DRIVEN VOL. 10 | Fall 2025
My father, Alden Nussbaum, grew up on a farm near Fairbury, Illinois. He entered military service at 18 and started driving trucks when he came home. In 1945, a man with a one-truck trucking company approached Alden about buying him out, and after obtaining a $2,500 loan from his aunt, my father did just that. Nussbaum Trucking was born. Alden started out moving LTL shipments in his single 16-foot box truck between Fairbury and Bloomington. Back then, you had to obtain authority from the Interstate Commerce Commission to move freight in a particular area (he eventually obtained authority to Peoria as well). Nussbaum Trucking opened its first terminal in Fairbury in 1950. In 1965, we built a larger facility in Normal, Illinois, strategically near Route 66, Route 51, and Interstate 74.
Alden married my mother, Tillie, in 1946. They became Christians early in their marriage, so reading the Bible and attending church regularly was very important in our family. They had seven kids in total, five girls and two boys. As a kid, I remember hopping in with dad to go deliver a load. Most of those trucks didn’t have passenger seats, so I used an upside-down bucket (there were very few safety regulations back then!).
I started working for dad around age ten, as soon as I was big enough to push a broom. Cleaning bathrooms, sweeping floors, washing windows—whatever a young boy could handle. Eventually, I graduated to fueling trucks, checking oil levels, and parking equipment. Driving a big rig at 13 is pretty big stuff, and I loved being around the big equipment.
DISRUPTIONS & DETOURS
In high school, a co-op program allowed me to attend school part-time and work for the company in the afternoon. I started driving a truck full-time after graduation, but an annual physical revealed some irregularities that resulted in my license getting suspended. So, dad put me in customer service, and eventually I became a dispatcher. Looking back, I believe God used this inconvenient bump in the road to show me the larger picture of how a trucking company operates. After my license was reinstated, I kept my day job dispatching and started doing night runs up to Joliet to pick up loads out of Chicago.
Terminal in Normal, IL, 1975
Nussbaum Trucking grew steadily through the 1970s; two-thirds of the revenue came from LTL, while the other third came from our regional truckload operation. In 1978, my father suffered a heart attack and passed away the following year from congestive heart failure. He was 58 years old. Left with seven children and a growing company to run, my mother promoted the General Manager to take over as President and oversaw the business from afar.
My father’s passing was a wake-up call. I knew I needed to change how I was living, and shortly after, I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. A few years later, I married my wife, Cheryl, and we began building our family on a foundation of faith.
Though I was now a Supervisor in Operations, I felt frustrated and discontented. The Teamsters Union represented our workforce, an arrangement that (I felt) allowed people to take advantage of us and reward employees who weren’t motivated to work. So, in 1988, I left Nussbaum for the first time and launched a small business. It failed miserably—I didn’t have a good business plan, nor did I understand my target market. I was back at Nussbaum in less than a year, back to an environment that still felt unsettling.
Another year came and went. One night, God impressed on my heart that if I were ever going to do something besides my current job, I needed an education. I still remember exactly where I was when this revelation came. So, at age 34, I left Nussbaum once again to pursue a degree in international business and management from ISU. Every class was like starting a new job, and I absolutely loved it. I went on to earn a master’s degree in international business from the Thunderbird School of International Management in Glendale, Arizona, graduating at age 40.
STARTING A NEW CAREER
“Okay, Lord. I don’t have clarity or direction. What’s next?” Fresh out of school, my wife and I prayed about where to go. My heart longed for the mission field, but I quickly realized our growing family and fundraising challenges would close that door. God eventually led us to Indianapolis, where the only open door was at a company that sold large-format digital color inkjet printers. I took a job as VP of Marketing, and as it turned out, this job introduced me to large-format graphics—the kind that go on trailers.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, the company was unethical, and within a year, we started praying about my career again. Cheryl encouraged me to consider the family business, but I was firmly opposed. I searched for other positions, but found nothing. Doors closed and locked. Reluctantly, I agreed to pray about it, never imagining what God was about to do.
I still remember that Monday morning, praying at my desk and asking God for direction. As I finished and opened my eyes, a Nussbaum truck drove right past my window. I had never seen our trucks in that area of Indianapolis, and I knew exactly what God was telling me. As cool as it was, my heart sank. Really, God? Back to the trucking company? Jonah gets a bad rap for running away, but let me tell you—I can empathize with him.
