Wayne Transports Inc.
Headquarters: Rosemount
Inception: 1950
Family names: Vedders, Siemers
What the company does: Transports bulk commodities
Type of ownership: S corp.
Principal owners: Carl Vedders and Mark Siemers
Employees: 581
Family members in the business: 6
Family members on the board: No board
“If you work for a family business, you have to be centered on the main goal, which is the company, and not centered on yourself so much.”
-Carl Vedders, President
Carl Vedders says his father-in-law grew his family business by following three simple principles: get the customer what they want, get it to them when they want it, and charge them a fair price.
Though seemingly straightforward, these fundamentals have proven effective. In 1950, the late Wayne A. Siemers started his family trucking company, Wayne Transports, with only one tractor and tank trailer to his name. Three generations and seven decades later, the company now transports bulk commodities in 48 U.S. states and Canada. Services include hauling and transloading petroleum products, asphalt, chemicals, Kosher products, dry-bulk industrial products, and agricultural products.
Now the president of the company, Vedders says he continues the legacy of his father-in-law, who died in 2007, by instilling values of integrity and hard work in the generations that follow him. “He was a real fair, honest-type guy,” says Vedders. “Whatever he said he would do, he’d follow through with.”
Family or not, everyone who joined Wayne Transports had to work their way up, Vedders says, noting he was no exception to this rule. He reminisces about his travels through many states, noting Minnesota remained his favorite to drive through. “You have the four seasons and as you’re driving you can see the seasons change. You can see the crops growing. It’s just an enjoyable job.”
After more than five years of driving, the company moved its primary terminal from Milaca to Rosemount in the Twin Cities’ metro and Vedders started working in the dispatch office full time. “So yeah, it was a progression. And all the rest of the boys too—Jess, Cole, Ryan, and Trent—they’ve all worked washing trucks, working out in the shop, and then moved into the office. So it’s not like they just got into an executive job all at once.”
Six family members currently work together to continue to build the business. Vedders’ brother-in-law Mark Siemers, Wayne’s son, is the company’s CEO. Four men are included in the company’s third generation: Jess Siemers serves as general manager, Cole Siemers is VP of sales and business development, Ryan Vedders is the company’s claims manager, and Trent Vedders works in chemical dispatch.
They all acknowledge that, when on the clock, it’s important to put the business first, says Vedders.
“If you work for a family business, you have to be centered on the main goal, which is the company, and not centered on yourself so much,” says Vedders. “A lot of people look at a business as what can the business do for me, and not so much as: If I contribute to the business, then I will get those things that I’m looking for, you know?”
As far as advice for aspiring family-business owners, keep business out of holidays, Vedders says. “No matter what discrepancies or arguments you have during business, they aren’t as important as family and you should always be able to sit down at Thanksgiving or Christmas with your family.”
Jason Boushey, VP of operations and a 12-year employee with Wayne Transports, says all employees at Wayne Transports are treated like family, regardless of blood relation. In his time at the company, he says he never felt like he was working for a large corporation. “That carries through to drivers, to dispatchers, to mechanics working in a shop. The majority of everybody here knows everybody here, no matter what terminal you’re at,” he says.
This family-focused quality of the business showed right away when Boushey joined the company, he says. Prior to his job with Wayne Transports, Boushey had his own trucking company, which closed. He was in North Dakota and in need of a job. At the same time, Vedders, whose daughter worked for Boushey’s father-in-law, was getting ready to open a new terminal in North Dakota and soon asked Boushey if he wanted to come on board.
Boushey tells a story to demonstrate how his employer upholds family values. He says when he accepted his position with Wayne Transports, his wife was pregnant with their daughter. Three months into the job and eager to make a good impression, he planned to go to work on the day of one of his wife’s prenatal appointments. But Boushey says Vedder, already a friend to his family, called him out on this, asking him if he planned to go to the appointment. He found out about it through his daughter who worked for Boushey’s father-in-law.
“I looked at him—we hadn’t talked about it—and I looked at him and was like ‘How in the world do you even know about that?’ because I was planning to skip it so I didn’t miss work. So my boss told me to go to my wife’s pre-natal check-up,” he says with a chuckle, noting this was an example of a time his employers showed their care for family extended to employees as well.
