Rush Logistics: ‘If you’re not early, you’re late’

Rich Palzewic

Staff

January 26, 2026

TWO RIVERS – From starting the business out of his dad’s barn to recently moving into a brand-new facility in the City of Two Rivers, Jesse Patrick, founder/president of Rush Logistics, said the motto of the transportation company is simple.

“If you’re not early, you’re late,” he said. “That tagline has served us well over the years. As a matter of fact, in our original business plan, we had wanted to call the company ‘Lombardi Time Transport’ [because Lombardi was always early], but we didn’t want to offend any of our Illinois [customers and] Bears fans, so we settled on ‘Rush Logistics.’”

As a logistics and freight transportation company, Vice President John Robinson said Rush provides shipping and freight delivery services.

“We mostly did expedited shipping when we first started, but as time has gone on, we do regular LTL (less than a truckload) deliveries as well,” he said. “LTL probably makes up about 75% of our business.”

For its LTL shipping, Robinson said Rush operates primarily as a regional carrier.

“We cover Wisconsin and Northern Illinois [with] our LTL shipments,” he said. “When we do expediting, we go all over the country.”

Robinson said Rush’s full-truckload shipments have increased over the past five years.

“We started with full-truckload shipments by using subcontract carriers that were partners with us,” he said. “But as time went on, we added our own semis to our fleet. We have the flexibility, pretty much on a moment’s notice, to help people out.”

Robinson said that’s the advantage of being a smaller company with a little more than 50 employees.

“We have a ton of flexibility, and I think that makes it so much easier than some of the bigger companies have it,” he said.

A decade in the making

Patrick said Rush’s move to 4412 Browns Drive in Two Rivers’ Woodland Industrial Park reflects the company’s more than 22 years of growth and long-planned expansion, with discussions about increasing its footprint stretching back nearly a decade.

“With our original plan with A.C.E [Building Services], they had some neighboring land [in Manitowoc], so we did have some plans in place,” he said. “The original idea with A.C.E. never came to fruition, so about two years ago, we changed directions – it simply started with a phone call to the City of Two Rivers.”

Patrick said the Two Rivers proposal quickly felt like the right choice.

“It’s [not that there’s anything] negative about Manitowoc – it just seemed Two Rivers was a little more inviting for us,” he said.

Patrick said ground was broken on the 6,000-square-foot facility in April 2025, and the official ribbon-cutting ceremony was held last November.

“A.C.E. was unbelievable to work with and did a fantastic job,” he said.

Patrick said the new building provides room for growth and allows the company to better serve the community.

Another advantage of the move, Patrick said, is that Rush went from leasing in Manitowoc to owning its building in Two Rivers.

“We’ve made that decision – it’s another asset-based thing,” he said. “Part of our growth strategy throughout the years is to get bigger, better and stronger, so owning will help us accomplish that.”

People-centered environment

At Rush, Patrick said the goal is to foster a work environment that affects employees’ attitudes. 

That employee satisfaction, he said, can ripple outward, impacting their families, daily lives and behavior beyond the workplace.

“When people are unhappy when they leave their house in the morning on their way to work, we want those people to come and work at Rush because our job – and this has been from the beginning – is to make sure that everyone who works here enjoys pulling that door open,” he said.  

Patrick said Rush keeps operations simple, avoiding corporate red tape and running the company differently than most – all while maintaining a focus on employee satisfaction.

That culture of care, he said, extends beyond the workplace.

“That’s even more important to us than what that bottom line says,” he said. “It may sound a little bit crazy, but we see a lot of businesses that focus on their profit and loss, and that is important, but when you treat people in the community right, all of those things fall into place.”

Patrick said Rush’s success over the years – in terms of profitability – is poured back into the community.

“Our profitability goes to help others,” he said. “We donate, but we believe in doing it anonymously. We aren’t going to stand up and thump our chests in front of anybody, because a true donation, in my opinion, is anonymous. We like to keep it that way.”

Though Rush moves freight from A to B as other logistics companies do, Robinson said its focus on customer service, its people and the community sets it apart.

“We try to take care of a lot of the organizations that our employees are involved in,” he said. “Jesse is not big on tooting our own horn. I’ve been here 11 years, and we’ve been in business 23, but we’ve never had a salesperson. Our customers refer us to others. We’re not big on banging on doors and telling people to ship with Rush – we’re very much low profile.”

Humble beginnings

Patrick said he started Rush in September 2003 with one van, operating the company out of his father’s barn.

“We’d just wait for the phone to ring,” he laughed. “In 2003, before I started Rush, I worked for a company where I dispatched freight. One time, I had a customer say to me, ‘We really need this stuff by 10 p.m. tonight – is there any way you can get it here?’”

Not being able to find a carrier that could get the parts to the customer on time, Patrick said he asked the customer and his boss if he could personally deliver the parts using his own vehicle.

“My employer at the time allowed it,” he said. “It was one of those situations where the customer really didn’t want to call a trucking company to deliver the parts, so I did it myself.”

Patrick said he spent about five years delivering parts himself – mostly at night – before officially launching Rush Logistics.

“I had a day job, and the calls came in at night,” he said. “I’d just run them down – mostly to Milwaukee. It was really just evolution. We didn’t have any salespeople, so it was simple – do what you say you’re going to do. Those people kept calling back, and they still call us today.”

Today, Patrick said Rush has a fleet of 23 vehicles.

“That includes two semis, six straight trucks and 15 cargo vans,” he said.For more on Rush Logistics, visit rushlogisticsexp.com.