King of Freight cracks list of top freight brokerages and expands yet again
With his April announcement of more space at the Ruffin Building, King of Freight partner Mike Ricklefs said he and partner Greg Bolain likely would be leasing more within three months. That’s what’s happening now with a lease they’re signing Tuesday for the second floor of the building, which makes a total of 71,221 square feet the freight brokerage has there. They also have a combined 32,000 square feet in the High Touch and Sterling buildings downtown and expect to eventually lease more at both as well. Ricklefs says the company now has 500 employees and should have 750 to 800 by the end of the year. He says his goal is still to have 5,000 employees by 2021. For the first time, King of Freight has broken into the top 100 freight brokerages in North America, according to the online Transport Topics. The list is based on 2017 numbers. King of Freight is at No. 87, with $87 million in gross sales and $7.4 million in net sales. Ricklefs says so far this year, the company has done $165 million in gross sales and has about $8.3 million in net sales, so he expects to be in the top 40 in next year’s rankings. He wants to be No. 1, though. “I feel like we’re just getting started. We have a really long way to go.”
Wait a minute . . . didn’t I just read that King of Freight news?
King of Freight is expanding yet again. If you’re thinking, wait, didn’t we just read that the other week? Yes, you did, but that’s how fast the company is growing. “We’re hiring about 50 people . . . every three weeks,” says Mike Ricklefs, who owns the freight brokerage with partner Greg Bolain. In January, Have You Heard?reported that in addition to its combined 32,000 square feet in the High Touch and Sterling buildings downtown, the company signed a lease for 32,865 square feet of new space in the Ruffin Building at Douglas and Broadway. That’s the entire sixth floor that Viega used to occupy. “We’re out of space,” Ricklefs says. He says he’s signed a lease for two thirds of the third floor of the Ruffin Building, which is 23,000 square feet. “We’re going to be renting out another floor probably within three months,” Ricklefs says. He attributes growth to something he’s calling a freight draft. “Instead of speed dating, it’s called speed freighting,” he says. He hires 40 sales people at a time along with five to 10 support staff members. Then, during the freight draft, the new sales hires have one-minute meetings with each of the company’s 30 managers. According to how well those managers have done in sales, they get to rotate picking which new employees they want on their teams. “We even have draft music,” Ricklefs says. “We (make) it really fun.” Managers get 10 percent of the profit of everyone on their teams. Bolain says it incentivizes managers to have an interest in new hires and get them performing quickly. Ricklefs says strong new hires can be making about $10,000 a month within a few months. “We can get them there really quick,” he says. “People are making a lot of money working at King of Freight. . . . We have turned it into a very enjoyable game for everybody.” Ricklefs used to say he wanted to get to 500 employees. “Now it’s 5,000.” Bolain says most of the nation’s top brokerages have about that many people. “We’re trying to play on that level.” Ricklefs says it won’t be only King of Freight that benefits. “It’s going to be very good for Wichita.”
