In the beginning, their routes consisted of 90 cans of milk which they loaded on a straight truck at 20 different farms and traveling an average of 50 miles a day to get milk hauled into the Land O' Lakes plant in Caledonia. These men picked up milk cans in Caledonia, Eitzen, Hokah, Spring Grove, Nodine and Decorah, Iowa.

In 1960, they purchased the Spring Grove milk route and a Chevy truck from Orville Flatten.

On February 4, 1962, they bought a new Ford truck and a Ford tandem truck to haul milk from Mabel to Caledonia and from Caledonia to Whitehall, Wisconsin.

In May of 1964, Lawrence Demmer, Leslie Heintz, and William Koch bought into the corporation. They purchased the William Jahn truck line which included an International semi tractor, a livestock trailer, a feed trailer, and the rights for hauling. They hauled livestock from Caledonia to South St. Paul for the Armor Company. They also hauled products for Caledonia Implement, Brady Elevator, and Hormel.

On January 6, 1965; they bought Leslie Heintz's shares and purchased a new Ford semi tractor and a used tank trailer for the milk route to Illinois, which is still in operation today.

In 1969, they bought their second livestock trailer and hired Dennis Hanson to drive for them at a rate of 7 cents a mile.

In 1970, they bought out Hugo Muenkel's shares and purchased another milk route in the area around Decorah, Iowa.

In 1972, they purchased the Frank Schmitt's business which included a livestock truck. Later on in the year, they bought a new livestock trailer and also started hauling milk to Des Moines, Iowa.

In 1973, the corporation bought back Eugene Kohlmeyer's shares.

By the year 1977, the fleet had grown to 5 tractors and they began to transport milk to Carlinville, Illinois. They leased on 2 owner operators and bought their first new Walker tank trailer. John Schmitz retired from driving in 1977 and Walt Schuttemeier retired in 1980. William Koch is still driving today. Joe Gavin continued to act as President of the company until 1992.

In 1982, they started a customer repair service for other truck owners which has rapidly enlarged their service department.

In 1984, they began taking back hauls of corn sweetener from Keokuk, Iowa to Minnesota and other points to the North.

In 1992, upon the death of President Joseph Gavin, his son Dennis assumed the responsibilities of running the company. They added a new office and parts building to accommodate their growing needs and to better serve their customers. On July 1, 1992 they bought their first computer. Up until this time, everything was done by hand.

In May of 1994, Dennis Gavin was voted in as President/CEO of the corporation, a position he still holds today.

In 1996, they purchased the reload station plus 6 acres of land that was previously owned and operated by Land O' Lakes.

In 1997, they again started hiring Owner Operators. On September 15, 1997, they bought the Erdmann farm route and added another 2 tractors and 4 trailers to the company fleet.

On June 3, 1998 after driving for the company for 23 years, Harold Heaney, Sr. retired. Harold was the second over the road driver to retire from the company. Donnie Rask was the first driver to retire. On July 13, 1998; they bought the Gary Nation farm route and sold the livestock trailers. With the growing number of trucks, they built another building to be used as more shop area. They started using this building in October of 1998. On December 1, 1998 the company bought the Wittenberg milk route in Rollingstone which included 4 quad axle trucks and 4 drivers. They added another 9 tractors and 7 trailers to the fleet.

In 1999, the company black topped half of the yard and bought another 19 tractors and 6 trailers. They developed the 10 Years of service and the 3 year Safety Plaque Programs. In March of 1999, Gerald Myhre was nominated by the Minnesota Trucking Association for the Driver of the Year in the State of Minnesota. Gerald was selected as the March Driver of the Month in the state of Minnesota.

Caledonia Haulers started with it's growth for the year 2001 by purchasing 9 more trailers and 13 more trucks. They started an engine interface with their satellite system that lets them look at engine information such as idle time and fuel consumption on individual trucks or the entire fleet. In August 2001, they started a Driver of the Year program, black topped the rest of the yard and added a cement pad to park trailers.

Expanding the fleet in 2002, they purchased 28 Peterbilt trucks, including 6 aerodynamic Model 387's.

2003 brought some big changes. In May, the maintenance department purchased a new Internet based software system through Peterbilt TruckCare Connect to track inventory, customers, equipment, and work orders. This was a huge step forward and improved their ability to track histories and preventative maintenance and now allowing them to analyze data faster. Then in August they purchased the truck division of Terry Johnson and Sons, in Darlington, WI. They employ one dispatcher and about 20 trucks from this location, renting some property and outsourcing basic equipment maintenance.

In 2004, moving with emission standards, they ordered 26 trucks with Caterpillar Acert technology and another 29 trailers. By the end of 2005 almost half of the fleet will be running the new lower emission CAT engine. The new technology brought on some new challenges to shop personal which prompted some updating of diagnostic tools. They rely more on the Internet for information and laptop operated programs. Their maintenance department has grown along with the fleet over 24 years and as of 2005, they service and sell parts to almost 100 customers in addition to their own fleet.

Caledonia Haulers has grown from hauling canned milk to dozens of food grade products including milk, cream, juice, water, corn syrup, soy sauce, vegetable and soy oils, yeast, yogurt, and liquid smoke. They haul to all 48 states and Canada and have trucks in Florida, New Jersey, and California weekly.

By the end of 2006, Caledonia Haulers plans to be operating 100% CAT power in Peterbilt chassis. This closely developed relationship with Peterbilt has earned them a distinguished reputation that will be featured in the "First Class" Magazine summer issue.

They have gone from traveling approximately 19,000 miles a year to over 13 million miles a year. With future continued growth, the company would like to add a 2nd Midwest terminal with its own office staff and mechanics. In August, to celebrate trucker appreciation, Caledonia Haulers annually hosts a luncheon at their milk receiving plant for all truck drivers, employees, and patrons. They are also working on plans for a larger event to celebrate 50 years in business in 2008.

As of 1997, there are only 2 shareholders remaining, Dennis Gavin, President/CEO and William Koch, Vice- President.

YEAR	MILES TRAVELED	GALLONS OF FUEL USED	AVERAGE $ PER GALLON
1998	8,777,081	1,452,551	$1.02
1999	9,557,550	1,595,358	$1.10
2000	10,052,904	1,670,954	$1.43
2001	10,921,613	1,784,701	$1.36
2002	11,437,528	1,846,078	$1.28
2003	11,750,592	1,906,592	$1.43
2004	13,184,049	2,138,792	$1.76
2005	14,444,205	2,422,574	$2.34
2006	15,703,046	2,672,399	$2.65
2007	17,215,324	2,958,145	$2.86

Home Page | Services | Employment | Equipment for Sale
Current Stats | Company History | Contact Info | Links

©Copyright Caledonia Haulers, Inc.
Web Page Design by Onalaska Web