Staff
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Brad Grafex101, bgrafe@valleytransinc.com Brad graduated from Grand Meadow in 1983. After graduation he worked in the fertilizer and chemical business for 2 years, which started in Grand Meadow then took him to Florida for a short time and Wisconsin after that. He then moved back to Grand Meadow in 1985 and managed CTI (Clement Trucking Inc) for the Clement family for 4 years prior to venturing out on a limb and starting Valley Transportation in 1989. Valley was started by Brad, his father Dick Grafe, Pat Stienkamp and Jeff Hegge. Pat and Jeff were both co- workers and long time friends of Brad's prior to that. The challenges over the next several years were not small, business was up and down , cash was tight due to rapid growth that was needed to keep customers freight moving like we had promised them. Business decisions became much larger than any of them had imagined and Brad's father had health related issues that made him unable to tackle the day to day challenges. The decisions over the years were made that left Brad as the sole owner of Valley. The decisions have not gotten smaller since that time, but Brad says the staff we have now makes his job a lot easier than it was back then, when the 4 of them tried to do everything by themselves. When not at work Brad enjoys boating, snowmobiling and spending time at the lake with family and friends. | |||||||||||||||
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Tori Brown, Receptionistx100, tfunk@valleytransinc.com Tori is our receptionist and also oversees our driver logs. She is from Spring Valley, MN where she graduated from Kingsland High School in 2000. Tori worked in banking before starting her career in the trucking industry in 2004. Tori has been with Valley Transportation since March of 2008. Away from work she enjoys spending most of her time with her three children. |
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Rod Greenameyer, Accountantx104, rgreenameyer@valleytransinc.com Rod is the accountant for Valley Transportation and has been with the company since March of 2000. He was born and raised in Austin, MN where he graduated high school and then attended Winona State University where he earned his Bachelor Degree in Accounting and Business Administration. Prior to coming to Valley Transportation, Rod was the accountant/office manager at Greenway CO-OP for 17 years. He has been married for 33 years and has three daughters. In his free time Rod enjoys golfing, fishing, archery, hunting and playing cards. |
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Julie Back, Accountantx105, jback@valleytransinc.com Julie is the accountant for Valley Forwarding and also does our driver payroll. Julie is from Spring Valley, MN and has received a degree in Finance and Accounting. Julie began working for Valley Transportation in May of 1995, prior to that she worked at a bank. Outside of work she keeps busy attending all of her children's activities. |
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Stephanie Servick, Billing Clerk/GPS Administratorx108, stephanie@valleytransinc.com Stephanie is from LeRoy, MN and has been with Valley Transportation since October of 2005. She is our billing clerk and GPS Administrator. Outside of work she enjoys attending her 3 daughters' activities and watching NASCAR. |
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Craig Dunbar, Recruiterx110, cdunbar@valleytransinc.com Craig is our driver recruiter. He was born and raised in Greensburg, Kentucky and currently resides in Grand Meadow, MN with his wife and 3 children. Craig drove truck for 4 years and then served in the Air Force for 10 years, the last 3 years as a recruiter. He joined our team in January of 2011. In his free time Craig enjoys photography and hunting. |
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Blayne Stejskal, DispatcherX111, bstejskal@valleytransinc.com |
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Kristi Jack, HR Directorx112, kjack@valleytransinc.com Kristi Jack is our HR Director. She grew up in Spring Valley, MN where she graduated high school and then attended Winona State University where she received her Bachelor Degree in Business Administration. Kristi has been with Valley since June of 2005. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her family and friends. |
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Doug Coen, Safety Directorx115, dcoen@valleytransinc.com Doug is our Safety Director and is from Rochester, MN. He has been with Valley Transportation since July of 2010. Doug has many years of experience in the Transportation Industry; his knowledge of safety is a benefit to our drivers when assisting them throughout their employment at Valley. The success and safety of the drivers is a number one goal with Doug. Outside of work he and his wife enjoy spoiling their 3 grandchildren every chance they get. |
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Mike Munroe, Sales Managerx118, mmunroe@valleytransinc.com Mike is from Harmony, MN and is the supervisor for Valley Forwarding, our brokerage department. He has been with Valley since June of 2000 and has over 25 years of sales and customer service experience. Give Mike a call with all your transportation needs; specializing in auction freight. |
