The BulkLoads Podcast

From one desk, one chair, and a seven line phone in 1995 to a trucking, brokerage and transloading operation three decades later. Shannon Himango joins us to walk through the whole thing. He grew up in Two Harbors, Minnesota as a doctor's son who knew nothing about agriculture, got hired by Cargill out of St. Olaf with a degree in biology and economics, and got sent to East Dubuque, Illinois instead of the Geneva office he was hoping for. That is where he learned corn, beans, barge freight, rail freight, truck freight and how to trade the basis.

An episode of The BulkLoads Podcast.

An episode of The BulkLoads Podcast.

Frankie Wilmot didn't grow up in trucking — he married into it. A former finance guy, Frankie became CEO of Corcoran Transportation Group about four years ago, right as the industry was heading into one of its worst downturns in history. In this conversation, he takes us through the full story: two cousins who started competing trucking companies in Billings, Montana back in the 1960s, a business that split apart across a generation, and how it came back together into one operation running roughly 150 trucks across four specialized fleets — including an Alaska division that runs freight up ice roads to Prudhoe Bay.

An episode of The BulkLoads Podcast.

An episode of The BulkLoads Podcast.

An episode of The BulkLoads Podcast.

An episode of The BulkLoads Podcast.

An episode of The BulkLoads Podcast.

An episode of The BulkLoads Podcast.

An episode of The BulkLoads Podcast.

Tom Keller spec'd his first truck at 20 years old to haul watermelons off his family's farm. He'd drive a load to Indianapolis, not like the price, keep driving to Detroit, sell them, and set the cash on the kitchen table — then do it again the next morning.

Fleet maintenance isn't sexy — but it's one of the highest expenses in trucking, the most controllable, and by far the most ignored. Justin Brevik of Bosch FleetMe returns to the BulkLoads Podcast to break down exactly where fleets bleed money on maintenance and how to fix it, whether you run 3 trucks or 3,000.

For Matt and Sharon Kill, the goal was never to have the biggest fleet. But it took growing to 21 trucks — and nearly losing what mattered — to figure that out.

Craig Broerman left a corporate mechanical engineering career, sold the money meant for his grandparents' farm, and bought a belt trailer in 2019. Six years later, he and his cousin Alan Lennartz are running 7–10 trucks across the Midwest hauling DDGs, soybean meal, cottonseed, and industrial products — and they did it before either of them turned 32.

What does it take to run a four-generation family business through cotton, cattle, pipeline restoration, AND a 7-truck hopper fleet — all at the same time?

In 1950, a teenager who'd dropped out of school to save the family farm bought one truck and started hauling gasoline. Today, Wayne Transports runs 750+ trucks, moves nearly 290,000 loads a year, and posts driver turnover rates a fraction of the industry average. In this episode, we sit down with the next generation of Wayne ownership to unpack the full story — the Korean War tragedy that almost ended the company before it started, the bank loan that gave it its name, the move from Milaca to Rosemount that unlocked decades of growth, and how the family handed the president's chair to a non-family member for the first time in company history… one month before COVID hit. We also get into the operational side: the AI tools rebuilding their dispatch floor, the camera + safety stack keeping their fleet on the road, the acquisition playbook that's added 35 trucks a year, and why their turnover sits at 18% while the rest of the industry burns through drivers at 60-90%. If you run a fleet, drive for one, or want to understand how a real American trucking dynasty actually gets built — this one is for you. 🚛 Need freight? BulkLoads connects shippers and carriers across the bulk space — find your next load at https://www.bulkloads.com/?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=Video&utm_campaign=Wayne+Podcast

He started with one truck at 18 years old — and went bankrupt within a year. Most people would have quit. Kendal Mast didn't. Today, KM Wood Products runs 60+ trucks, hauls some of the heaviest freight in the country, and has quietly become one of the biggest players in AI data center freight — with 65% of their entire fleet dedicated to it. But the road here wasn't straight. Kendal rebuilt this company from zero multiple times, survived COVID with his family living in the truck, fired his entire driver pool to save key contracts, and learned million-dollar lessons the hard way. This is one of the most raw, honest conversations we've had on the BulkLoads Podcast. If you're an owner-operator, a small fleet owner, or just someone trying to build something real — this one's for you.

Julie Andrich didn't grow up planning to run a trucking company. But when her father — a city kid who taught himself farming, failed his way into freight, and built Autumn Transport from a single truck in 1980 — passed away in 2015, Julie stepped into the seat. Now president of a 140-unit bulk carrier out of Woodbury, Minnesota, she shares the full story: where it started, how it grew, and what it means to carry on something bigger than yourself. In this episode, Julie and Jared cover the unique origin story, the owner-operator model that fueled four decades of growth, and the leadership lessons that still echo through the building today. 🔔 Subscribe for more bulk trucking stories, industry insight, and carrier spotlights. 📦 Learn more about BulkLoads → https://www.bulkloads.com/?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=Video&utm_campaign=Autumn+Podcast

Eric Glidewell, owner of JP Transport, sits down to share the real story behind building a 45-truck cement hauling operation from scratch — with no trucking background and no blueprint to follow. In this episode, Eric breaks down: