About Berner Trucking, Inc.

Founded in 1946, Berner Trucking has roots in the Ohio Valley area. In 1945, John Berner returned from World War II after serving in the Navy as a battleship diesel mechanic. His tour led him through Europe including the waters around Italy. He returned home to his family in Millersburg where he had sent all of his earnings back to support his family back on the farm. In 1946, he began a relationship with Emmanuel Mullet, who is now Holmes Limestone. He pulled together what money he had and bought his own tractor and trailer, hauling coal and stone. In the early 1950’s he went into partnership with his brother in law, Therold Qullin. Together they hauled steel for then called Ace Dorn off the Ohio river barges up to Chicagoland. At that time, equipment was a gas engine powered straight truck with a ‘pup’ trailer.

 

Through a relationship in the area, Mr. Berner started hauling coal during the 60’s and 70’s to the Barberton PPG plant. There were long days and endless work to be done. John Berner worked harder than everyone and it worked. That is, until the recession of 1980. At the same time, trucking was deregulated. Around this time Jim Knisely came to work as a mechanic circa 1978. At that time, the Berner Trucking fleet had grown to 9-10 trucks.

 

At some point in 1980, Jim Knisely helped pivot the line of business. That being said, Berner Trucking was going to try and haul anything that went in a dump trailer. Hazardous materials, coal, scrap, stone, and waste to name a few. This plan of transformation and unrelenting sales from Jim worked. The list of customers grew and so did the company. Today, over 70 years later, Berner Trucking is still headquartered in Dover, Ohio. The company manages 75-100 trucks. The mission statement is still simple: take care of your people, do the right things for the right reasons, and everything else will take care of itself.

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In the late 80’s, Mr. Berner (J.B. to his friends), decided it was time to turn the reins over to the next generation, and he stepped aside to make Jim Knisely president of the company. Over the next few years, a sister brokerage company was formed, Knisely, Inc., to help facilitate company growth and bring owner/operators into the picture. It was also during this time period that Berner moved its operations into a much larger office/garage complex in Dover, Ohio, capable of handling the demands of a rapidly growing business.