Central States Trucking a Midwest success story
Before sunrise, truck driver Don Brown points his 1999 Dodge pickup in the direction of Bensenville-based Central States Trucking Co., a commute he's done nearly every morning for the past 27 years.
He grabs a cup of coffee, hops up into his 2006 Freightliner day-cab and spends the day delivering goods -- from food to furniture to pharmaceuticals -- to dozens of customers whom he's known for years throughout Illinois and five other Midwestern states.
"They know my name and are happy to see me," Brown said.
The longtime driver, who remembers current president Doug Grane when he was just the boss' son and a 16-year-old dock worker, has seen big changes at the family-owned company.
A major overhaul and expansion since 2003 has made Central States one of the fastest-growing trucking companies in the Midwest. That's when Doug and his brother, Bryan, took senior management positions alongside their father, Fred.
Revenues at the company are in high gear -- up 67 percent to $35 million at the end of 2006. Doug Grane, who along with Bryan bought the company from their father in 2006, estimates revenues will total $42 million this year.
It's a long way from the company's 1980 beginnings. Fred Grane started Central States with a dozen office employees, 30 drivers and tractors, and 50 company-owned trailers.
"[The] Central States of 2007 is a much different company than [it was] in 2002," Doug said. "In 2002, we were mature and slightly complacent. In 2007, we are mature, yet dynamic."
Today the company has 200 tractors and drivers, 300 company-owned trailers and customers from six Midwestern states, including Jewel-Osco, Crate and Barrel, and Johnson & Johnson.
As the business has grown, so have gasoline and diesel prices. To cover those rising costs, Central States has added a fuel surcharge.
"Everyone hates fuel charges. We hate charging them and the customers hate paying them, but we do our best to purchase fuel at the lowest possible cost," Doug said.
Central States' growth has come exclusively from expansion of its operations rather than from acquisitions, and more expansion lies ahead.
The company bought land in Joliet in March and in Rochelle in May to "expand our operations near major state highways south and west of Chicago," Doug said.
"What makes [Central States] successful is that they're not just about being a transportation company," said longtime customer Jorge Farr-Aguilar, general manager of Antek Madison Plastics USA Ltd. "They are very much a service relation company, too. Whenever I have a request, they always step up and have an answer for us. Doug is on the ball like you wouldn't believe."
Several years ago, the family began a campaign to revamp the company from the inside out.
"We made no assumptions of what was working and what wasn't working," Doug said. "We started from scratch."
The family spent several hundred thousand dollars to replace old technology, streamline the organization and hire new workers with an eye toward improving productivity.
"We are very fortunate," Doug said. "And as we have succeeded, we've been able to give back more to charitable organizations."
Farr-Aguilar was happy to testify that the Granes donated baseball tickets to Metropolitan Family Services, a charity that Farr-Aguilar has been involved with for four years.
Their efforts have not only cemented ties with customers like Farr-Aguilar, but have also increased morale among employees.
"I'm comfortable here," driver Brown said. "It's my home away from home."