116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Semis are everywhere in the Corridor. But what are they hauling, and where?
This story first appeared in The Long Haul 2024, an annual special section that celebrates National Truck Driver Appreciation Week by looking at Eastern Iowa’s trucking industry.
Semi-trucks – they’re impossible to miss when you’re on the road. And you’ve probably wondered what they’re carrying inside their trailers.
Cereal, Gushers, office furniture, livestock, corn — the list of products that are hauled across the Midwest and the country by local companies in the trucking industry, right here in the Corridor, is robust. In fact, Cedar Rapids’ central U.S. location puts the city within a day’s truck drive of more than 72 million North American consumers, according to Cedar Rapids Economic Development.
Here’s an inside look into the trailers of some of those local trucking companies.
Company: Don Hummer Trucking
Type of truck(s): Tractor-trailer.
What they haul: Retail goods, food and beverage products (soda, water, sports drinks and more), office furniture and building materials, among other things.
Where they haul it: National, regional and local services are available.
Pounds of product they haul per year: 1.6 billion pounds of freight in 2023.
Mileage they travel per year: Over 39 million miles in 2023.
Company: Jensen Transport Inc.
Type of truck(s): Semi, tractor, tanker, trailer.
What they haul: Food-grade corn products made in Iowa.
Where they haul it: Throughout the Midwest.
Pounds of product they haul per year: Over 20 million pounds.
Mileage they travel per year: Over 4 million miles.
Company: West Side Transport, Inc.
Type of truck: Tractor-trailer (semi trucks). Specifically dry van trailers, or enclosed, non-refrigerated 53-foot trailers.
What they haul: They haul for International Paper (packaging rolls for various shipping boxes), General Mills (granola bars and candy snacks like Gushers), Quaker | PepsiCo (cereal products and energy drinks) and Whirlpool in Amana.
Where they haul it: Mostly to the industrial zones of major city suburbs like Chicago, Milwaukee, Kansas City and the Twin Cities. Their OTR fleet goes further east and into the southeast as far as Georgia. Even though their name is West Side, they stick mostly to the east of the Rockies.
Pounds of product they haul per year: About 6.1 billion pounds.
Mileage they travel per year: About 50 million pounds.
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