The next (humbling) step was calling my mother to ask for a job. Elated that I was interested, she hired me to do special projects and sales work out of Indy. Cheryl and I moved back to Bloomington in 1997, and I became VP of Sales for the truckload division. During my years away, Nussbaum had actually become two companies—a newer, non-union dedicated operation that was growing and profitable, and the older unionized operation that was barely breaking even.
In 1999, the General Manager left Nussbaum, and I was elected to take his place. On the way out, he asked to buy the newer dedicated company from us, which seemed like a crazy proposition. But after praying about it, I sensed God telling me to let it go and trust Him with the company that was left. So, we sold our best and most profitable asset, leaving me with a struggling, unionized trucking outfit with little net worth or profits.
TURNING NUSSBAUM AROUND
Did I mention I had never run a company before? Without the slightest clue how to fix things, we prayerfully dove in.
At this point, we were one-third truckload and two-thirds LTL, but the retail market was changing. Big box stores were overtaking mom and pop shops, shifting demand towards truckload quantities. Niche LTL carriers phased out as regional and national LTL carriers grew. Ultimately, we tried to sell our LTL division and focus exclusively on truckload, but the economic uncertainty following the 9/11 terrorist attacks prompted our buyer to back out. A month later, we made the difficult decision to close our LTL operation, selling the LTL terminal and laying off two-thirds of our employees. I was sick. The remaining employees struggled to trust us or even believe that Nussbaum was a viable entity. We spent a lot of time building back trust.
The parallel drama of those years centered around the Teamsters Union. By 2002, we had a growing $1 million of unfunded pension liability. Nussbaum had long struggled under the weight of union benefit costs, and even once asked the Union to move our employees to a 401(k) to help us survive (they refused to let the employees vote on it). We couldn’t grow the company without increasing our pension liability, and our legal counsel advised that the only way out was for the employees to voluntarily leave the Union. Eventually, we started a separate, non-union trucking company focused on dedicated services (Nussbaum Transportation) and allowed the Union company (Nussbaum Trucking) to shrink as drivers left.
It’s interesting to look back and see how God brought people into our path. Duff Swain was one of them—a brilliant consultant who helped us restructure the business into a truckload operation. He had reached out several times, and one day I felt moved to call him back, never imagining the long-term relationship to follow. People like Duff helped us overcome those challenging years. I’m somewhat amazed that we’re here today, except by God’s grace!
LOVING MONDAY
By now, you might be wondering if missions work would’ve been the easier route. I probably did too. But God soon taught me another valuable lesson that changed my perspective, and Nussbaum’s trajectory.
Driver Jerry Pruitt entered my office one day as I was preparing to leave on a business trip. Handing me the book “Loving Monday” by John Beckett, he explained that God prompted him to give me a copy. He felt the author’s life held many parallels with mine, and I soon discovered why. John’s story included a father who died unexpectedly and left a company, business challenges and questioning whether to continue, and even a desire for missions. These experiences taught John that business and missions are not mutually exclusive, and God wanted to use his company for kingdom work. Finishing the book on my flight home, I experienced a similar revelation. God was calling me to make Nussbaum a ministry.
We began by switching to monthly giving instead of waiting to see what was left at year-end. We didn’t have much to give away, but we took a leap of faith and trusted that God would provide the increase. I began inviting God into all my meetings, conversations, and business decisions. I surrendered what I thought was mine and committed it to Him. He owns it all—we’re just stewards for a season. We changed our mission, vision, and values, and added a statement of faith to our website. And as you know, we began using trailer graphics to share our faith and point people to God.
FORWARD, BACK, FORWARD
In early 2008, one of the Nussbaum Trucking drivers came to my office. “I don’t want to be in the union anymore,” he announced. “There’s no benefits in it for us. Help me get out.”
That driver recruited other drivers and gathered enough signatures to petition the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a decertification vote. By a 70% margin, the Nussbaum Trucking drivers finally voted to leave the Teamsters Union. Free at last! (Almost). The move triggered our unfunded pension liabilities, which had grown from $1 million in 2001 to $6.6 million by the end of 2008. We managed to negotiate it down to $4 million and eventually got it paid off. In early 2009, we merged Nussbaum Trucking and Nussbaum Transportation into one company with dedicated and irregular route truckload services.
