Freightliner of St. Cloud, founded in 1963, is the largest supplier to the transportation industry in Central Minnesota and the oldest continually-owned truck dealer in the area.
Serving the community for 50-plus years also means means being environmentally responsible.
The company recently installed a power generator, which allows the local electrical cooperative to take the dealership “off the grid” during high energy usage, which in Wisconsin is often in the summer when there is a demand for cooling. Jon Pearson, Freightliner of St. Cloud’s general manager, says this helps divert energy to other parts of the community where it is needed.
“We’ve had that happen a number of times this year, that they’ve taken us off-grid,” Pearson says. “Basically, by us going off-grid, we cover the energy usage of about 80 homes during those peak periods.”
In an effort to combat the dealership’s carbon emissions (and save a few bucks at the pump), Freightliner of St. Cloud has equipped all of its parts team’s trucks with GPS tracking to help better manage routes for efficiency and lower fuel use. As a result, the company has cut 64 miles per day off its total mileage.
Freightliner of St. Cloud has been an integral part of the medium/heavy truck technical program at St. Cloud Technical and Community College (SCTCC) for more than 20 years. The company routinely hires employees trained by SCTCC, and has made supporting the classrooms a priority. All told, the company has donated more than $110,000 in scholarships and equipment to the school, including a new Detroit DD15 standalone engine valued at $40,000.
“We’re primarily a support system for [the school],” Pearson adds. “It might be time, or it might be money, or it might be tracking down [equipment] they need.”
Freightliner of St. Cloud is one of three Successful Dealer Award finalists invited to Commercial Vehicle Outlook Conference at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas next week.
The other two finalists will be profiled in separate articles this week.
