08/21/2026
Last Throwback Thursday, we shared a photo of George Zettelmeier Jr. and Jesse Ruffalo celebrating the purchase of the business with their wives. A few of you asked us for more of the story so we went back to where it was first told. 📰
This newspaper article announced the sale of Frank Rothermel’s trucking business to George and Jesse and the beginning of Plainfield Trucking.
But the story actually started long before the name Plainfield Trucking was on the trucks.
Frank Rothermel had spent decades building a trucking business in Plainfield. His career stretched from driving a truck during World War I to hauling milk for the Plainfield Creamery, wood, potatoes, livestock and produce. By the time George and Jesse took over, Rothermel trucks had hauled potatoes and produce across the country, from Wisconsin to Alabama, Nebraska, North Dakota and New York.
George and Jesse weren’t strangers to trucking, either. Both Plainfield-area young men had previously operated milk routes for the Plainfield Creamery. When they purchased the business, they took over three semis, a stock truck, moving van, dump truck, tractor and loader.
The newspaper reported that the new firm would continue hauling produce and other items throughout the country, along with livestock, moving, sand and gravel.
More than 65 years later, a lot has changed: the trucks, the equipment, the technology and how far we’ve grown.
But the work ethic behind it hasn’t.
What started with two young men taking a chance on a trucking business in Plainfield, Wisconsin became the company we’re proud to carry forward today.
This is where the Plainfield Trucking story began. ❤️
And judging by the comments last week… we have a feeling you guys might want us to keep digging through the archives. 😉