Right after we left the union, the economy (and freight volumes) went off a cliff. It felt like a complete freefall; we were bleeding heavily and needed freight revenues, and fast! In July of 2009, Case New Holland awarded us $5 million of business, catapulting us into recovery. That alone kept us solvent through the year, and we continued growing the account, trusting God to provide. Today, CNH remains one of our top ten customers.
THE HAUL OF FAITH
Remember that unethical company in Indianapolis that sold inkjet printers? God placed me there for a reason. As I continued reflecting on the book “Loving Monday,” I was asking the Lord, “How do you want us to honor you? How can we honor you on the road?” And that’s when the thought hit me—what if we add graphics to the sides of our trailers? And do some sort of campaign that honors God and families? I truly believed that God loves families and would want us to promote them.
Thus, “Celebrating Faith & Family Since 1945” was born. Eventually, we created six different scenes of families sharing time together. Next was “Forgiveness Brings Freedom,” followed by “Love, Above All” amidst the COVID tensions of 2020. Our next series was the most bold—three Psalms trailers showcasing beautiful scenery and God’s promises to a hurting nation. Finally, we launched “There is Hope in Troubled Times” in 2024, which is probably one of my favorites.
And here we are today, a fleet with hundreds of trucks carrying these messages of hope to the highways. Only God could orchestrate and inspire something like that.
NEW HEADQUARTERS, NEW OWNERS
In 2012, we broke ground on the new terminal along Interstate 39— another God story. The agreements to sell our old property and purchase the new literally came within one hour. While speaking with a buyer for the twelve acres we owned along Main Street, I missed another call— as it turned out, from the owner of our current property. When I called back, he said— and this was out of the blue— “You know, if you guys are interested in paying X dollars for our land, I’ll sell it to you.” It was the exact same price for 20 acres that I had just sold twelve acres for. God’s perfect provision.
Fast-forward to 2017, and I was praying about Nussbaum’s future and eventual succession plan. Selling to another carrier was out of the question—I’ve watched too many companies do that and later regret it. But what else could we do? God provided once again, this time at an industry conference where I heard my first presentation about employee ownership. Bill Prevost, the former CEO of Quickway Transportation, shared about his company’s transition to an ESOP. We met afterward and became friends, leading to more conversations about how ESOPs work.
In 2018, we sold 35% of our business to Nussbaum employees, marking a new era as an employee-owned company. This decision has energized our workforce and driven some of the best financial performance in our 80-year history. Long-term, I believe it will preserve our culture and integrity.
THE NUSSBAUM DIFFERENCE
My father’s favorite expression was, “If you take care of your people, the rest will take care of itself.” He also told me, “You don’t have to know everything to run a company—just how to hire good people.” Those two principles have come to define us.
First, we hire for character. Applicants don’t need a college degree, but they must possess a strong character. God has blessed us with some incredible people over the years, and we are successful because of them.
Second, we focus on building up our people. If you work at Nussbaum, we want you to grow and become the best version of yourself. We train our managers to develop and nurture potential in their employees. Programs like Certified RED, Lead RED, Grow RED, Food Days, and transparent financials are all about one thing: caring for our people. God cares about people, and the only way to grow as a company is by investing in one another.
Since 2001, we’ve grown from ~100 to nearly 800 employees. Since 2012, we’ve added new office buildings and a second maintenance facility to accommodate our fleet. Our many awards and industry accolades reflect the purpose-driven individuals who make up this company.
REFLECTIONS
There have been so many moments when God showed up or sent individuals to speak for Him at just the right time. It has taught me to trust Him in everything— to see how He can provide and guide us through those difficult times, rather than focusing on outward circumstances.
Making a name for ourselves in the industry was never the goal. God made that happen all on His own. We are just here to honor Him. I want to be remembered as a person of honesty and high integrity, who cared more about people than the bottom line. I want to be someone who can live my life and at the end of it say, “Lord, I honored You. I took care of what You entrusted to me, and in the meantime, You blessed me.”
