Elsewhere on the Bauer horizon:


Adding new locations from scratch while also continuing to acquire new businesses, maintaining satellite locations like those attached to Bauer’s main Illinois site in Romeoville, adding sales personnel, continuing to grow the fleet maintenance division and Bauer’s presence in its eight-state marketing area. “Tere’s a lot of markets we’ve got to fill in


to complete our network,” Bauer said. One of the company’s biggest challenge is


hiring and retention, Bauer said. To combat the loss of employees Bauer


Built Inc., about three years ago, began to focus on developing its human resources and operations departments at its stores, zeroing in on development and training while tinkering with hours and scheduling and pay and shift structures to continue to make the company an attractive place to work, and stay. “High turnover in these areas is probably


the No. 1 challenge for our store managers,” Bauer said. While always fond of Durand and his


home state of Wisconsin, Bauer values his relationship with the other states in the Bauer Built network, including Nebraska, where with six locations Bauer has one of its larger presences. Tat presence includes membership in the


Nebraska Trucking Association. “From our perspective it’s part of our


responsibility,” Bauer said of the membership. “We need to understand everything that’s going on in the trucking industry.” Association membership of course helps


Bauer keep its name out there, he said, but it also provides insight into what makes customers tick, which is invaluable intel in light of Bauer’s focus on customer service. “Te big thing for us is, at the end of the


day, for us to be viable in the business we have to understand our customer,” Bauer said. For example, Bauer notes that customers


are buying new equipment, which may not be so good for tire sales, but places emphasis on fleet service. “Just understanding what business cycle they’re in. A lot of our fleet customers really


want help with over the road purchases,” he said. “How can we provide a maintenance program that reduces or minimizes road failures? … We want to diagnose the problem before it happens.” Bauer agrees that owning a family business


and maintaining the company’s reputation comes with some pressure. “Absolutely, that’s at the forefront of my


thoughts every day,” he said. Bauer’s dad Jerry is still chairman and


CEO and, though not involved in day-to-day decisions he handles the big picture, “legal side of things” if there is an acquisition or other big development. Bauer’s younger sister Mandy is director of marketing. But when Bauer, a family man himself,


thinks of the company he also thinks in terms of the families of the 600-plus employees who work for him. “I have a lot of mouths to feed, so to


speak,” Bauer said of his responsibility to his employees. “A lot of families to take care of. … It keeps me focused, it keeps me driven.” NT


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LOCATIONS ACROSS NEBRASKA AND THE MIDWEST NEBRASKA


FREMONT ............................................2547 W 23rd Drive GRAND ISLAND................................3334 W Cougar Drive LEXINGTON.............................................75479 Road 435 LINCOLN .................................................... 7800 North 56 NORFOLK............................................2200 S Highway 81 OMAHA..........................................................7728 F Street


Plus IOWA, ILLINOIS, INDIANA, MINNESOTA, NORTH DAKOTA & WISCONSIN


www.bauerbuilt.com NEBRASKA TRUCKER — ISSUE 4, 2015 — www.nebtrucking.com 13


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