A word from Dan Schilling, Vice President at Fraley and Schilling
People often ask me what it was like growing up in a third generation family-owned trucking company. This has always been a hard question for me to answer because to me, it’s all I have ever really known. My grandfather, Earl Schilling, started Fraley and Schilling 1955 with his friend, Jack Fraley, hauling farm equipment. In the early 1980’s the first generation transferred the control of the business to their sons, Robert (my dad) Kenney Schilling, and Link Fraley. I have two older brothers, Ryan and Andrew, that really helped carve a path for me so I had a pretty good idea of what my future looked like.
Like my brothers, I had the opportunity to start washing trucks, cleaning the shop, and doing very basic maintenance in my early teen years. I remember seeing how excited my friends were when school would be canceled for snow, but that meant that I was headed to the terminal to shovel and plow snow to help keep our trucks rolling. I often felt sorry for myself during those times as a kid, as many of my friends were out playing, but looking back those were some of my favorite days.
Another aspect of growing up in a family business was seeing my family at work. It was always cool showing up to work and seeing my grandpa there. The guy was in his late 80’s and still beat me to work, which my dad didn’t hesitate to point out. I will say that he was often “sleeping” on the job, typically right next to a truck running or someone operating an impact which I still find to be pretty amazing. Those memories are something that I will always cherish. I also remember always moving a little faster any time my Dad was present. I definitely had that typical fear of a father that many kids do growing up. I just happened to see him at home and at work.
After high school, I had the opportunity to do a summer internship with the company working with our operations team. I was responsible for one of our local fleets reporting to Mike Bussberg. This ended up being one of the most rewarding summers of my entire career. This is the summer that really helped me learn the business. I learned hours of service, load planning, and the critical relationship between fleet managers and drivers. Reporting to Mike that summer was also critical in teaching me the importance of holding a team to a high standard while also creating and maintaining a great culture.
In 2016 I started full time and have since worked in safety, orientation, and now, recruiting. My grandfather passed away in 2012 and I often wonder what it would be like for him to see the company today as we’ve evolved to industry advancements and adopted new technologies like electronic logs and automatic trucks. I’m pretty much certain he would not recognize some parts of this company like the sheer growth we’ve made in employees, the acquisition of another company or the new terminal buildings we built in Tennessee, South Carolina and Alabama, but one thing F&S has seemed to pull off is consistently hiring good people, even 68 years later which I know he would be amazed by. I continue to recognize that no matter where I work in the company, the culture remains consistent. I can’t give enough credit to my grandfather and the legacy he helped establish of humility and mutual respect for people. That was the motivation behind having me interact with drivers- to first understand their job before ever stepping foot in the office. It’s also the core consistency that has carried F&S forward more than any technological advancement. I can’t speak for everyone, and no doubt there are others who grew up around trucking as well, but my experience of growing up around Fraley and Schilling Trucking made me enjoy showing up for the job- not because it’s my family’s company but because it’s a great place to work.