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Bruce Speer, Brokerx119, bruce@valleytransinc.com Bruce is a dispatcher for Valley Forwarding. Prior to coming to work for Valley Bruce worked for Osh-Kosh Co for 17 years as their metal fabrication supervisor. He is married with 2 kids and has resided in Grand Meadow since 1991. When Bruce is not at work he enjoys spending time with his family, music and working around his home. |
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Parker Johnson, Brokerx120, pjohnson@valleytransinc.com Parker is a dispatcher for Valley Forwarding. He graduated from Mabel-Canton High School and then went to Rochester Community and Technical College for HVAC. He has worked on a farm most of his life and prior to coming to Valley he was a salesman at Cycle City in Rochester, MN. He currently resides in Lanesboro and when he is not at work he enjoys riding his Harley, snowmobiling and hunting. |
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Pete Kappers, Brokerx121, pete@valleytransinc.com Pete is from Spring Valley, MN where he graduated high school and then went on to attend Austin Technical Institute where he got his degree in Auto/Industrial Machining. Pete has been involved in farming, truck driving, and worked at Crenlo, Inc as a class A welder before coming to Valley as a dispatcher in our brokerage department. Outside of work Pete enjoys flying, fishing and hunting. |
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Steve (Weebs) Sheldon, Broker/Salesx125, steve@valleytransinc.com Steve is from Spring Valley, MN where he grew up on a farm. After high school Steve went to college for 1 year and then got into the sales business. He owned and operated an Automotive Parts Store and Machine Shop for 16 years with his brother, Charlie. In 1988 he started working in sales for Featherlite Mfg. He was in charge of Specialty Transporters, Race Trailers, Marketing Trailers, etc. During the years at Featherlite he worked with many of the Winston Cup teams-Dale Earnhart, Richard Petty, etc. Steve has been with Valley transportation since August of 2007. When Steve is not at work he enjoys hunting, fishing and spending time with his grandkids. |
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Jeremy Swanson, Dispatcherx133, jswanson@valleytransinc.com Jeremy graduated from Stewartville high school and currently resides in Grand Meadow, MN. He has drove truck for ten years and started driving truck for Valley Transportation in 2006. In April of 2011 Jeremy moved away from the truck and came into our office as a dispatcher. When Jeremy is not at work he enjoys riding his motorcycle, traveling, camping and various sports. |
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Kevin Queensland, Freight Coordinator/Dispatcherx135, kevin@valleytransinc.com Kevin currently resides in Grand Meadow, MN and has been with Valley Transportation since May of 1997. Kevin coordinates freight for anything moving out of states east of the Mississippi River and he also dispatches 20-25 trucks. In his free time Kevin enjoys camping and watching NASCAR and football. |
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Erick Anderson, Permit Coordinatorx137, erick@valleytransinc.com Erick grew up in the small town of Ostrander, MN about 10 minutes east of Grand Meadow, and has lived in the area ever since. He attended school at LeRoy-Ostrander where he graduated in 2002. After high school he attended RCTC's criminal justice program. Erick began working for Valley in January of 2006 as our permit coordinator. In his free time Erick enjoys spending as much time as he can in his boat chasing walleyes and participating in fish tournaments, mainly on the Mississippi River. When he is not in the boat he can be found spending time on the golf course, making fishing tackle and deer hunting. |
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Brian Swestka, Permit Coordinatorx139, brians@valleytransinc.com Brian is from Cresco, IA and has been with Valley since March of 2005. He grew up around farm equipment, which later transpired into operating most types of Ag equipment when he worked on the farm part-time. Prior to coming to Valley he worked as an equipment operator. During his employment at Valley Brian has taken on many rolls. Brian started as a local driver for us in 2005 and then in June of 2008 he came into the office as a dispatcher. After a year he went back into the driver's seat and drove for our local fleet again and even helped out in our heavy haul division. Brian is currently in the office as our permit coordinator. When he is not at work or helping on the farm he enjoys 4 wheeling, snowmobiling and watching a little football. |
