About Us

About Adams Transit, Inc.

Since 1973 Adams Transit has provided interstate transportation services and intrastate warehouse trucking. We have a long history of high performance and timely service to our customers.

The Early Years

Adams Transit, Inc. was founded in 1973 in response to the shipping needs of our parent warehousing company Cupery & De Young Storage Corporation whose customers were in need of interstate transportation services which required the formation of Adams Transit to handle the increased volume and lanes of traffic to serve this additional business.

Adams Transit operated as an interstate only carrier while Cupery & De Young handled the intrastate portion of our warehouse trucking business throughout the Seventies. Due to increased growth in our customer base outside of our warehousing operations and the deregulation of the trucking industry in 1980, Adams Transit became both an intrastate and interstate carrier and performed all the trucking services that had previously been performed by the two companies.

1964 90" BBC Short Tractor Truck

The selection of leading edge operating equipment was a key component of our success in the early years. We perfected palletized unboxed canned foodstuff transportation on flatbed trailers. We utilized 44 foot long coupled with 90" short cab tractors which allowed us to haul an additional 12% of freight versus our competition.

Groundbreaking Innovation

Perhaps one of our most unique designs was the use of a 48 foot long trailer operating within the Federal government's 55 foot length limit. Wisconsin also had a length limit on the length of the trailer which was measured from the rearmost section of the tractor unit's frame to the rear of the trailer.

Our solution was to create a tractor trailer combination that consisted of a Cab Over Engine (COE) tractor with a maximum cab length of 63", short Detroit Diesel V8 or V6 engine, tandem rear axles, and an extended rear frame utilizing a 146" wheelbase.

Peterbilt Semi COE with 48 foot Van from Adams Transit

Peterbuilt COE with 48 foot Van

The trailer was 13' 6" high with a 110" door opening to accommodate the tall product hauled and the king pin was mounted 72" from the front of the trailer to tuck the tractor as far as possible under the trailer to get as short as possible.

This close coupling required long air and electrical lines since the trailer nose would actually swing out at least a foot farther than the tractor when making turns. Other than that the units operated normally.

Peterbilt Semi COE with 58 foot Van from Adams Transit

Peterbuilt COE with 58 foot Van

Since this combination permitted an additional 25% hauling capacity for empty tin cans versus our competitors, it was a major threat to their operations. Our equipment was measured many times by the Wisconsin State Patrol and much to consternation of our competition were found to be perfectly legal under existing regulations. In the early eighties this concept was taken to the extreme by using the same short tractor pulling a 58 foot trailer while keeping under the 65 foot length limit imposed at that time.

Recent Years

Entering the mid eighties Adams Transit was among the first carriers to utilize thin wall trailers to allow even more cubic capacity for our customers. What is now an industry standard has been a benefit our customers have enjoyed for over 30 years.

Our fleet started with one single axle E 22 Reo and one 32 foot Monon trailer and eventually grew to over 60 tractors and 110 trailers of various types and configurations in the late eighties. The fleet of Adams Transit today is considerably smaller than that operating at our peak. A change to private cartage by one of our core customers and the reduction in quantity of local manufacturing dictated we reduce fleet size and concentrate on our strengths.

Over the 50+ years that Adams Transit has been in service to our customers, the commitment to quality and timely service has remained the same. While others may promise service first and worry about performance later our philosophy has always been to have our performance be our promise to our customers.

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Our Team

James De Young

President

Growing up in the transportation industry, Jim has learned many aspects required to run a successful trucking company. It has always been his philosophy to operate Adams Transit as a service oriented carrier that consistently sets the standard in service to our customers in addition to allowing our employees the opportunity to excel and share in our continued success.

Bob Sanborn

Operations Manager

With 17+ years in the transportation industry, Bob handles the full spectrum of trucking issues. He works with the management team to make best use of our fleet, quotes pricing to our customers and schedules the loads for our drivers, striving daily for Service Excellence.

Tiffany Teson

Client Services

Tiffany has over 22 years in transportation, and she uses her vast experience to find the best loads for our company drivers and owner/operators.

Kendra Maas

Office Manager

As the office manager, Kendra is responsible for the smooth operation of the day-to-day business of the company. She strives to make it possible for other people to function efficiently, while working closely with the management team to meet the company’s staffing, equipment, and organizational needs.

Holly De Young

Human Resources

As the primary Human Resources contact, Holly works with the rest of the management team to find the best employees for Adams Transit / Cupery & DeYoung Storage, in order to maintain the organizational goal of Service Excellence. A good fit for the employee and the employer is a win-win situation. If you are interested in joining our team, click on the Careers link for more information.