Dohrn Transfer Company

Charles Dohrn started Dohrn Transfer Company in 1921 in Rock Island, IL with a single wood slatted truck, and only one route. Charles founded the company based on the same values that still hold true over a century later. He invested in his employees and listened to his customers’ needs.

Gary Dohrn, Charles’ grandson, learned the business from a young age. When Dohrn was sold in 1981 to Tiger International, Gary continued the family tradition by opening a public warehouse. When Tiger eventually closed, Gary expanded his company and added less-than-truckload services. Under Gary’s leadership, the company that started in 1981 grew to over 500 power units and 1,200 employees, spanning 9 states with 23 terminals.

Dohrn Transfer joined the Pitt Ohio Transportation Group in 2014. Using the capital investment and leveraging best practices from other Pitt Ohio Transportation Group companies, Dohrn has grown to now be recognized as a best-in-class carrier and technology industry leader. Gary’s son, Joe Dohrn spun Logiflow, a logistics company, off of Dohrn Transfer in 2016 which he continues to run under the Pitt Ohio Transportation Group umbrella.

From humble beginnings to becoming The Best in the Midwest, Dohrn still holds the values that have guided the family-run company. Safety comes first, ensuring both our employees and the driving public make it home safely to their families every night. Personal touch means that we recognize our employees and customers both have unique needs. Our customer experience will exceed expectations from start to finish. Service excellence has made us best in class. Continuous improvement means we continue to find ways to improve efficiency by driving out waste.

Dohrn Transfer offers a complete transportation solution to our customers. Whether your needs are small one-pound parcels or full truckloads; whether your timeframe is to store in a warehouse or expedite direct to destination; whether your location is US or Canada; whether your goods arrive by road or by rail, Dohrn has you covered. Our transportation offerings include:

LTL
Less-than-truckload service both within our 10-state direct territory and throughout the continental US and Canada via our partnership network.

Truckload
Full truckload service primarily within our 10-state direct territory.

Rail
Dohrn’s Rock Island headquarters has direct rail access to the BNSF Railway to allow multi-modal movement.

Storage
Both short-term and long-term Warehouse Storage (link to Warehousing) is available throughout our Midwestern operating territory. Additionally we offer storage trailers for on-site customer storage.

Expedite
We offer an array of expedite options with all of our transportation modes. See our Expedited & Guaranteed Services page for more details.

Pool Distribution
We design and execute Consolidation and Pool Distribution solutions to offer improved transit times and cost savings as compared to traditional shipping methods.

Available Value Added Services
temperature control during shipping and/or storage
liftgate and hand-unload services
marking, labeling and assembly
hazardous material services throughout our network
COD for goods or freight charges

Warehouse
Track a Shipment
In addition to our suite of transportation services, Dohrn Transfer also owns and operates 500,000 square feet of public warehouse space that adjoins our company headquarters in Rock Island Illinois.

Our warehouse features high-bay storage, optional temperature-controlled space,sprinkler systems, drive-in doors, and specialty equipment, including clamp trucks,carpet poles, and drum and slip sheet attachments.

Additionally, our warehouse offers direct access to the Burlington Northern Rail Service, for the direct receipt from or shipment to rail cars.

Our warehouse operation is backed by a world-class warehouse receipt and inventory control system, ABECAS Insight by Argos Software. This empowers us and our customers with complete and accurate vision and control into the goods in our warehouse in real-time. We support all standard warehouse EDI transactions, and we additionally support barcode and RFID based on customer needs.

The value of our warehouse operation shines when our transportation network is combined with your warehouse storage needs. Because it is adjacent to our transportation headquarters, easy and efficient transportation options are always available. Our transportation partner network enables us to move your goods from our warehouse to any point in the continental United States completely hassle-free.

Trust our experts with your storage and distribution needs to empower you to take your business to the next level.

Driver shortages, maintenance costs, DOT compliance, hours of service rules, driver training, equipment breakdowns are a few of the reasons companies trust Dohrn Transfer to manage their dedicated fleet. Allow your company to focus on your core business while Dohrn manages your transportation needs backed by our award winning safety team.

Work with our team to create a custom solution to mean your transportation needs. We can assemble a team of safe, professional drivers who work exclusively for your company. Trucks can be fitted with your logo if needed. You can focus on running your company knowing that Dohrn Transfer has backup drivers to cover in the absence of any of your dedicated drivers.