What started with one man, who used a borrowed truck to drive his own milk route, has blossomed into an international transportation venture, with more than 1,600 employees.
More than 60 years after Shullsburg, Wisc., native Robert McCoy borrowed a truck from the cheese factory where he worked to start his own milk route, the company that McCoy ultimately founded has grown into a corporation with six subsidiaries and has reaches into Mexico.
In 1954, McCoy, along with business partners Bill Morissey and Ray Hanna, purchased a small trucking company in Darlington, Wisc.
With Morissey leaving the partnership, McCoy and Hanna added on to their business holdings in 1958 by starting GMC Truck Sales, a General Motors franchise selling light- and medium-duty trucks. The partners expanded their business in 1972 when GM contacted the men about taking over a light-duty truck franchise in Dubuque, Iowa.
In 1982, The McCoy Group Inc. purchased Foodliner, which today is one of the nation’s largest carriers in the bulk-food industry.
By 2011, Foodliner had 21 terminals and 70 other shipping points in 29 states. In 2012, the Foodliner brand moved south of the U.S. border with the establishment of Foodliner of Mexico.
The original sales dealership continued to grow and expand over the years as Truck Country added its third dealership in 1983, with the opening of its Madison location.
In July 2014, the McCoy Group Inc. acquired Indiana and Ohio-based Stoops Freightliner-Quality Trailer.
With Stoops Freightliner-Quality Trailer operating as a division of Truck Country, overall the dealership group has 23 locations in five states, including Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and Minnesota.
Today, the third generation of McCoys hold leadership positions in the company. The cousins are shareholders in the company, while Greg McCoy was named president of The McCoy Group in 2012. Meanwhile, Doug McCoy serves as president of Truck Country, Brian McCoy is the president of Stoops Freightliner-Quality Trailer and Jon McCoy is the corporate vice president of used trucks.
The company prides itself on helping the communities the dealerships serve.
“At the heart of it, we are a family business and we love the communities that we serve,” says Greg McCoy.
In 2015, Truck Country employees in Dubuque donated $3,581 to Make a Wish, in addition to other giving through ownership. Employees at the corporate office annually “adopt” two needy families in the community during the holiday season, in which presents are provided.
In February 2016, Stoops’ Dayton location donated two skids of water for the residents of Flint, Mich.
The company routinely hosts open houses/ride-and-drive events for customers and sponsor different association/organizational events, where education about Truck Country/Stoops products and industrial topics are presented. For example, in August 2015, Truck Country hosted the Wisconsin Liquid Waste Carriers Association Summer Conference in Rothschild, Wisc.
Truck Country/Stoops Freightliner is one of five Successful Dealer Award finalists invited to the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas in late August.
The other finalists will be profiled in separate articles in the coming weeks.
