MCCOY GROUP

MCCOY GROUP. Robert McCoy, a resident of Shullsburg, Wisconsin, borrowed a truck from the cheese factory where he worked to start his own milk route. In 1954, McCoy, along with business partners Bill Morissey and Ray Hanna, purchased a small trucking company in Darlington, Wisconsin. With Morissey leaving the partnership, McCoy and Hanna added to their business holdings in 1958 by starting GMC Truck Sales, a General Motors franchise selling light- and medium-duty trucks. The partners expanded their business in 1972 when GM contacted the men about taking over TRUCK COUNTRY, a light-duty truck franchise in Dubuque, Iowa. This dealership continued to grow with a third dealership opened in Madison, Wisconsin in 1983. (1)

Founded in 1958, The McCoy Group, Inc. in 1982 purchased Foodliner which grew to become one of the nation’s largest carriers in the bulk-food industry. By 2011, Foodliner had 21 terminals and 70 other shipping points in 29 states. In 2012, the Foodliner brand moved south of the U.S. border with the establishment of Foodliner of Mexico. (2)

In 2014 Indianapolis dealer Jeff Stoops announced that Truck Country parent McCoy Group had a purchase agreement with Stoops Freightliner-Quality Trailer to acquire all six of its dealership locations in Indiana and Ohio on or about July 1. Truck Country at that time had 12 locations in Iowa and Wisconsin. (3)

A former teacher and trucking entrepreneur, Stoops had acquired the Freightliner dealership in 1988 and by 2013 had grown it into a $323.1 million business with 563 employees. (1) With Stoops Freightliner-Quality Trailer operating as a division of Truck Country, the overall the dealership group had 23 locations in five states, including Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and Minnesota

In 2018 subsidiaries of the McCoy Group included: (4)

         Truck Country® / Stoops Freightliner-Quality Trailer, the largest Freightliner 
         dealer group in the United States serving customers at twenty-three locations 
         in Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Truck Country/Stoops offered 
         new and used medium and heavy duty trucks, expert service, an extensive parts 
         inventory, and convenient financing options. Brands included Freightliner, 
         Western Star, Sprinter, Autocar, Wabash, Transcraft, East and Stoughton.

         McCoy Nationalease, a full service truck and trailer commercial leasing and rental 
         company with 100% maintenance coverage. NationaLease affiliate with locations in 
         Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio and Minnesota. It was supported by the 
         Truck Country/Stoops dealership network.

         Foodliner® was the largest Bulk Food Grade carrier in the country and a Transport 
         Topic Top 100 carrier. 

         Quest Liner® targeted the chemical and biofuels markets, specializing in total 
         transportation management. With locations in the Gulf Coast, Southeast, Midwest, 
         and Mexico, the company provided bulk transportation services to all of North 
         America. Quest Liner received numerous carrier awards an was a Transport Topics 
         Top 100 carrier.

         Foodliner® Mexico and Quest Liner® Mexico expanded the McCoy Group to the 
         international markets and created infrastructure that allowed customers to 
         import and export products using a network of terminals.

         Quest Logistics provided a unique and diverse option to its customer base by 
         offering a transportation management team to assist with logistics concerns.

In 2018 McCoy Group, Inc. expanded its business base with the purchase of seven John Deere Construction and Forestry stores serving northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan from Nortrax, Inc. The company, which will do business as McCoy Construction & Forestry (MCF), acquired facilities in Escanaba, Merrill, Chippewa Falls, Ashland, Duluth, Grand Rapids and Bemidji.

The McCoy Group’s construction and forestry division joined an organization that had seven subsidiaries, including Midwest-based Freightliner dealerships Truck Country and Stoops, and transportation focused companies Foodliner, Quest Liner and McCoy NationaLease. The acquisition and subsequent formation of McCoy Construction & Forestry provided an opportunity to diversify. (5)

In 2018 the third generation of McCoys held leadership positions in the company. The cousins are shareholders in the company, while Greg McCoy was named president of The McCoy Group in 2012. Meanwhile, Doug McCoy serves as president of Truck Country, Brian McCoy is the president of Stoops Freightliner-Quality Trailer and Jon McCoy is the corporate vice president of used trucks. (6)

In the community, McCoy Group was a large sponsor of Tri-State Mountain Bike Riders trail projects at the Interstate Power Preserve. (7) In 2015, Truck Country employees in Dubuque donated $3,581 to Make a Wish, in addition to other giving through ownership. Employees at the corporate office annually “adopt” two needy families in the community during the holiday season and presents are provided. In February 2016, Stoops’ Dayton location donated two skids of water for the residents of Flint, Mich. (8)

The company routinely hosts open houses/ride-and-drive events for customers and sponsor different association/organizational events, where education about Truck Country/Stoops products and industrial topics are presented. For example, in August 2015, Truck Country hosted the Wisconsin Liquid Waste Carriers Association Summer Conference in Rothschild, Wisc. (9)

In December, 2022 company officials announced plans to construct a new 78,000-square-foot headquarters and create 60 additional full-time jobs. Construction was expected to begin in the spring of 2023 and be completed by the summer of 2025. The facility was to be located at 2099 Southpark Court, the site of the company's present headquarters. In 2022 the company employed an estimated 4,000 people and operated 26 freightliner truck dealerships, 16 John Deere construction and forestry dealerships, and a bulk transportation division with 40 locations across the United States and Mexico. (10)

In April, 2023 McCoy Group officials announced it would be purchasing from MCGRAW HILL COMPANIES the office building in which it was leasing space 501 Bell Street in the PORT OF DUBUQUE. The decision as to whether McCoy would use the building as its corporate headquarters or just an investment had not been made. McGraw Hill would continue to lease a large space in the building. (11)

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Source:

1. Willis, Jonathan. "2016 Successful Dealer Award Finalist: Truck Country/Stoops Freightliner," Successful Dealer, July 31, 2016. Online: https://www.successfuldealer.com/2016-successful-dealer-award-finalist-truck-countrystoops-freightliner/

2. Ibid.

3. McLaughlin, Kathleen. "Big-Rig Seller Stoops to Unload Six-Location Dealership," Indianapolis Business Journal, May 23, 2014, Online: https://www.ibj.com/articles/47839-big-rig-seller-stoops-to-unload-six-location-dealership

4. "Truck Country". Online: http://truckcountry.com/about-us/

5. "McCoy Acquires Seven Regional John Deere Stores from Nortrax," BusinessNorth, May 13, 2018, Online: http://www.businessnorth.com/daily_briefing/mccoy-acquires-seven-regional-john-deere-stores-from-nortrax/article_6afe361c-5712-11e8-8ae8-3779b1dfe87e.html

6. Willis

7. "McCoy Group Sponsors IPP," Online: http://tmbrtrails.org/2017/08/08/mccoy-group-sponsors-ipp/

8. Willis

9. Ibid.

10. Kruse, John, "McCoy to Expand, Construct Facility," Telegraph Herald, December 2, 2022, p. 1A

11. Kelsey, Elizabeth, "McCoy Group Plans to Buy Building," Telegraph Herald, April 1, 2023, p. 1A