Growing the Logistics Division

With humble beginnings, two men and a small office rental space in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, led to a new business entity for us. Dennis Akers and Kirk Benidixsen worked with Scott Stutsman and John Mast over the years and had developed a great relationship when it came to trucking. The relationship made it easy to have a conversation with Scott Stutsman about starting a freight brokerage company. Dennis and Kirk were so committed and confident in the business proposition that they had already left their employer. With Dennis’ customer base and Kirk’s relationship with carriers, it was an easy decision to add Stutsman Logistics (SLI) to the service offering.

Dennis had multiple customers in the hay business and supplied many racehorse tracks with products. Kirk had countless relationships with carriers. They were quite a dynamic duo and coupled with the financial strength of Stutsmans, they were able to quickly build a very viable business.

Fresh in his career at Stutsmans, Scott Szymanek (now President and CFO) was challenged with the task of leading the new division.

We rented a small office suite, in not necessarily the greatest building, on the southwest side of Cedar Rapids. With seed money in hand, the first load was completed on November 1, 2012. Since then, Stutsman Logistics has never looked back.

Now we have over 30 people employed with Stutsman Logistics not only in Cedar Rapids, but across the country. Having quickly outgrown the rented space, the entire office building was purchased in 2021 with major renovations completed in the summer of 2022. Since its inception, service offerings have expanded as well. Beyond traditional truckload freight, Stutsman Logistics now offers expedited, specialized and dedicated services.

“SLI will see continued growth and become a very relevant player in its niche in the asset-light freight transportation industry. The management is in place to get us there.” added Scott Szymanek.