CBJ's Largest Privately Held Companies 2018

West Side Transport
10
Today Cedar Rapids, tomorrow the world.
That might be an oversimplification of West
Side Transport’s long-term business plan, but
it certainly captures its essence, according to
COO Ron Joseph. The 45-year-old trucking
company has been growing rapidly as of late,
spurred by the recent success of its West Side Logistics arm.
“I think the biggest change is we’ve done a lot of expansion
– we’ve kind of spread our
wings out,” Mr. Joseph said.
Founded by Dale Vogt to
salvage and resell spilled grain
found in railroad yards, West
Side Transport’s traditional
customer base has long been
located around Cedar Rapids.
In the last three years, however,
the company has added
full-service facilities in Chicago
and Columbus, Ohio
to terminals in Glenwood,
Illinois, St. Paul, Minnesota
and Indianapolis, boosting
RON JOSEPH
COO
employment by more than
220 employees in the process.
Another new facility in Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania is set to
come online later this year, adding 100 employees.
There has been some local expansion as well. The company,
now led by owner and CEO Don Vogt, has built a new
drop yard south of Cedar Rapids and will move its corporate
office to the site in 2019. It has also opened a new office by
The Eastern Iowa Airport for its logistics company, which has
grown in the last three years from zero to $12 million in revenue,
Mr. Joseph said. That company forecasts revenues of $16
million next year.
“That [logistics
business] started with
a couple of employees
and now has over 15,”
he noted, describing
it as a truck brokerage
that functions “basically
as an intermediary
between trucking
and shippers.”
The trucking business
is changing, Mr.
THE TEAM
EXECUTIVE TEAM
Don Vogt, Chairman & CEO
John Dalrymple, SVP & CFO
Ron Joseph, COO
Joseph said, adding that “finding a driver to live in a truck
for a week is a challenge.” The creation of new trucking
hubs around the country has helped West Side create more
home-daily jobs, and thus recruit and retain more drivers.
“That means they drive a truck and start at 8 a.m. and come
home at 5 at night, like anyone else, compared to over-the-road
jobs, where they leave on Sunday and come back Friday or Saturday,”
he said. “It’s a tough life. I think expansion and logistics
have been our big initiatives the last couple of years.”
The goal is to keep the logistics arm growing by 20 percent
annually, Mr. Joseph said, and its core trucking business by
5-10 percent a year.
“We expect our non-assets – managing freight and customers
– to be as big as our assets – our drivers and trucks,” he said.
With all of the headwinds facing the trucking industry, West
Side’s strong and varied clientele has helped sustain its growth.
“We have account managers, salespeople inside and outside
that are focused on winning new business every year,” Mr. Joseph
said. “Last year, we started doing business with Procter &
Gamble, General Mills and Target. We have International Paper,
Chrysler, Lowes, Walmart and Toyota, so we have a really
blue-chip base of customers and there’s so much opportunity
to grow with those customers.”
- Jim Offner
“Last year, we started
doing business with
Procter & Gamble, General
Mills and Target. We
have International Paper,
Chrysler, Lowes, Walmart
and Toyota, so we have a
really blue-chip base of
customers and there’s so
much opportunity to grow
with those customers.”
- RON JOSEPH
24 CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES 2018