John McGee lives his life by a very simple rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." That's how he runs his business, too.
"Our mission statement is to follow the Golden Rule," he said, "not only with our employees and our customers, but also our community. Be fair, be safe, be reliable, be dependable, be honest and be nice. Do these and 98% of the people will be happy 98% of the time. Nothing will please that other 2%."
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McGee got his start in 1985 hauling for his brother-in-law’s logging business in the North-Central part of his home state. Six years later, he bought a truck of his own and went into business for himself. John McGee Trucking was founded out of opportunity. Oil field work in his area started picking up around 2004 and he leased to an oil-services hauler. The company was bought in 2010. When the new owner opted to drop parts of the existing customer base, McGee got his authority and has been running John McGee Trucking ever since.
McGee's company primarily hauls oil-field liquids like produced water, completion fluids, fresh water and waste water, but it also works with FEMA providing disaster relief during floods, ice storms, hurricanes and tornadoes. "We also haul most anything that will fit on a flatbed trailer," McGee noted.
In 2013, McGee was still hauling full-time himself and employed two operators. A few years later he added trucks and tankers and the company nearly quadrupled annual revenues to more than $4 million between 2016 and the present.
