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Anna Buboltz and Brock Luthens named ALL Mustang winners

Posted By | May 21, 2018 | Leave a Comment

Every spring, Kottke Trucking teams up with Buffalo Lake – Hector – Stewart High School to recognize one female and one male from the graduating class with the ALL Mustang award. On Sunday, May 20, graduating seniors Anna Buboltz and Brock Luthens were presented with the ALL Mustang awards at the 7th annual ceremony held at Zion Lutheran Church in Buffalo Lake. In addition to the award, Kottke Trucking presented both winners with a $500 scholarship.

The ceremony honors the monthly winners from the past academic year who have had great achievements and shown excellence in athletics, leadership and learning.

This year’s monthly winners were: Anna Buboltz, Tessa Cook, Payton Diepold, Dylan Edwards, Jacxl Fernandez, Adam Forcier, Victoria Garcia, Alex Herrera, Natalie Karl, Sara Kottke, Brock Luthens, Hunter McFall, Jessica Novotny, Zachary Reuber, Cody Walstrom and Calissa Weispfennig.

Kottke Trucking would like to thank the following for making the ceremony possible: 18 Wheelers Relay for Life team for the meal preparation, Dan Krause for being the master of ceremonies, Brad Dobberstein for being our guest speaker and the various coaches and advisors at BLHS who voted for the ALL Mustang awards throughout the year. Another hearty thanks to the friends, family and everybody in attendance for making the event a success.

The past ALL Mustang winners are: 2012 – Jessica Kalenberg and Taylor Broderious, 2013 – Carly Schmalz and Baron Juhl, 2014 – Rebecca Ebbers and Christopher Schmidt, 2015 – Ashley Petersen and Scott Buboltz, 2016 – Mariah Paulson and Trey Weispfennig, 2017 – Keighly Daak and Jake Watkins.

Pictured below: the two recipients, Brock Luthens and Anna Buboltz, with Kyle, Kurt and Kory Kottke. Also, a picture of this year’s monthly winners.

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Kottke Trucking announces driver pay increase

Posted By | March 7, 2018 | Leave a Comment

Kottke Trucking is happy to announce that we are increasing our driver pay package. Effective March 5, 2018, all drivers, including new drivers, will see an increase in pay. In addition to that increase, Kottke Trucking will continue proudly to be part of only 15% of the trucking industry to offer full driver health insurance which is a value worth $0.05 to $0.10 per mile depending on the driver’s age.

Here are some details on the new driver pay package effective for loads dispatched March 5, 2018 and later:

  • New/current driver with less than a year tenure starts at $0.43 per mile
  • One year of employment anniversary raises pay to $0.44 per mile
  • Two year of employment anniversary raises pay to $0.45 per mile
  • Five year of employment anniversary raises pay to $0.46 per mile
  • Detention waiting time reduced to two hours
  • Layover has increased to $150

 

Also remaining in place is Kottke Trucking’s current quarterly bonus program. This program allows up to an additional $0.08 per mile for drivers that qualify.

For teams, the chart will increase to:

  • New/current team with less than a year tenure starts at $0.28 per mile
  • One year of employment anniversary raises pay to $0.285 per mile
  • Two year of employment anniversary raises pay to $0.29 per mile
  • Five year of employment anniversary raises pay to $0.295 per mile

 

Moving forward, Kottke Trucking will continue to monitor freight and driver pay. Kottke Trucking will do this to ensure we stay ahead of the market and remain one of the best places to call home in the entire trucking industry.

Click here to apply to be a Kottke driver!

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Kottke Trucking’s Fourth Annual Duane and Connie Kottke Distinguished Driver of the Year is Carlo Garcia

Posted By | January 10, 2018 | Leave a Comment

On January 6, 2018, Kottke Trucking held its fourth annual Driver of the Year banquet at Jackpot Junction Casino and Hotel in Morton, MN. The fourth annual Duane and Connie Kottke Distinguished Driver of the Year award was presented to Carlo Garcia.

Garcia started with Walbon on July 1, 2014 and came on to Kottke Trucking following Kottke Trucking’s acquisition of Walbon’s over-the-road division in July 2016. Garcia was named the First Quarter Jim Doering Award of Excellence honoree which qualified him for the Duane and Connie Kottke Distinguished Driver of the Year.

Kottke Trucking statement on Garcia:

“Carlo believes in team, meaning that Carlo believes that everyone in Kottke Trucking is all one big team and we should all help each other succeed. Whenever you need anything done, you can count on Carlo. You have to be careful to no over wok him, that is just how hard of a worker Carlo is.

“If Carlo has a bad day, nobody would know about it – he is professional and always puts his best foot forward. When someone says Kottke, they may think of Carlo and that makes us proud.”

Kottke Trucking’s Driver Board created the idea of the Duane and Connie Kottke Distinguished Driver of the Year and it was carried out by our staff. The Driver of the Year award is named after our second generation visionaries: Duane and Connie Kottke. Their ability to build the foundation that our company stands on today, does not go without notice.

