MORTON, MN – On January 9, 2016, Kottke Trucking held its second annual Driver of the Year Program at Jackpot Junction in Morton, MN. The Duane and Connie Kottke Driver of the Year award was given to Rick Pautzke of Grove City, MN.
Pautzke has been with Kottke Trucking since 2011 and behind the wheel of a semi for over 35 years now. During his career, Pautzke hasn’t had a preventable accident. His great contributions to Kottke Trucking led to his winning of the Jim Doering Award of Excellence for the third quarter of 2015 which qualified him for the Duane Connie Kottke Driver of the Year award.
President and co-owner of Kottke Trucking Kurt Kottke said this about Pautzke:
“Ricky is a very worthy winner. He is a true professional. He plans his trips to keep him on time, keeps his equipment looking great, always looking out for customers and his fellow drivers and he is always willing to take on the challenging loads to help operations out of a tight spot. Any company would be proud to have Ricky as part of their team and we sure are happy he is on ours.”
Kottke Trucking’s Driver Board created the idea of the Driver of the Year and it was carried out by our staff. The Driver of the Year is named after our second generation visionaries: Duane and Connie. Their ability to build the base that our company stands on today, doesn’t go without notice.
The nominees come from the winners of the quarterly Jim Doering Award of Excellence. Jim Doering was Kottke Trucking’s first long time driver and stayed with our company for over 35 years. The quarterly awards are named in his memory. The fellow Jim Doering Award of Excellence winners in 2015 were Paul Hanson of Watkins, MN, Tim Harbarth of Hector, MN and Glenn Lachermeier of Lester Prairie, MN.
The inaugural winner of the Duane and Connie Driver of the Year was Tom Erickson of Ramsey, MN.
Kottke Trucking has been in business since 1938 and for the past three decades the primary business is to transport dry, refrigerated and frozen food items. We operate in the Midwest, South and Southeastern part of the United States. Our fleet consists of 90 drivers and 20 support staff. Kottke Trucking is based out of Buffalo Lake, MN.
You can see photos of the event on our Facebook page. Make sure you like us while you are there! We are on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google+, too!
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