With Independence Day in our rearview mirror, it makes me think about the history of McLeod Express and all the hurdles we have had to overcome in the last 38 years. Some of you may know the story and some may not. McLeod Express was started by Mark McLeod in 1986. The McLeod’s have been Illinois farmers for as long as they have been around. Someone had to truck the grain from the farm in Assumption to the rail in Decatur and the way it was done was to pay someone else. One day, Mark had a lightbulb moment and realized it would be worthwhile to truck it up to Decatur himself. So he bought a truck and started down that path. They saved a lot of money by not paying someone and also filled up his calendar moving grain for other farmers. As they say, the rest is history!
Of course, there was lots of ups and downs along the way to today. McLeod Express operated out of Assumption, IL for about 15 years. In 2001, we opened our current terminal in Decatur. When this facility opened, we operated right around 200 trucks with most of them being over the road. Then we started to make a shift. We opened the current terminal in Decatur and took on a lot of local work there as well as Lafayette, IN. Currently, our local fleets comprise about half of our fleet. The road fleet operates a little over 100 units. At the same time of constructing the terminal, we also built our warehouse.
Around 2010, we started up the end dump division in Springfield, IL. That division utilizes around 65 drivers that service Central IL mostly. Shortly after we started the dump division, we opened our Brokerage division as well in St. Louis.
Today, McLeod Express operates about 300 trucks. We are always looking for opportunities to expand our freight network, but we do not have aspirations to be a mega carrier. We have found our niche in transportation and just want to do the best we can to provide a stable and enjoyable work environment for all. Some days and weeks are better than others but if we follow our North Star we will surely stay on track.
Thank you for being part of our history. Without you, we don’t have a business to operate. Thanks, and have a great week!