Garcia’s fellow nominees come from the other quarterly winners of the Jim Doering Award of Excellence winners: Second Quarter winner Don Braegelmann, Third Quarter winner Ken Kottke and Fourth Quarter winner Dennis Gray. The award is named after Kottke Trucking’s first long-time driver and nearly 40-year employee Jim Doering.

Previous winners of the Duane and Connie Kottke Distinguished Driver of the Year are Tom Erickson, Ricky Pautzke and Jeff Bass.

Kurt Kottke, Kyle Kottke, Carlo Garcia and Kory Kottke after the presentation of the Duane and Connie Kottke Distinguished Driver of the Year award.

Carlo Garcia, the fourth annual Duane and Connie Kottke Distinguished Driver of the Year.

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Dennis Gray announced as Fourth Quarter Award of Excellence Recipient

Posted By | December 13, 2017 | Leave a Comment

Kottke Trucking, Inc. is proud to announce that Dennis Gray has been named the 2017 Fourth Quarter Jim Doering Award of Excellence recipient. Gray has been with Kottke Trucking for a little over a year now but has quickly proven he is one of the best in the industry.

This is what Dennis’ nominator said about what made him a great candidate for the award, “In the short time he has been here, he has showed great respect to all the staff and he has done anything needed with no complaints. His common response is ‘Just give me a load, don’t matter where to, just a load.’ He makes the very best of his hours he has available to him.”

The Jim Doering Award of Excellence was established in 2014 in honor of our first employee and nearly 40-year employee Jim Doering. The award is designed to honor a driver each quarter that has the same great qualities that made Jim such a special man. The four winners of the quarterly Jim Doering Award of Excellence are the finalists for the Duane and Connie Kottke Distinguished Driver of the Year Award which will be awarded in January 2018. The first quarter winner for 2017 was Carlo Garcia, the second quarter winner was Donny Braegelmann and the third quarter winner was Ken Kottke.

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Kottke Trucking’s friends and family raise over $10,000 worth of toys for Trucks and Toys

Posted By | December 11, 2017 | 2 Comments

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

This year the Trucks and Toys campaign has been beyond amazing. We went in to the year with a simple goal of beating the little over $5,000 we raised last year. Our employees, friends and family more than doubled that this year with a grand total of donations worth $10,291.

That is absolutely incredible. We had a feeling that we’d have a big year this year, but in our wildest dreams never did we think we would double last year’s total. Our hearts are full with gratitude and pride for everyone that helped make this all come to fruition this year.

Special acknowledgements should be made to Laurie Leonard and Laurie Scutt and Buz Scutt for their hard work in Minnesota and Florida, respectively. Their hard work supplied a great footing for how amazing this year’s campaign went. Thank you so much.

Of course, this drive is not possible without every single person that contributed. If you donated $5, $15, $50 or $500, you made a difference in a child’s life this holiday season. No donation is too small. Every single dollar makes an impact on a child’s life. Thank you for your support.

We are blessed to be able to share these donations with multiple different organizations around our terminals. The following are the wonderful organizations we have teamed up with this year to help spread Christmas and holiday cheer:

  • Renville County Santa’s Closet
  • McLeod County Christmas Project
  • St. Paul Lutheran’s Closet, Hector, MN
  • Common Cup Ministries, Hutchinson, MN
  • Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches, Live Oak, FL
  • Wildwood Elementary School, Wildwood, FL

As the Kottke family, we’d like to give everyone a special thank you for making this a huge year for Trucks and Toys. This campaign is one of our favorite things and it was for Duane and Connie Kottke, too. We are just three months removed from Duane’s passing, but we can feel his spirit pulsing throughout the donations this year. Duane and Connie would be incredibly proud of what has been accomplished this year. We are proud. Thank you all for donating and thank you to our employees and friends for being a part of our family.

We wish to you the warmest of feelings this holiday season. May your light shine bright! Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas!

The Kottke Family

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Trucks and Toys 2018 is here! Visit Kottke Trucking to donate!

Posted By | November 14, 2017 | Leave a Comment

Each year, trucking companies come together to address the needs of less fortunate families by collecting toys through the Trucks and Toys campaign. These toys are collected and then distributed to various charities. For many years, Kottke Trucking has volunteered to be a drop-off site and is known for being a leader in donations for this wonderful cause and will do so again this year.

Last year’s Target run to buy toys with the donated money from the Trucks and Toys drive!

If any driver or office personnel would like to donate to this wonderful cause, you may do so by check, cash or send an email to [email protected] to deduct from your pay (we can issue a receipt for your donation).

Members of the general public can drop off toys or monetary donations at the Kottke Trucking headquarters in Buffalo Lake or donate through the mail (PO Box 206, Buffalo Lake, MN 55314). The deadline for donations is December 8.

Kottke Trucking again has made a commitment to donate $500.00 for collections under $2,000 collected, that’ll increase to $750.00 for collections of $2,001-$3,000, or $1,000 for collections of $3,001-$5,000, or $2,000 if we go over the $5,000 collection mark.

Last year we raised $5,033 including a $1,000 donation from Kottke Trucking. We are looking to surpass that number in 2017. As of November 13, just over $2,500 had been raised for Trucks and Toys. That’s a good start, but we can’t wait to obliterate the $5,000 mark we hit last year.

