STICKNEY When Ben Spaans was just 15 years old, he took his first solo load of hogs to Corsica in a 1968 Peterbilt cabover. Little did he know that would begin a career in trucking that has spanned 48 years and is still going.
Officially, Spaans began his trucking career in 1977, working four years for George Pfeiffer Trucking in Spencer, Neb., hauling grain to Minneapolis and oats and barley to Texas. In 1981, Ben purchased his first truck, and he was hauling grain and feed, running routes from North Dakota to Texas. He also transported cotton cake to the sandhills of Nebraska and loaded watermelons in Texas for delivery to North Dakota nd Minnesota during the summer. He unloaded many trailer loads of melons the old-fashioned way – one at a time.
Ben and his wife, Sheryl, were married in 1982. In 1983, with their first child on the way, Ben set out on what was meant to be his final run before staying home, but the baby arrived a week early. Like any wife would, Sheryl contacted the Oklahoma State Patrol, asking them to find her husband and send him home. The officers tracked him down, and though Ben was a little worried about being stopped, he quickly got the message and made it home just in time for the birth of their first child. Fortunately, no one checked his logs!
In 1991, Ben and Sheryl purchased Spaans Brothers Trucking from Bens uncle, who co-owned the business with Bens father, Henry, who had passed away. Ben renamed the business Spaans Trucking, Inc., beginning with four trucks and a variety of trailers, hauling livestock, grain, fuel, feed, and fertilizer.
Though the fleet grew on the strength of Peterbilts, Bens first truck was a Kenworth. Eventually, the fleet was expanded to twelve Peterbilts, running routes from North Dakota to Texas. The Spaans added a maintenance shop for their fleet. Before cell phones, Sheryl handled dispatching while also managing licensing, bookkeeping, and office operations. Meanwhile, Ben drove full-time, logging over five million miles on the road, without a single major accident!
Hes still adding more mile markers to his tabulation.
The Spaans consider themselves fortunate to have incredible drivers with outstanding safety records over the years. Some drivers stayed with the company for more than 25 years, allowing the Spaans to watch their families grow.
The Spaans thanked their drivers for their years of success, We shared countless great times with some of the best drivers anyone could hope for. We are deeply grateful to each of them for their unwavering commitment to safety and their dedication to Spaans Trucking. We firmly believe a company is only as good as its employees, and our employees made it a great one.
The Spaans stated that their children often had to take care of things and help with trucks, learning the value of hard work through the challenges of helping, carrying those lessons forward into successful lives of their own.
Ben and Sheryl state that they are humbled by the honor of being named the lifetime achievement award winners for 2025 Wheel Jam.
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