2021 Year-In-Review

2021 was certainly eventful, and we’re excited to reflect on all of the changes and growth that happened at Nussbaum.

2021 By the Numbers

Nussbaum drove 47,000,000 miles and hauled over 75,000 loads last year, earning approximately $114 million in revenue (a 28% increase over 2020 and a notable first year over $100 million in revenue).

Our personnel numbers have increased too, with driver count growing from 425 to 460, and home-base staff (between the office and shop) growing from 130 to 160 employees. With all of these new faces and willing attitudes, it’s no wonder Nussbaum had a big year!

Let’s look back at each department’s most significant accomplishments from 2021.

Recruiting

Joe and his team have certainly been busy. They crushed the goal of hiring 460 drivers, added two new team members (CJ Conger and Caleb Gee), and set a record for the most new hires in a year: 223 (the previous record was 197, set in 2018). They also set a record for the most new hires in a quarter, reaching 78 in Q3 (the previous record was 54, set in Q3 2018). More exciting things are coming in the new year, as Cole Zeller and his wife Sabrina are expecting their first child in June 2022.

HR/Safety

Safety has their hands full between running weekly orientations, processing claims, and leading the Certified RED program. They also manage our new Virage driving simulator, which helps current drivers improve their scorecards and new drivers learn essential skills.

Even with incidents, claims, and moving violations, our safety department can still boast some of the lowest CSA scores in the industry. We are below the 30th percentile in every safety category, meaning that only 30% of trucking companies have better scores across the board! We would also like to recognize the shop team’s efforts, as our lowest percentile is Vehicle Maintenance (13th).

HR and Safety also led Nussbaum’s first venture into education. In October, we launched the Nussbaum Trucking Academy at Heartland Community College. Two classes have already been completed, and January is filling up.

In May of last year, HR led our switch to United Healthcare, which includes several new medical benefits. Employees now enjoy access to Zero Card, free Teladoc, and True RX pharmaceuticals. In November, Nussbaum announced a new partnership with the Everside Health Center.

The department as a whole had an exciting year. Klint Edelman was the new addition to the safety team, and Toby started at ICC this fall while working part-time with Nussbaum. A few more additions were made when Rick Schmidt married Monica on May 22, Brendon and his wife welcomed baby girl, Josephine (Josie) Marie on June 14, Darla married off her daughter in August, and Klint Edelman married Ella on November 14. To top it off, Cory Adams hit his 15-year mark at Nussbaum this year.

Marketing

Marketing stayed busy creating and releasing Nussbaum content, managing the company store, and supporting various company initiatives. They produced 17 episodes of Dashboard Radio in 2021, and it has proved to be a fun and engaging way to share company updates and answer questions. The Terminal Exchange podcast returned to the airways and released 14 new episodes this year.

Marketing also launched a new social media initiative that includes daily content on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. In printed media, we released the first two editions of Driven magazine — one in June and one in December. Another highlight this year included releasing the Love, Above All trailer.

In 2021, marketing processed over $100,000 worth of store orders, with a total of 1,555 orders placed. This included 126 Nussbaum die-cast trucks and 355 Adams Performance Adjustable ball caps (our iconic orientation hat). The team also created a system for new driver uniform orders to help streamline orientation. We now stock several fan-favorite clothing items here at Nussbaum, and new drivers can get their uniforms right away.

With the additions of Saige Anderson, Kyle Streitmatter, and Jessi Blunier, marketing doubled in size this year. Jessi married Austin on August 29.

Accounting

Accounting had a high turnover in 2021, but the department grew overall and they continue to do excellent work. Overall, they processed and delivered over 30,000 paychecks in 2021. With the new year upon us, they will soon be entering the thick of tax season and ESOP calculations!

Cole Miller, Lena Zimmerman, Elise Dotterer, Sara Zimmerman, and Eric Olson joined the accounting team in 2021, and Cody Cramton and his wife welcomed their first child, Dottie Jo, on March 23.

IT

As usual, IT was busy saving the world in 2021. Last year, they built a new reporting platform in Power BI, implemented User Security Scorecards for office workers, published Certified RED status in LiNK, and added a training module to Driver Excelerator. They also built a Load Priority system for sales and operations, added trailer maps to LiNK, deployed Shop Planner enhancements for managing unassigned tractors, added open deck support to Freightmixer, and upgraded TMW Suite. And on top of all of that, they held a Resilience Day simulation to prepare for potential cyber-attacks.

