Home News/Events History Gallery Team Contact Us Employment Info Boshart Trucking Company History Boshart Trucking, Inc. was created in 1983 by brothers Gene and Stan Boshart (pronounced 'BOSS-Heart'), and began operations January 1, 1984. Before they created this company, three Boshart brothers, Gene, Stan, and Richard, all farmed together in 1977 to follow in their father’s footsteps. The farming operation grew ryegrass, clover, and wheat. Trucks were added to the farm for the seasonal harvest. In the fall of 1983, it was decided that Richard would continue with the farm operations and Gene and Stan would focus on the trucking and thus started Boshart Trucking, Inc. In the beginning of the Willamette Valley straw market, many important principles were missing: quality, container weights, varieties, grades, schedules, and payments. Customers did not know what straw producers needed and straw producers did not know what Japan and, eventually, Korea needed. It took a lot of sorting out. Boshart Trucking was part of the problem and part of the solution. Farmers, balers, truckers, pressing companies, and customers were in constant turmoil because each thought they were the most important. Farmers just wanted the straw off the field, balers wanted to get paid, truckers were few, presses and exporters did little to assure farmers, balers, and trucks they would get paid. Customers did not know how much or what was available. In spring of 1992, Stan called a meeting with farmers, balers, storage, and a press broker he was in contact with. Each one could not or would not be responsible for removing straw, paying the baler, truckers, or storage people. In that meeting, it was decided that Stan would be allowed to do all of it: pay balers, do quality control, remove straw in a timely manner, keep dry, and deliver to the press. That began a relationship with the farmers and the acres they farmed. What was missing was pressing quality, timeliness, on time payment, and good customers. In 1994, Boshart Trucking added another component to their company: a custom baling service to provide support to farmers in the Willamette Valley. Storage barns were built all along the I-5 corridor to store the straw. During the summer harvest season, Boshart Trucking hauled baled straw on flatbeds from the fields into the storage barns located near by. After the harvest season, Boshart Trucking hauled the same product from the storage barns to press sites along the I-5 corridor where the product was prepared for shipping. Boshart Trucking was also involved with trucking the compressed product, which was loaded into containers from the press sites, to the Portland shipping yards. By 1998, Boshart Trucking began to haul almost exclusively in the straw market. In 2003, Stan decided that in order to keep up with the growing demands, Boshart Trucking would need to start pressing. PressCo was formed so that traceability and quality would be second to none. Since the formation of PressCo, the marketing start of BOSSCO Trading and Boshart Trucking’s relationship with the Willamette Valley farmer principle, on time delivery and traceability has improved to be one of the best. The State of Oregon exports approximately 600,000 MT of straw each year to the Pacific Rim countries to augment foliage for their cattle. Boshart Trucking hauls approximately 50,000 MT of straw from the fields each harvest season, with about two thirds of the total tonnage hauled being baled by a Boshart Trucking crew and the remaining straw baled by others hired through BOSSCO Trading LLC. These baling crews have consisted of many family members over the years including Stan and Lori Boshart’s children: Shelly, Ola, Katie, Camille, and Amos. Boshart Trucking has always been a family business, and so the kids started anywhere from 12-14 years of age driving equipment on the baling crews full time in the summer for their dad. On top of this, many cousins and other family members have been involved in the companies and still are today. Currently, Stan and Lori Boshart are involved in the daily operations. Shelly, Stan and Lori’s daughter, is Vice President of all International Sales and Marketing efforts. Other relatives are currently driving truck and working in the shop. During the summer months, cousins, nieces, and nephews are still very active in the straw baling process. As farmers plant and harvest their crops, their decisions are based on seed productions, seed price, harvest dates, and balance for each farmer. The current status of BOSSCO Trading, PressCo, and Boshart Trucking are ever changing. The needs of Japan, Korea, and now the Middle East and China are continually changing according to their yearly needs; some years more than the Willamette Valley can produce and some years the countries do not need as much. Because these countries’ need for straw has very little impact on the farmer’s decision to raise crops for straw, the market’s supply and demand can only be honestly and fairly represented to both the grower and the customer – this demands a long-term relationship that is built on trust. It is the basis of this that our company was built on. © 2018 by BOSSCO Trading LLC, All rights reserved.