“THERE’S A SENSE OF FULFILLMENT. IT’S LIKE I TELL OUR DRIVERS: IT’S


NOT HOW FAST YOU GET THE LOAD DONE. IT’S HOW WELL YOU DO IT.”


—JERRY KILTHAU


BY STEVE BRAWNER Contributing Writer


For Jerry Kilthau, trucking started as


a sideline business and became a family operation. Kilthau was raised on a farm and returned


to his roots as an adult by growing sugar beets, corn, alfalfa, and great northern beans on about 300 rented acres in Minatare—a medium-sized farm at the time. But farming wasn’t very profitable then. In 1981, after about a decade in the business, he decided to add another income stream, Kilthau Transports. During the day, he would farm while a friend


with truck driving experience would haul liquid feed on routes covering about a 300-mile radius. Te longest round trip was about 1,000 miles to and from a feed lot in North Dakota. Ten at night, Kilthau would take the keys to the truck and haul molasses, which would be used to make the feed. A couple of times a night, he would make an 80-mile round trip to and from Torrington, Wyoming. Te trucking turned out to be more


lucrative than the farming. Farming was too cyclical, and he could tell that the trend lines were moving toward larger farms. “Interest was high at the banks and prices


were low,” he said, “and it was hard to justify doing things. …I still enjoy farming. When the weather’s good and every is running smooth, who wouldn’t enjoy it? But when there are hail storms and, in the spring, dust storms that blow out your crop or something like that, it’s not any fun.” It became more and more obvious that


trucking needed to be the focus, not the sideline. After a couple of years, he added a driver. Ten in 1985, he quit farming to focus full time on Kilthau Transports. In 1990, he started to expand, adding one


Continues PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEN KURTZ NEBRASKA TRUCKER — ISSUE 3, 2016 — www.nebtrucking.com 13


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