King of Freight has ‘biggest accomplishment’ yet with major new downtown lease
UPDATED – In August, King of Freight owner Mike Ricklefs told Have You Heard? he wants to hire 15 to 20 people every 15 days at his freight brokerage. It may be difficult to understand how the business, which Ricklefs started with a laptop in his apartment in 2008, is growing so quickly. However, if there’s any doubt, perhaps this is proof: In addition to its combined 32,000 square feet in the High Touch and Sterling buildings downtown, the company has signed a lease for 32,865 square feet of new space in the Ruffin Building at Douglas and Broadway. That’s the entire sixth floor that Viega used to occupy. “We’re looking to have that filled up within (eight to 12) months and then add another floor,” Ricklefs says. “This is our biggest accomplishment that we’ve had.” Currently, King of Freight has almost 200 employees on the third floor of the High Touch building at 110 S. Main St. and the entire Sterling Building next to it at 123 S. Market. “We’re out of space,” Ricklefs says. “We’re keeping those buildings, and we’re doubling in square footage, and we’re doubling in employees again,” he says. “We’re on a huge hiring spree.” Ricklefs credits his King of Freight partner Greg Bolain, who writes code for the company, and general manager Brandon Howarah with helping the business grow. Mostly, though, he says commission packages are what is fueling the biggest growth. He says he’s offering a supervisor status for anyone who reaches $20,000 in regular monthly sales. Supervisors get 50 percent commission on those sales, plus they can start forming teams and get 10 percent of each of the sales from the people on their teams. King of Freight has 20 managers now compared to nine in August. In 2016, Ricklefs says the company had $44 million in sales. For 2017, he says it was $60 million. Ideally, Ricklefs says he wants only one building for his employees. “We would like them all together.” His High Touch and Sterling leases aren’t up until the end of February 2020. The Ruffin lease is through March 2021. “We thought it was beautiful,” he says of the new building. He says there are more than 50 private offices on the floor. Ricklefs says he’s hiring in all areas – accounting, dispatch, customer service, support and sales. At one time, he said he’d like to have 500 employees. “Our goal is no longer 500 employees,” he says. “We want to have thousands of employees.” He says he’d like to help the Wichita economy, too. Mostly, though, Ricklefs focuses on one lofty goal. “We’re trying to basically take over the freight industry,” he says. “We feel like we can grow our business to be one of the top freight companies in the United States.”
King of Freight ‘on a massive hiring spree’
King of Freight is expanding again, and in a big way. “We’re going on a massive hiring spree,” majority owner Mike Ricklefs says. “We’re trying to map out a game plan … to where we can get 500 employees for King of Freight.” He says that would make his company one of the largest freight brokerages in the country. “It’s a really unsaturated market,” Ricklefs says. Also, he says, “There’s so much business out there because we service the entire country.” Ricklefs started the company in 2008 with a laptop in his apartment. Now, he has 105 employees, 54 of whom are sales representatives. Ricklefs wants to hire 15 to 20 people every 15 days. “Now we’re basically at the tipping point to where we can do that type of hiring.” He says his commission packages are part of what is fueling the company’s growth. Ricklefs says he’s offering a supervisor status for anyone who reaches $20,000 in regular monthly sales. Supervisors get 50 percent commission on those sales, plus they can start forming teams and get 10 percent of each of the sales from the people on their teams. King of Freight has nine managers now, and Ricklefs wants about 40. “I feel like that’s going to help me get to 500 employees,” he says. “My goal is within two years.” In 2016, Ricklefs says the company had $44 million in sales. “This year, we’ve already done that,” he says. He says sales are “equal to $45 million right now, and we still have the rest of the year to go.” In order to hire and train more staff, Ricklefs is expanding King of Freight’s space again. The company’s 20,000-square-foot headquarters is in the Sterling Building at 123 S. Market. In October, Ricklefs is adding 10,000 square feet at the High Touch building at 110 S. Main, which is where the company previously was before it moved to the Sterling Building. That gives the company a total of 30,000 square feet, and Ricklefs says he expects to add more soon. “We’re going to be needing space within four months.” Though it seems like there might be a lot of stumbling blocks for a company that’s growing so fast, Ricklefs says that’s no longer the case. “I feel like a lot of the blocks are over. We’ve seen every problem that there really is to have.” He says that includes stolen truckloads and identity theft, which is a big issue in the industry. “We’ve developed a lot of systems to block those,” Ricklefs says. He also now has a lawyer, Jason Janoski, on staff. “He’s blocked a lot of potential threats that I didn’t even know about.” Greg Bolain, who also is a partner in the company, runs technology for King of Freight. Ricklefs says that’s another key to the company’s growth. “It’s just getting easier and easier for us every year it seems like.” While his goal of covering the entire country may seem daunting, Ricklefs notes that “every single company in the United States ships.” “I look at this as like a game, and I’m trying to beat it.”
