April 2012 - Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce

Chamber Surprise Patrol Visits Cooke Trucking Company, Inc.
Tuesday March 27 th seventeen (17) Chamber Ambassadors along with staff pulled into the parking lot of Cooke Trucking
Company, Inc. located at 1759 South Andy Griffith Parkway in Mount Airy. Carrying balloons, a big candy basket and a box
of cookies the Chamber Surprise Patrol quickly filled the office lobby. This was the first visit to Cooke Trucking Company for
many of the group; we asked to see Vice President of Operations David Smith and CFO Rodney Jessup.
Interested in finding out more about Cooke Trucking, David was asked to give a brief history of the company along with
answering some questions from the group. David Smith told us that Cooke Trucking Company, Inc. was founded by his
father in 1958, in Mount Airy, North Carolina and was incorporated in 1971. A family owned and operated business
managed by David, Vice President of Operations who grew up in and around the business his entire life.
Cooke Trucking has sixty-three trucks hauling t-shirts and furniture to the west coast and bringing back produce to North
Carolina grocery stores. Asked how the increase in fuel costs was effecting the industry David said it was killing them. Their
trucks are never turned off and with a 300 gallon tank it runs about $1200 to fill up. Rodney Jessup noted that fuel costs can
run as high as $200,000 a week! Cooke Trucking Company has about 175 employees with 147 being drivers. One driver
named Brady has been with Cooke Trucking about 46 years…… and another driver actually lives in West Virginia and
drives to Mount Airy each week and returns home over the weekend.
Cooke Trucking Company, Inc. is operated with team drivers, top of the line tractors and trailers equipped for long haul
operations with air ride refrigerated trailers and dryvans. All the equipment is serviced and maintained by Cooke Trucking’s
own shop on a regular basis subject to D.O.T. and I.C.C. rules and regulations.
Cooke Trucking drivers are carefully screened before being hired and are required to be drug free. The company stresses
during their employment, that they be courteous and polite to all our customers.
Cooke Trucking services eleven Western States for truckload and LTL freight. They operate a sixteen bay warehouse
facility that allows them to consolidate loads to their customers. That gives Cooke Trucking the ability to speed up delivery
times which might otherwise be delayed. They have I.C.C. authority to haul general commodities in all states, except Alaska
and Hawaii. Insurance certificates are furnished upon request or can be download from the web.
Based upon their knowledge of the Trucking Industry, and their desire to serve their customers, Cooke Trucking can provide
a service that will be beneficial to their customers by providing trucks to move their product when needed.
Cooke Transportation Services, LLC (CTS) was founded in 2000 as a full service Brokerage company handling freight over
the entire United States. Offering out bound and inbound loads to and from the West Coast, as well as, local loads on the
East Coast.
David Smith and the Cooke Trucking Company employees thank you for taking time to spend with the Chamber Surprise
Patrol! We are proud to say Cooke Trucking Company, Inc. is a Chamber Member!
Cooke Trucking Company, Inc.
1759 South Andy Griffith Parkway
Mount Airy, North Carolina 27030
336-786-5181
(800) 888-9502
www.cooketrucking.com