Dan Craig, Cheryl Wright, and Jake Hausmann joined the IT department this year, while Chris Mazza and Scott Herrmann transitioned to new roles within the department (development team and software development manager, respectively). Dan and Eric Hartter both got married over the summer (Eric married Tori on July 18, Dan married Ivy on August 15), and Jesse Knapp and his wife welcomed baby Bria into their family in June.

Operations

There’s never a dull moment in the north building! Operations provided outstanding service to our drivers, customers, and partners throughout the year.

One significant change last year was implementing a new planning structure (Fleet Planning) that would give each system driver a specific load planner. This way, operations can plan a driver’s load regardless of their geography, and they don’t have to bounce from one regional planner to another. Operations is still working to improve this re-structure, but the heart behind the change was to improve the driver experience.

Operations also created a new Trainee Driver Manager position in 2021, which means that every new student driver will have the same DM and thus a more consistent experience. This change allows us to focus on providing the right load for each trainer/trainee, appropriate with the student’s experience level. Maya Hodel transitioned to this role during the fall.

In freight, operations has worked to capitalize on customer spot quotes to improve visibility and focus on our primary commitments. By reserving driver capacity, Nussbaum can capitalize on higher-paying spot loads, leading to increased spot revenue. Operations (with sales) also oversaw the introduction of a new dedicated Lear account, which has dramatically improved our Lear cross-dock freight (it now has 80-90% dedicated coverage, as opposed to 60% system coverage before). And last but not least, booked brokered load yield average (a measure of profitability) increased over 300% between January and December!

Steve Schultz and Livy Stoller celebrated ten years with Nussbaum, while Matt Cheever reached the 15-year milestone. Bryan Nehrkorn, Seth Jacowski, James Rocke, Evan Nestel, Ty Langen, Marissa Wiegand, and Brad Haney all joined the office crew in 2021. Matt Zimmerman and his wife welcomed Wren Auden on April 30, Evan married Lydia on May 15, Jordan Jefferson and his wife welcomed Berkley on September 16, and Tim Bradle and his wife welcomed Clara May on November 19.

Sales/Pricing

Sales continued to build excellent customer relationships, and added several new customers in 2021, including Uline, Beck’s, Trinity Stone, Mar’s, Chewy, Cabinetworks, and American Buildings. Angie Green and Zack Hildebrand joined the Sales team this year, and in early 2021, the team set a goal for rate increases of $2,400,000. In total, they achieved $8,940,641 of rate increases — nearly 4x their goal!

Sales also launched projects aimed at customer engagement. They began sending outreach emails containing a blog or video to help customers understand the benefits of working with Nussbaum. In collaboration with IT, they developed a customer metric scorecard that allows Nussbaum to track how we are doing in each customer relationship.

In December, Chris Aranda was named a 2021 Emerging Leader by Heavy Duty Trucking.

The Shop

We depend on our shop team to keep trucks running and loads moving. They’ve continued to go above and beyond to meet tight deadlines and manage the constant influx of repair work.

Last year, the shop grew physically with a new office building and a double-bay expansion, which increased our trailer capacity by 100% and truck capacity by 25%. Nussbaum opened its first off-site maintenance shop in Channahon, IL, to better serve drivers who can’t make it to our terminal here in central Illinois. This expansion allowed us to complete 805 repairs that would’ve otherwise required a third-party provider.

The shop also finished installing 1,146 Phillips tracking devices on the trailers — a two-year project that included 2,292 tech hours! This new system allows operations to track the trailers in real-time, gives drivers better trailer information in the LiNK app, and overall has so many benefits that we’re excited to see what 2022 will bring.

2021 was a full year for recruiting, and this required that trucks were ready for the new drivers. The shop met this challenge by adding an unassigned truck team focused solely on trucks without a driver. This effort has enabled them to remove the Thursday afternoon cutoff for orientation additions and open the “floodgates” for the recruiting team. In total, the shop prepped 223 trucks for orientation last year to match the 223 new hire drivers.

Nussbaum added several new members to the shop team in 2021, and Justin Worden’s family welcomed Odin Martin on December 28. John Lovell and his wife adopted a boy, Jesse, on December 29.

Much To Be Thankful For

There’s not much to add, other than Nussbaum has been truly blessed. We can only thank God for all that we’ve been able to achieve this year. We look forward to seeing what 2022 has in store!