facility features 16 dock doors and 20,000 sq. ft. of floor space. The facility helps bolster our LTL division along with cold storage, assistance with troubled freight and final mile deliveries.

2024 – STILL GOING STRONG

The current generation is working hard to continue the promising stories of the past. No matter what year, we will always be delivering on our promises!

(800) 248-2623 (320) 833-5385

Kottke Trucking, Inc.