Les Holtkamp was working in sales for a large wholesale crop protection company and decided to purchase two trucks in 2013. He leased his two trucks and two drivers on with another company and worked nights and weekends to service and maintain the units.
A year later he got his own operating authority and partnered with a broker on a couple dedicated runs to Arizona.
"I had my day job and didn't have the time to work the load boards or call on customers," he recalled.
The following year, Les met Tina Dres -- now his fiancée -- a woman that Les said "didn't know anything about the trucking business, but was a quick learner. She would call me while I was on the road selling products for my day job."
Tina found and added five owner-operators and Holtkamp purchased more equipment to support his growing West Point, Iowa, business.
"We went to auctions on the weekends and purchased some used trucks and added some drivers," he recalled, adding that in 2018 he formed a new company with Tina as a partner. By that time the couple-turned-business owners had doubled their assets and sales, and today Holtkamp Transportation owns or leases 25 trucks, with a handful of owner-operators leased on, too.
This is one of 10 Small Fleet Champ semi-finalist profiles that will run throughout the next month.