Let’s come together and make this the best Trucks and Toys campaign ever!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

The Kottke Trucking Family

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Ken Kottke announced as Third Quarter Award of Excellence Recipient

Posted By | October 12, 2017 | Leave a Comment

Kottke Trucking, Inc. is proud to announce that Ken Kottke has been named the 2017 Third Quarter Jim Doering Award of Excellence recipient. Kottke has been with the organization for nearly 12 years now. Ken Kottke joined in November 2005 with the Walbon fleet and has been another great addition to the Kottke Trucking family.

This is what Ken’s nominator said about what made him a great candidate for the award, “Ken always seems to be positive and gets loads completed on time. Pays attention to his hours & communicates. Happy go lucky guy.”

The Jim Doering Award of Excellence was established in 2014 in honor of our first employee and nearly 40-year employee Jim Doering. The award is designed to honor a driver each quarter that has the same great qualities that made Jim such a special man. The four winners of the quarterly Jim Doering Award of excellence are the finalists for the Duane and Connie Kottke Distinguished Driver of the Year award which will be awarded in January 2018. The first quarter winner for 2017 was Carlo Garcia and the second quarter winner for 2017 was Donny Braegelmann

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Kottke Trucking is saddened to announce the passing of Duane Kottke

Posted By | September 29, 2017 | Leave a Comment

We are saddened to pass along the news that our father, Duane Kottke, has passed away. He was an amazing man and he will be missed by not only the Kottke family, but, we know he will also be missed immensely by the Kottke Trucking family, too.

Duane was the second generation owner of Kottke Trucking and he along with his wife Connie installed the values that are company has today. This company would not be the way it is today without him. His fingerprints are on everything that this company does and will forever do.

Duane was very proud of this company and proud of our employees. The joke used to be that the Kottke family was the biggest in Buffalo Lake with all our employees and now our family has grown to multiple cities around the country. He was so proud of this company and what we have all built here together.

Memorial Service for Duane Kottke will be held Thursday, October 5, 2017, at 11:00 AM at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Buffalo Lake, with interment in the Buffalo Lake City Cemetery.

Gathering of family and friends for Duane will be held Wednesday, October 4, 2017, from 4:00-8:00 PM at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Buffalo Lake, and will continue Thursday at 10:00 AM, for one hour prior to the service, all at the church.

Duane would want us to keep trucking and that is what we are going to do. Thank you for your love, support and dedication. It means the world to us.

The Kottke Family

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Donny Braegelmann named Second Quarter Jim Doering Award of Excellence recipient

Posted By | August 7, 2017 | Leave a Comment

Braegelmann (right) with Kottke Trucking President Kurt Kottke (left).

Kottke Trucking, Inc. is proud to announce that Donny Braegelmann has been named the 2017 Second Quarter Jim Doering Award of Excellence recipient. Donny has been an employee with Kottke since 2002.

Donny has been a driver board member since it’s creation, serving his fellow drivers and playing an essential role implementing several safety policies. During his time with Kottke, Donny was also nominated by the Minnesota Trucking Association as the May 2007 Driver of the Month.  The same attributes which won him the nomination is still strong today in Donny and we are very privileged to have him as part of our Kottke Trucking family.

The Jim Doering Award of Excellence was established in 2014 in honor of our first employee and nearly 40-year employee Jim Doering. The award is designed to honor a driver each quarter that has the same great qualities that made Jim such a special man. The four winners of the quarterly Jim Doering Award of excellence are the finalists for the Duane and Connie Kottke Distinguished Driver of the Year award which will be awarded in January 2018. The first quarter winner for 2017 was Carlo Garcia.

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Kottke Trucking awards largest driver quarterly bonus in company history

Posted By | July 31, 2017 | Leave a Comment

In Kottke Trucking’s initiative to continually put the driver first in our company and throughout the trucking industry, Kottke has awarded the largest quarterly bonus total in company history. For the second quarter of 2017, Kottke has given out $107,602.52 of bonuses to our drivers.

Throughout the fleet, 49 drivers received a bonus of over $1,000. A total of eight drivers earned themselves a bonus of over $2,000 for the quarter.

The bonus formula is based on a driver’s success in three categories: miles driven in a quarter, safety and fuel economy.

Kottke Trucking is proud to be the home of the best drivers in the trucking industry. We are grateful for their hard work, dedication and passion for their job. Drivers are what keeps the Kottke Trucking family, the trucking industry and the world going. Thank you!

If you’d like to join the family, you can find an application on our website for both company drivers and owner operators. We would love to have you join the Kottke Trucking family today!

Kottke Trucking has been in business and family owned and operated since 1938. For the past three decades our primary business has been in transporting dry, refrigerated and frozen food items. We operate in the midwest, south and southeastern parts of the United States. Our fleet consists of 150-plus trucks powered by the best drivers in the industry. Kottke Trucking is headquartered in Buffalo Lake, Minnesota with terminals in Eagan, Minnesota and Wildwood, Florida.

 

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Kottke Trucking, Inc.