History

Bayer Trucking began in 1923 when Grandpa Mike Bayer bought his first drayage rig, a horse drawn wagon which he used to deliver goods arriving in Elrosa on the Soo Line Railroad. At the end of World War II, Joe Bayer (Sr.), the youngest of 3 sons, bought the West Central Minnesota business from his dad, which by this time had expanded to hauling gravel, livestock, hay & grain and general freight.

In 1975 Mike Bayer, one of Joe's five sons, bought the family business, continuing to operate it as a livestock and general freight company, servicing the communities of Elrosa and Belgrade. In 1982 when trucking was deregulated and the agricultural economy was struggling, Mike and younger brother Brian ventured into the millwork distribution business, with a small prehung door operation. They marketed to lumber dealers and contractors in central Minnesota.