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Brian Ptacek, Credit Managerx141, bptacek@valleytransinc.com Brian is our credit manager and also handles our insurance claims. He was born and raised in Stewartville, MN where he graduated high school. He then went on to Rochester Area Vo-tech and graduated from the Banking and Finance program. He has had 23 years of experience in the banking industry from a teller to collection manager, to office/branch manager. He has also worked as the business manager for a local RV dealership and even drove truck over the road for 4 years. Brian currently resides in Rochester, MN and began working for Valley Transportation in April of 2011. Outside of work Brian enjoys spending time with his family and friends, camping at the Pioneer Campground, boating, snowmobiling, NASCAR racing and watching the Vikings and any team that beats the Green Bay Packers. |
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Pat Steinkamp, Operations Managerx143, psteinkamp@valleytransinc.com Pat is from LeRoy, MN and he has been with Valley Transportation since the beginning. He was one of the original four partners of the company when it started back in 1989. Eventually the current and sole owner, Brad, bought out the other partners, but Pat remained with the company and is currently our operations manager. He oversees all of our dispatchers and helps coordinate freight when Tom and Kevin are busy. Outside of work Pat enjoys watching football and spending time with his children. |
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Nick Baldus, Heavy Haul Dispatchx145, nick@valleytransinc.com Nick grew up in Grand Meadow where he graduated high school. He began working in the shop for Valley Transportation in February of 2001, then in 2005 he moved into the office as a dispatcher and he currently dispatches our heavy haul trucks. When Nick is not at work he enjoys camping, hunting, fishing, farming and snowmobiling. |
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Jimmie Arnold, Dispatcherx147, jim@valleytransinc.com Jimmie grew up in southern MN. He worked on farms and at a truck stop throughout high school, and graduated in 1988. After high school Jimmie went to vo-tech school for diesel mechanics and graduated in 1990. After vo-tech he began working on combines and tractors for an Implement dealer, then moved into their fertilizer division and was a custom applicator for 3 years. Prior to signing on as a dispatcher with Valley Transportation Jimmie also worked for an Agriculture dealer and a truck and auto repair shop. Outside of work Jimmie enjoys hunting, fishing, horseback riding, and restoring old cars and tractors. He also raced stock cars from 1991 to 2008. |
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Tom Gardner, Freight Coordinatorx150, tgardner@valleytransinc.com Tom has lived in southeastern MN his entire life. After graduating from Grand Meadow High School in 1978 he started working for various farmers and driving truck. When he was old enough to go over the road, he worked for Minnesota Implement hauling machinery and farming equipment for 5 years. He then went to work for Wayne Transports for 11 years hauling petroleum products and eventually moved into their office as a dispatcher. When the opportunity came along to work closer to home, Tom started at Valley Transportation in 1998 as our freight coordinator. Tom handles freight moving out of states west of the Mississippi. When Tom is not at work, he and his wife, Deb, enjoy yard work, fishing and boating, NASCAR, tractor rides on their old John Deere A, and spending time with their children and grandchildren. |
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Brent Hellickson, Dispatch Managerx152, brent@valleytransinc.com Brent has been involved in the transportation industry in about every fashion for 35 years, and has been with Valley since May of 2007. He helps oversee all of our dispatchers and covers for them and our sales staff when they are out of the office. Brent is from Spring Valley, MN and has been married for 32 years; he has 3 children and 1 grandson. Brent enjoys boating, fishing and just being by the lake. |
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Steve Martin, Salesx155, tsm412@cox.net Steve started working for Valley in January of 2004 and is one of our sales representatives from Broken Arrow, OK. Prior to coming to work for Valley he drove truck for 20 years and then moved into dispatch and sales. Steve knows a lot about machinery and says he can load just about anything. Outside of work Steve enjoys fishing and hanging out on the boat. |
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Tonya Martin, Brokerx156, tsm412@cox.net Tonya is Steve's wife and she also works out of Broken Arrow, OK. She began working for Valley in January of 2004 and is one of our brokers; she also helps Steve's customers when he is not in the office. Tonya has worked in all areas of transportation, from fuel taxes to collections to fleet director, as well as a CSR manager and running two brokerage companies. When not at work Tonya enjoys walking, fishing and gardening. |
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Craig Stier, Shop Foremanx200, cstier@valleytransinc.com |
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Charlie Sheldon, Parts Managerx201, csheldon@valleytransinc.com |
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Gilbert (Mickey) Vargas, Maintenance |
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