Wichita company has doubled in size every year for four years
King of Freight, a Wichita trucking brokerage, is doubling in size and employees – again. The company that started on owner Mike Ricklefs’ laptop seven years ago now has about 55 employees and 9,000 square feet in the High Touch building at William and Main downtown. Ricklefs said his business is growing rapidly. But so are other businesses in the building – technology companies SNT and High Touch – meaning somebody had to move. So King of Freight will move into the former Sterling Building next door at William and Market around March 1. It is taking about 18,500 square feet on two floors. Ricklefs said he plans to put in 100 workstations in the new space and have those filled by early 2018. “We’ve doubled every year for four years,” Ricklefs said. Freight brokerage is an old and highly competitive field, but Ricklefs said he has an edge that is driving his growth. King of Freight’s brokers are salesmen who develop personal relationships with shippers and haulers to solicit loads and match them with available truck space all over the country. It can take anywhere from a few minutes in a busy city like Houston to a few hours in rural Idaho. But the secret is the speed at making that connection, and with speed comes volume and lower prices. Ricklefs’ partner, Greg Bolain, developed the software that integrates the databases the brokers use to quickly match and vet the truckers. That allows King of Freight to be less expensive and more flexible while still observing all regulations, he said. Ricklefs met Bolain when they were teenagers working at the MCI call center in Wichita. Both achieved top salesman status. Later, Ricklefs become a logistics broker, and Bolain became an IT technician. Ricklefs, who started his own truck brokerage, reconnected with Bolain and asked him to work on the system to automate the process. “The robots do all the work,” Ricklefs said with a laugh. The plan for the future is to continue growing, he said. “We want to be the biggest freight broker in the country,” he said.
Wichita freight company ready to switch into high gear (+video)
The self-described best salesman at every peddler job he has had, Mike Ricklefs decided in 2008 that he wanted to run his own operation. Nearly a decade after its humble beginnings in its owner’s apartment, King of Freight is a growing logistics brokerage company in Wichita featuring a set of young leaders with big plans. “There’s no limit to what we could be,” Ricklefs said. “We could pretty much be one of the biggest companies Wichita has, with time.” Right now, the company – which essentially brokers deals between manufacturers and contractors who move freight to market – has 35 employees, though general manager Brady Miller said the goal is to have at least 100 employees by the end of 2016. The company recently moved its headquarters from North Rock Road to the third floor of the High Touch Technologies building downtown, 110 S. Main, and has plans to add more than 4,000 square feet to its operation. Ricklefs said the operation will expand to nearly 9,200 square feet once the office space renovation is complete later this year. “The freight industry services the entire country,” Ricklefs said. “If you look outside, everything from the signs to the cement on the ground was shipped here. The computer in my office was shipped here, and nobody is going to replace a semi truck driver with a robot. “What’s cool about this industry is that it’s still going to be here when we die, it’s not going anywhere.” Don’t get Ricklefs wrong. He and his two top lieutenants – Miller and company partner and IT specialist Greg Bolain – don’t figure to kick the bucket anytime soon. The three range in age from 28 to 32; Ricklefs and Miller are former roommates during their time at the University of Kansas, and Ricklefs and Bolain met as teenagers working at a call center. “Me and Greg were both 16 years old, and we were the top sales reps at MCI in Wichita,” Ricklefs said. “We used to work four hours per night there after school, and we were making a ton of money. “When I came up with the idea for King of Freight, I got in touch with Greg and he ended up learning how to program computer code from YouTube videos. Greg is a genius, and he does all of our custom software.” With all three being from the area, the members of King of Freight’s brain trust agree that it’s important to grow in their home city. Miller said the company strives to do as much business as it can in the Wichita area, even though it also has accounts with major national shippers, such as Georgia-Pacific. “It’s a three-headed attack,” Miller said. “Mike is at the top; he has Greg running IT and me helping him run sales. We’re three young guys who are willing to do whatever it takes to keep this thing moving, to provide jobs for Wichita, and to be the best we can at everything freight-related, from small shipments to really big shipments. “We’ll work with the guy who ships once or twice per month – if you’re a small Wichita company, we welcome you.” Ricklefs said he “knew nothing about freight” until working for a logistics company, where he said he studied every aspect of the business. The secret, he said, is to provide enough financial incentive for his salespeople to keep them motivated to continuously bring in clients. “Our biggest selling point to employees is that we offer the dream to them,” Ricklefs said. “We put our people on 50 percent commission – if they ship a load for $1,000, they get $500. That’s the highest commission in our industry. “There’s no cap on what you can earn here. We have people who have worked here for six months and they’re already making the equivalent of $100,000 per year.” After experiencing the ups and downs of starting a company from scratch, Ricklefs said he thinks King of Freight is at the “tipping point” of a major growth spurt. The ultimate goal, he said, is to become the biggest freight brokerage company in the U.S. Can King of Freight get there? “Yes, it can,” Ricklefs said. “We have time. “We’re in it to win it – we want that No. 1 spot.”
