HISTORY OF RTTI
Rich Thompson's history started in the dairy business. In 1970, as an employee of Challenge Creamery, he began by first making cheese, then as a relief driver on home delivery routes. Throughout the years ahead, Rich worked on wholesale and retail delivery routes, milked cows, hauled milk, and bought and sold commodities to the dairymen.
In 1982, Rich started his own hauling business selling hay to dairy farmers. Fueled by his drive to succeed, soon one truck, himself, and a few part time employees grew into seven trucks. With his entrepreneurial spirit, strong integrity, and work ethic, Rich was ready for his next venture. In 1988, Rich started hauling milk from farm to market. He started with three trucks and a few employees, which has now grown to include customers such as: Sorrento Lactalis, Agropur, Falls Brand, Clif Bar, Chobani and the U.S. Dept. of Interior/Fish and Wildlife Service, and various companies on a daily basis in his tanker and reefer division. RTTI is a team-oriented business. Rich believed it takes the support of everyone: family, business partners, customers, and the community to be successful. He led his business with strong principles of integrity, hard work, quality service and compassion. In 2019, after a valiant and hard fought battle with cancer, Rich passed away leaving behind the business he built as his legacy. Two of Rich's children, Brett Thompson and Mandy Ricketts, are now devoted to leading RTTI in their fathers honor. Rich was dedicated to providing quality service and looked for quality staff to support his vision. The management team at RTTI reflects that with a combined 186 years of experience in the trucking industry. It has, and always will be, RTTI's goal to provide its customers with consistent, competitive, and quality service at cost effective rates. |
Richard & Jane Thompson
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BRETT THOMPSON
For as long as I can remember, I have been involved in the progression of Rich Thompson Trucking Inc. Some of my earliest memories are of riding on the center hump of my Dad's (Rich) 1976 Kenworth cab-over, watching him shift through the gears and flipping switches as the sun rose over southern Idaho. As a young boy I always had small jobs around the shop. Cleaning shop bathrooms, changing tires and whatever other random job my Dad could come up with. At age 14 Dad had me booming hay with my cousin Bryan Sauer, who is now the RTTI Operations Manager (2002-current) and as early as my 18th birthday he had me driving trucks as well. Shortly after I turned 18, I also started racing stock cars. With the support of my father we quickly climbed the ranks to the upper levels of NASCAR. Our affiliation with the racing industry led to the creation of a successful race car parts, sales and fabrication shop, in which I managed over 15 employees and multiple race teams, and continued to work alongside my Dad at RTTI.
I cherish the time I had working shoulder to shoulder with my Dad, learning his work values and ethics. It is my honor to continue RTTI with the team of industry professionals that he assembled. Dad believed that to be successful you have to help the people that surround you to be successful, and that is the meaning of community, take care of one another, great advice that I take to heart. |
Brett Thompson & Family
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MANDY RICKETTS
As the eldest of Rich’s three children, I can remember quite well the day my Dad brought his first truck home. At the time I could have never predicted the enormous part that the trucking industry would play in my life.
I have fond memories of crisscrossing southern Idaho in Dad's pickup while going to check out various hay fields, watching the sun rise from the back of a sleeper as we kids rode along on our way to a milk plant in Boise, cheering on Dad and his team as they competed in hay booming contests at the Jerome County fair, and of the variety of first “offices” RTTI inhabited (which over the years included a one room leased building south of town, a converted barn on our back property that my Grandpa worked out of as he helped with the accounting while warming his feet with a space heater, and a 1970’s single wide mobile home that I was assigned to clean every Sunday as my first job). Throughout high school and college I always worked for RTTI in some capacity, but somewhere in the middle of my twenties I was bit by the desire to try a new adventure and pursued my nursing certification as a Licensed Practical Nurse through Boise State University. My Dad was not only supportive, but proud as can be at my accomplishments. I spent over 10 years working in the nursing field while raising my two young children as a divorced, single Mom and I keep my license active to this day. After many years of being single I remarried and my husband, a truck driver himself, and I started our own trucking company. My upbringing proved to be immeasurable as the spouse of an over the road driver. I was able to easily understand the lifestyle challenges a driver deals with in this career. Those were also years that allowed me to work from home doing the paperwork/ payroll end of things and giving me the flexibility to be an active Mom in my kids busy lives. When my Dad got sick my husband and I rearranged our focus on our own trucks to circle back and return to the RTTI team. Making that decision was one of the easiest and most humbling things I have ever had to do. It is not lost on me the literal blood, sweat and tears my Dad spent building this business. His focus was always on his family, his employees and his community and I hold that close to my heart. He taught me that those are the things that matter in life and therefore, they too have become MY priority. It is in his honor that I am, and always will be, proud to be a part of Team RTTI. |
Mandy Ricketts & Family
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