Patton Industries expanding warehouse space

May 30—MILTON — The Patton Logistics Group is finishing construction on a 135,000-square-foot warehouse for their Patton Warehousing division that will provide about 30 jobs in the Milton area.

The expansion of space is symbolic of a company in a critical front-line industry that few people thought about during the worst days of the pandemic — a company that initially lost revenue from many of their regular customers who had to cut back as the economy shut down a year ago.

But the Patton group, which includes the logistics division, warehousing, and trucking, persevered. They developed new revenue streams and strengthened their customer base as the economy has started to recover.

The company is now stronger than ever, said Steve Patton, president and his son Chris Patton, vice president, on Wednesday.

"I'm optimistic," Steve said.

One year ago, the business faced challenges that could never have been anticipated, all resulting from a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic.

"When the pandemic happened," Steve said, "we lost five of our top 10 accounts. We made a stand that we were not going to lay off anyone."

Everyone would continue to get a paycheck "and we were going to figure it out," he said.

"We never considered closing the business or laying anyone off. Because it is too hard to find good people. We have a great workforce. We thought, if we let these people go we would never be able to get someone back that was of the quality we had."

A third of the company's workforce is based in Virginia, said Chris. "If we let them go, they would have gone somewhere else."

The Pattons started researching what companies they thought would be important.

Packaging companies would need to make a lot of canned food, paper towels and toilet paper. There was a run on all of that.

"So we reached out to ConAgra and some of our customers that make packaging supplies," Steve said.

The first month of the pandemic "was terrible," Steve said.

Trucking companies that were still operating started cutting their rates.

"It was bad enough that we didn't have any work," Steve said, "but we were hauling it at a rate that we had back in the 1970s.

Some shippers took advantage of us during that time. We were getting quoted at a rate where we knew we were losing money. But it was better than paying people who were sitting at home."

The customer base started returning a few months later. By June of 2020, business started ramping up, "almost to the point where it was previously," Steve said.

"Because of what we did during the pandemic," added Chris, "our customer base is larger than it was pre-pandemic, because we went out and solicited new business. We grew that account base during that rough time."

"If there is any silver lining to this pandemic," explained Steve, "it was that the supply chain and logistics companies are much more valued and much more thought of than ever before."

In the heart of the pandemic, Patton was sending 10 drivers a day into Manhattan, at a time when people were leaving for their safety.

"We were called upon to do something good," Chris said, "and there was a lot of pride in that."

An integrated companyWatsontown Trucking is the driver of the overall business, Steve explained. "Most warehousing companies might have a little fleet of trucks. We have 425 trucks. and we can go all over the United States."

Patton Warehousing started as a separate company six years ago with a 200,000 sq. ft. empty warehouse.

Today, they have 2.8 million square feet of warehouse space in four states, including the new warehouse in Milton.

It started with one employee. Now there are 175 people in the warehouse division.

"The warehousing company alone in the past year has added about 100 team members," Steve said.

"We can connect all the dots and that is what attracts customers," Steve said.

With one phone call the company can move product from Iowa to Milton, then warehoused. The product can be sent out (fulfilled) or even have a local trucking company take it to the final mile of delivery.

The 135,000-square-foot warehouse addition opens on June 15 with 15 new jobs in the building.

"Plus will add driving jobs to WTC, who will need to move product in and out of the building," Chris Patton said.

Steve and Chris Patton are optimistic about the company's future.

"We'll be hiring a lot of people," Steve said. "There is a lot of opportunity. As long as the federal government continues a business-friendly mentality. That has been prevalent in the last four years — and even prior to that."

Adding peoplePatton Logistics Group added 125 people during the pandemic. Locally they added 75 people. In Virginia, 50.

For their Watsontown Trucking division they just announced a substantial new pay package for all WTC truck drivers.

This new pay package applies to current drivers and new drivers alike. For more information on employment opportunities, call Chris Patton at 570-768-9118.