Central Minnesota native James Trantina has built quite a towing empire in the Upper Midwest. From Des Moines to Duluth, he has turned a single-truck operation into a network of 18 companies in more than 30 locations across Minnesota, Iowa and the Dakotas.

On his own since 2012, the 38-year-old has averaged better than one new acquisition for each year in business. Despite that staggering growth rate, James admits he never planned on expanding as fast as he did, but he also didn’t want to turn down a new venture when the opportunity presented itself.

“We’ve been servicing Collins Brothers for about a dozen years now and have been growing with James along the way,” Brian noted. “We sold him his first few used trucks to get started, and I’d have to guess by now, there have been a couple hundred new trucks since. Everything is state-of-the-art. He spares no expense with his heavies.”

Come along for the ride as we take a closer look at Trantina’s operation in our latest installment of the Zip’s Customer Spotlight series.

Part-time mechanic to fleet owner

James began working for Collins Brothers part-time in high school. He said he initially wanted to pursue a career as a state trooper, but working around tow trucks after school and on the weekends changed his mind. He now partners with more than 70 law enforcement agencies to clear roads throughout the Midwest, including 170 miles of Minnesota freeways.

“We specialize in a lot of semi accidents and rollovers,” he said. “We currently have 16 rotators across our fleet and also offer specialty hauling with heavy equipment. We're really diversified across the board from transport to towing to special recoveries. I do this because I really enjoy helping everybody.”

After graduation, James moved up to location manager for Collins Brothers at St. Cloud and, soon after, had the chance to buy that location from owner and founder Phil Collins, who continues to operate the “original” Collins Brothers Towing company in Elk River, Minn., about 45 minutes southeast of St. Cloud.

James was only 26 years old at the time of the purchase, and admittedly, he said there was some initial trepidation. “My biggest fear was not knowing what was really going to happen, never owning a business before,” he said.

Trantina decided to keep the Collins name in St. Cloud for brand recognition. It’s a practice he continues today, as you won’t find his name on the door anywhere. Instead, he chooses to honor the legacy and identity of each company he buys from such families as Bertas, Marks and Schmidt. The list goes on.

“Even though we are a large company, we prefer to keep it more local, so we keep the names everywhere we go,” James explained. “We like to keep that local atmosphere, and our managers on site help keep it that way. We want that company to stay a small business in that community.”

Swimming upstream

James said knew his age would create some hurdles when he first started out. Two long-established towing companies were already operating in the area, and most of the repair shops were accustomed to calling them. He said it was “really hard” convincing them to use his services. Many didn’t give him a chance to make it long term. He had to swim upstream.

James credits his wife, his family and his dedicated team for their support and for the company’s growth and success. He believes in putting their best foot forward and insists on promoting a professional image to the motoring public. He achieves that look through polo shirts for all employees and well-maintained, late-model equipment for the operators.

“We try to have nice trucks and clean equipment,” James said. “That's one thing I've learned just growing up in the trucking and towing industry. Your truck is a moving billboard. If you have a nice, clean truck, people will see that and it sticks out more. We differentiate ourselves by looking the way we do.”

Customer satisfaction is the mission

Equally important to that optic is their reputation for reliable service and operator expertise. Several employees within Trantina’s family of companies have more than 20 years experience in the industry, and they all take their roles seriously. According to James, customer satisfaction starts with prompt and courteous service.

“Our company's mission is customer satisfaction,” he said. “Our motto is 18 companies but one mission and that's customer satisfaction. So whatever we need to do to make sure that our customer is always satisfied, that's our goal.”

Trantina said that commitment starts with providing solid estimated times of arrival for service.

“Customers like that,” he explained. “When we were smaller, we differentiated ourselves from our competition with our solid ETAs. We still pride ourselves on that today. Even though we’re the size we are, our customers are important to us, and we take care of them all just the same.”

Throughout the company’s history, taking care of customers was always a team effort. If regular operators were busy on calls, office personnel with towing experience, including dispatchers and even James himself, would jump in a truck to respond to other calls to prevent long wait times for the customer and to maintain a consistent level of service.

“I feel we have the best crew there is,” James said. “They’ll do anything for the company. If I called any of them and asked for help, they’d be here. We have a lot of experience behind us, and in terms of recruitment, the bigger we get, the easier it’s been. Bringing in new employees and helping them grow with us is something we take pride in. We both win in the end.”

Dedicated training facility

Among those who’ve grown with the company is fleet manager Chase Mines. He started out as a mechanic five years ago and was promoted to his current role three years ago. He said he still turns wrenches but now spends most of his day on the phone, managing repairs, equipment breakdowns and other challenges that come with a fleet of that size.

“There are a lot of moving parts that go on around here that a lot of people don’t realize,” Chase said. “The most rewarding aspect of working here is the freedom you get. You have a lot of good people working here, and James has your back when you need it. He’s going to make you work for it, but he rewards you in the end.”

To help retain good employees, Trantina said he tends to compensate for their work with above-average pay. He also believes in proper training on equipment before sending them out on their own in the field. He said this work up front helps eliminate their mistakes, improves safety and builds their confidence at the controls of high-end, technical equipment.

To that end, Collins Brothers has built a three-acre training facility with plenty of room to simulate real-life scenarios for their operators. Complete with a cement mixer and tanker trailer, the proving ground includes cable barriers, telephone poles, steel guardrails, ditches and other obstacles new employees might see on the side of the road.

“This allows our drivers to get comfortable with the equipment and not train on the fly alongside the road, which can be dangerous for them,” James said. “They can take their time and can go back and fix their mistakes. It’s a one-of-a-kind training facility that all of our drivers can use.”

Humbled by growth

Trantina said he takes pride in his employees and wants them to take ownership in their role within the company. That’s why he pays well, trains well and promotes from within. He knows he couldn’t have grown to the size he has without a great team around him. Leading by example, he said he also likes to feel he has made a difference in the perception of the towing industry.

“Seeing how the industry has changed from when we first started to where we are now has been a complete 180,” James said. “It used to be a lot of smaller operations–mom and pops–where you’d see a lot of older trucks run up and down the road and a lot of guys that would show up in shorts or dirty, greasy uniforms. Nowadays, the industry is really professional, and guys are stepping up their game.”

Trantina admits it’s been a “wild ride” to reach the point he has with his towing conglomerate. When he first started out, he thought he’d be satisfied with 15 trucks. He’s now reached that goal 30 fold. He said it’s been “a crazy experience” and he’s “humbled” by his company’s amazing growth.

“What motivates me to continue to grow is just seeing how well we do and how well our customers react to it,” he said. “I like taking care of the customers, and we've added a couple locations just because of customers' needs. Our guys and gals are behind me, and they support me with everything that I do.”