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Bob Winter and son, Mike Winter, share their story


WORKING SIDE-BY-SIDE


BY STEVE BRAWNER Contributing Writer


Trucking is in Bob Winter’s blood, and


now his flesh and blood is preparing to take over the family business. That business is Distribution Inc., a


Lincoln-based warehouse and trucking company, and it’s growing. The company recently added 60,000 square feet to its 140,000-square-foot facility, but it now has almost twice as much storage space because the addition is 47 feet high. The entire facility is state of the art and temperature controlled. The turrets that carry the material to its final destination are wire-guided. Meanwhile, the 32-employee company has developed an over-the-road


trucking network delivering to customers within a 400-mile radius of Lincoln. It now has 14 tractors and 50 trailers – double the fleet it had just a few years ago. By now, Bob, 65, is pretty much an


authority on what it takes to be successful: building relationships and treating other people as he would be treated. “You have to have a good work ethic,” he


said. “You have to believe in your customers. You have to build a partnership with your customer, and your employees have to believe in what you do and want to work for you.” Son Michael, 33, who works in sales and


operations and someday will take over the company, says he has learned those lessons watching his father. “Dad has taught me basically everything


I know,” he said. “If you want something, go get it. It’s not going to come easy. There’s a point where people can stand back and wish for things to happen, or you can go out and get it done, and those are the people that are going to be successful.” Distribution Inc., is the product of seven


decades of going out and getting it done. Its roots reach back to the years after World War II, when Bob’s father, Waldo, and uncle, Hubert, started a business with a pickup and a small truck hauling baggage for traveling salesmen in Lincoln. The salesmen would arrive at the train depot at all hours of the night, and the brothers would meet them there by appointment and transport their display cases and luggage to the Cornhusker


Continues NEBRASKA TRUCKER — ISSUE 5, 2016 — www.nebtrucking.com 15


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