Brakebush Transportation: Family, fleet, and award-winning strategies

Key takeaways:

Brakebush Transportation fosters a family-like environment, achieving a driver retention rate over 90% by hiring with the intent of long-term employment.
With a 98% on-time delivery rate, the private fleet plays a crucial role in ensuring customer satisfaction, making up 55% to 60% of the company’s outbound and inbound volume.
The company prioritizes safety through driver involvement and wellness services, contributing to a low annual turnover rate and a supportive culture among drivers.

You commonly hear fleet leaders say they treat their employees like family. But at Brakebush Transportation, moving chicken has been a family business for a century.

As the private fleet for chicken processor Brakebush, the transportation operation stands out for its innovative strategy that led it to grow into a sophisticated network supporting a complex poultry production system. Brakebush Transportation is the midsize 2025 FleetOwner Private Fleet of the Year, sponsored by Descartes. The award was presented during a ceremony at the National Private Truck Council’s 2025 conference in Orlando, Florida.

As a longtime supporter of Wreaths Across America, Brakebush Transportation hauled three truckloads of wreaths to veteran cemeteries across the U.S. in 2024.

Brakebush Transportation facts and figures

Beginning with one truck in 1925, the Brakebush brothers began hauling livestock and poultry to markets in Madison and Milwaukee. As business grew, it began to buy and sell eggs before turning to poultry dressing and freezing as a service for its customers. That one-room egg candling business blossomed into poultry processing. A century later, the company operates five production facilities in the Midwest and South.

Parent company: Brakebush

Private fleet size: 100+

Private fleet drivers: 97

Headquarters: Westfield, Wisconsin

Community outreach: Wreaths Across America annually; in 2024, three Brakebush trailers delivered wreaths to different cemeteries, plus the fleet wrapped two Brakebush trailers with a custom WAA design honoring a local fallen Marine. Local Touch a Truck events; reefer trailer loan donation to local events/festivals. Donated a trailer to the Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association to store supplies for the local Truck Driving Championship. Special Olympics Convoy participation. Monetary and chicken donations associated with various state organizations.

Website: BrakebushTransportation.com

On-time delivery rate: 98%

Driver retention: 94%

DOT accident rate: 0.33 per million miles

"We operate in a just-in-time environment," Mike Schwersenska, Brakebush VP of transportation, told FleetOwner. "Our drivers are moving chicken from suppliers to cutting facilities, then to fully cooked facilities, sometimes touching the product three times before it reaches a customer."

The primarily refrigerated fleet operates in the Lower 48 states, with most long-haul drivers traveling an average 2,200 miles per week. They are supported by 10 local drivers that move products from manufacturing plants to cold storage.

Creating customer satisfaction

Thanks to a 98% on-time-delivery rate, customer satisfaction is a significant reason why Brakebush uses its private fleet for about 55% to 60% of its outbound and inbound volume, Schwersenska explained. While Brakebush doesn’t have farms, it handles the processing of live birds into finished food products.

“Transportation touches a lot of our supply; that’s why it’s critical for us to make sure we’re on top of everything,” he said. Because if one truck is delayed, it can have ripple effects through the Brakebush supply chain.

Brakebush’s nearly 100 company drivers, who are on the customer-service front lines, are a vital link in that supply chain. “They’re not just drivers; they are brand ambassadors,” Schwersenska said. “They’re the faces our customers see.”

Those customers see the same drivers for years, according to Norlene Gray, Brakebush’s HR and safety manager. The fleet boasts a retention rate of more than 90%. “When we hire drivers, we tell them we’re hiring them to retire them,” she said. “We want the cream of the crop. We want them to stay with us.”

The driver-centric culture, which includes innovative referral bonuses and comprehensive wellness support, is a cornerstone of Brakebush’s success and a key reason it has such an excellent DOT safety record.

Chris Armstrong, Brakebush’s fleet manager, said that communication is as important as on-time delivery. “You can find a truck anywhere to haul anything, but can you find somebody who’s going to be able to communicate, be reliable, and provide the level of service our customers need?” he noted.

One of the ways the fleet finds and retains good drivers is through an innovative 1-cent-per-mile referral bonus to company drivers. For every mile the referred driver logs in the first year, the referring driver gets a penny.

“Your drivers are ultimately your best reference,” Schwersenska said. “I wanted to invest our recruiting dollars back into the current drivers working for us.”

The recent implementation gives the recommending driver an invested interest in the new driver’s success. “It’s not just about recommending people; it’s about recommending the right people that fit our culture. And it helps encourage them to act as a kind of mentor to that new driver,” Schwersenska explained.

Drivers can also access Brakebush’s wellness center, which offers medical services, counseling, physical therapy, and legal services. Gray credited the company’s Driver Advisory Council for helping executives shape policies and benefits that have helped the fleet keep its turnover rate below 10% annually. This year’s 6% turnover rate included two retirements.

Wisconsin-based Brakebush Transportation shows off its Green Bay Packers connection at Lambeau Field.

Making safety a priority

With a company-wide focus on safety, Gray said they involve the driver council to get frontline buy-in for technology and safety initiatives that help drivers want to stick with Brakebush. She said the fleet conducts monthly driver safety scorecards tied to safety bonuses.

Armstrong said the fleet’s safety focus is its top priority—from intense maintenance programs, regular equipment refreshes, and a strict adherence to educating drivers on how to comply with regulations. “We have a culture where we expect you to run legal,” he explained. If a driver runs out of service hours, Brakebush will send another truck to take over the load, for example.

“We put our money where our mouth is,” Armstrong said. “We’re willing to go to these lengths to make sure you’re not violating hours of service; we expect you to do the same. We expect the same out of our maintenance team. We don’t cut corners. And we’ve had drivers tell us repeatedly that this is the best equipment they have ever driven.”

Gray said Brakebush is fortunate to be part of a team that works well across several locations. “This sense of teamwork is felt throughout the organization,” she said. “Many drivers have mentioned in our driver surveys that this place feels more like a family than a place of work.”

That also gives Armstrong pride. “Brakebush is still family owned after 100 years,” he noted. “You run into a lot of the family quite often, and they’re just an outstanding group of people that created an awesome atmosphere.”