Founded in 1972 in La Crosse, Wis., by Bob Frise, River States Truck and Trailer has become the premier truck and trailer dealer and service center in Western Wisconsin. And it’s still a family business.
In 2000, River States developed an apprentice technician program to help student diesel technicians with tuition reimbursement, and offering them part time employment as a tech at one of the River States locations while attending school.
Training has become a powerful tool across the industry in efforts to boost retention, but River States takes that one step further by meeting the students in the classroom through an apprenticeship program.
Each apprentice technician is teamed up with a mentor to help them learn the skills they need and reiterate what they learn in the classroom. This program has been awarded to more than 30 diesel technician students, many of whom became full-time River States employees after graduation.
You can also find River State throwing its support behind efforts that aren’t likely to one day apply to work in their repair bays. The local Toys-For-Tots is one of dealer principal Joe Laux’s, the son-in-law of founnder Frise, personal favorites.
“It started with one or two shopping carts in Walmart and now … I had a kid point at me once and say, ‘is that Santa Claus?’ because we had so many shopping carts. That’s the best thing of the year. I like walking into the dealerships and barely being able to get into the door because there are toys everywhere.”
Education doesn’t stop at the professional level for employees at River States. Retirement classes and financial investment educators are brought in at no charge to help employees make decisions based on their financial goals. Each employee can sign up for a 30 minute session with a financial educator to go over their financial planning and investment strategies to make sure they are on track with the goals they have set for their future.
Laux has also at on the board at several area organizations and continues to do what he can to help support local programs. Some of these boards include WATDA Truck Dealers Board, Wells Fargo Board of Directors, Gundersen Health Systems Board of Directors, and Minnesota Trucking Association (MTA) Board of Directors.
River States Truck and Trailer is one of three Successful Dealer Award finalists invited to Commercial Vehicle Outlook Conference at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas next week.
