“It’s time”: Waggoners Trucking retires after 75 years on the road

After 75 years, three generations, and more than a thousand trucks at its peak, Waggoners Trucking is closing its doors.

“It was a good run,” said David Waggoner, who has led the company since his father, Wayne Waggoner, founded it in 1951. “We continued on the company… and today we’ve made it through 75 years. And that was quite a run that we’re really proud of.”

Waggoner’s fleet sells unreserved through Ritchie Bros. Online bidding opens September 18 for priority access, and every asset sells to the highest bidder on September 23. Equipment is selling from Waggoners Trucking’s location in Columbus, Georgia, and from the Ritchie Bros. yard in Oklahoma City.

One truck, one family, 75 years

Wayne Waggoner started the company in Centerville, Iowa, in 1951 with a single truck — not his first, either. That distinction belongs to a 1945 International his father and grandfather bought together for the family produce business. Wayne’s first new truck, a 1955 Mack single axle pulling a 35-foot reefer trailer, still exists in the Waggoner fleet today.

By 1960, the family had moved the growing operation to Livingston, Montana, with about ten trucks on the road, all in the flatbed business. Over the next two decades the fleet grew past 350 trucks, mostly owner-operators. Waggoners moved into company fleet operations in the early 1990s and into auto transport in 1987, a business it ran for over 25 years.

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At its peak, Waggoners ran 1,000 trucks through 42 terminals, backed by five maintenance shops, 250 mechanics, 250 support staff, and 1,000 drivers hauling for every major automaker. The company sold a piece of the operation in 2013 and kept running until this year’s retirement sale.

A rig built for one job, and it shows

Some of the equipment heading to auction tells its own story. Decades ago, Wayne Waggoner designed a specialized rig for hauling high-top Mercedes-Benz vans out of Charleston, South Carolina — an 80-foot setup where the trailer folds and rides on the tractor for the return trip. Crews could load or unload it in about 45 minutes. Waggoners ran that route to the West Coast and back for 10 years, five turns a week.

The same basic design started 50 years earlier, when Wayne hauled lumber from Livingston, Montana, to Chicago and Minneapolis — before the interstate system existed to make it easier.

“It’s the people”

Ask David what he’s most proud of, and the equipment comes second.

“My father, Wayne Waggoner, the founder of the company — he was an amazing guy,” David said. “It was with his foresight and imagination that brought the company to where it was. And I’m so proud of all the people over the years, the thousands of people that worked with this company. We wouldn’t have made 75 years had it not been for every one of them.”

That same theme came up on the Ritchie Bros. side. “What I enjoyed most about Waggoners Trucking, without a doubt, is the people,” said Colton Nielsen, Ritchie Bros. Territory Manager, who worked the consignment. “The professionalism carried over — the knowledge, the expertise of their organization was apparent in how they ran their business, and in the route of their success.”

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Why Waggoner’s chose Ritchie Bros.

David’s history with Ritchie Bros. goes back to 1980, when he attended a sale in Edmonton. But the retirement sale itself came down to one relationship: Colton Nielsen, Ritchie Bros. Territory Manager.

“It’s not the company. It’s the people in the company,” David said. “My first contact was with Colton… He was attentive, he was responsive. I called him and he was down the next day. That’s one of the big reasons we’re going with Ritchie Bros.”

Waggoners interviewed several auction companies before deciding. “We just felt it was the wise choice to go with Ritchie Bros. to say goodbye to our company,” David said, pointing to Ritchie Bros.’ track record, online presence, and local representation as the deciding factors.

The sale

Waggoners Trucking’s fleet sells unreserved, with priority bidding opening September 18 and every asset selling September 23 to the highest bidder. Assets are selling from two locations: Waggoners Trucking’s yard in Columbus, Georgia, and the Ritchie Bros. location in Oklahoma City.

For a 75-year operation, closing out means finding buyers who’ll put this equipment back to work.

View the Waggoners Trucking inventory and register to bid here

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See also

From Winter Roads to Retirement: How R. French Transport Sold Its Fleet from Home in Arcola, SK