King of Freight almost doubles space at High Touch building
A year after moving to 5,000 square feet at the High Touch building downtown, King of Freight is expanding again, this time within the building. “We’re getting ready to hire about 20 to 30 new people next year,” says Mike Ricklefs, who started the business eight years ago from his apartment. “We have more than doubled in size the last four years in a row, profit and gross sales and employees.” The freight brokerage company currently has 40 employees and is grossing about $35 million a year, Ricklefs says. King of Freight is something of a middleman between businesses – including such as customers Georgia-Pacific and ABC Supply – and trucking companies. “We’re landing big corporations to ship through us,” Ricklefs says. “When we land big corporations, that comes with a lot of different branches,” he says. “We pretty much go in, and we attack all their branches and get them to start shipping with us.” Though he’s adding new customers, too, Ricklefs says, “We’ve grown a lot more through our current accounts.” He says he’s now expanding for a total of 9,160 square feet in the High Touch building at 110 S. Main. Cristi Howell and Kristin Stang of J.P. Weigand & Sons handled the deal for the new space. Ricklefs credits others, such as business partner Greg Bolain, for helping King of Freight grow. “He’s created us … a million-dollar website,” Ricklefs says of Bloain’s work on www.kingoffreight.com. “We have a lot of functionality as far as IT goes.” He also credits managers Brady Miller and Brandon Howarah. “The two managers have helped me build a very, very strong sales force,” Ricklefs says. Whitney Cochran is in charge of the billing department, which Ricklefs calls a “major asset.” He says the company is on track to make half a million dollars a month in profit by next year. “That’s what we’re estimated to do next year with the growth that we’ve been doing.” Ricklefs says he expects more growth after that, though he says he still marvels how far he’s come from his humble start with one laptop at home. “I still feel like I’ve (come) a long way.” Ricklefs says the company’s move into the new space will happen will happen between Dec. 1 and Jan. 1. “We plan to have that place filled up in 2016.”
King of Freight to expand to High Touch Technologies building and add employees
Five years ago, King of Freight was a new business that consisted of Mike Ricklefs and a laptop in his apartment. Today, the fast-growing freight brokerage has 38 employees in Wichita, Kansas City and Houston, and it’s about to seriously expand its headquarters here. “We ended up landing some pretty big accounts,” Ricklefs says of customers such as Georgia-Pacific and ABC Supply. “We’re pretty much the middle man between the business and the trucking company.” King of Freight needs space for more employees to service accounts. “We’re scrambling to hire people and give them jobs,” Ricklefs says. Next month, the company will move from 2,000 square feet at 1835 N. Rock Road to about 5,000 square feet at the High Touch Technologies building downtown at 110 S. Main St. Ricklefs says he has an option for 5,000 square feet more, which he thinks he’ll take within three months after hiring about 15 new sales people. “We have the option to grow while we’re there,” he says. “That’s what it’s all about.” Cristi Howell and Kristin Stang of J.P. Weigand & Sons handled the deal. Ricklefs says the company is in Houston because a number of its customers are there, but he says he wants Wichita to be the King of Freight headquarters because he’s from here and wants to hire people from here. “We service the whole entire country,” Ricklefs says. He says his customers are “giving us so much freight right now.” “We can’t really service all the business that we have.” That’s a problem, he says, but “it’s like a good thing.” “We can’t wait to grow.”