A number of businesses spawned in Council Bluffs have grown well beyond the borders of the city. A firm that started with just one driver—the owner himself—and grew into a company with over a billion dollars in revenue in just a few decades would have to be right at the top of the city’s success list.

   Clarence Werner grew up on a farm near Peterson, Nebraska. Keeping farm equipment running required endless ingenuity and creativity, and young Werner, who proved to be quite mechanically inclined, developed an appreciation of vehicles and equipment working with the farm gear.

   After leaving his parents’ farm Werner moved to Council Bluffs to start his own business. In 1956 he sold his only car to buy a gas-powered Ford  F800 truck and began hauling freight. The industry at that time was heavily regulated by the government and he had to restrict his loads to low-end cargo that was exempt from regulatory restrictions like grain, watermelon, livestock feed, and fence posts.

   Though having to build a business with just low paying freight had its obvious disadvantages, it forced the successful to learn to keep their costs low and service standards high. C.L. Warner proved a master at this, and the business began to grow, one truck at a time, covering a five to six state region. The company built a new terminal in 1965 at 805 32 Avenue in Council Bluffs, at that time boasting a fleet of ten trucks. The familiar blue color came in 1969 with adoption of the logo a short time later. The 32nd Avenue terminal was enlarged in 1970.

   Werner had found a niche in the freight transportation industry and was serving it well. The early 70s saw more growth, including the acquisition of 35-40 truck flatbeds with removeable sides to haul grain, soybean meal, lumber, potatoes, and produce and the addition of seven van trailers.

   In 1975 a state sales tax exemption for Iowa based trucking firms expired, creating an unfavorable business environment for transportation companies. Council Bluffs was among the forefront in a move to reinstate the exemption. Chamber of Commerce President Mike Dugan warned legislators that the state would lose good trucking firms unless actions was taken. Clarence Werner, whose company by then had 90 employees and an annual 1.1 million dollar payroll in Council Bluffs, explained such taxes were particularly hard on companies in border cities. Shipping rates were federally set, so Iowa firms couldn’t recover the revenue by passing costs onto customers, and even if they could they wouldn’t be able to compete with Nebraska enterprises who didn’t have the additional costs. Chamber president Dungan cautioned that the Iowa economy would ultimately suffer by forcing western Iowa companies to relocate in Nebraska where they could operate more competitively.

   The company remained in Council Bluffs for another two years but ultimately did move to Nebraska in 1977 when a major fuel tax increase was proposed in Iowa.

(Story by Dr. Richard Warner for the Historical Society of Pottawattamie County).