14 Oregon Trucking Association, Inc. Oregon Truck Dispatch terminal. Our goal through expansion is to bring our customers peace of mind.” After the construction of a new—and the current—freight terminal in Auburn, Washington, Oak Harbor Freight Lines saw a need to better integrate and connect its multi-state operations and installed an IBM computer system in the early 1990s. The new system modernized their operations and helped them to better serve their customers. Oak Harbor Freight Lines continued its expansion throughout the 1990s and 2000s, including into the very large California market. “California is a demanding market,” said David Vander Pol. “The state is large enough that we needed a few partners to serve the whole state. But just like in Oregon, we found the level of service we were getting was just not good enough to bring peace of mind to us or our customers. Our first terminal was in Sacramento. Over the next 20 years, we would add 11 more terminals to create a strategic network capable of serving the state at the Oak Harbor standard.” As the company has grown and expanded over the last 108 years, it has remained committed to its values and ensuring that its leaders remain engaged and connected to its employees across its seven-state footprint. According to current Chairman Ed Vander Pol, “Oak Harbor exists for one primary purpose; to take care of our families.” That includes not only the Vander Pol family, but also the families of Oak Harbor Freight Lines employees and the families of the customers they serve. Ed and his brother David, who worked at the company until his passing in 2021, said that after taking over Oak Harbor Freight Lines, they always tried to exemplify their father’s values of 1) family comes first; 2) take care of the customer; 3) lead from the front; and 4) expect exceptionalism. “As leaders, we need to be the first to listen, to be humble, to admit fault, and to apologize,” said Co-President Dan Vander Pol. “We have to make hard choices to serve those we lead.” Today, Dan serves the company as CoPresident alongside Co-President Eric Vander Pol. Both Dan and Eric exemplify their grandfather’s motto of “look them in the eye and tell them the truth” as the next generation of Vander Pols take over management of the company. It isn’t unusual for Oak Harbor Freight Lines employees to see Dan and Eric at every company terminal at least a couple times a year, speaking with them about what their plans are and asking what employees need. They then take that feedback back to the leadership team to ensure that everyone has the tools they need to be as successful as possible. “We have a really open environment here where, even if you’re a guy on the dock, leadership values what you have to say and your opinions on how things should go,” said Elizabeth Brocious, marketing coordinator at Oak Harbor Freight Lines. “I always joke that we could never participate in one of those undercover bosses shows because everyone knows who all the leaders are and sees them all the time.” That commitment to workplace culture means that employees often stay at Oak Harbor Freight Lines for decades, including many who started at the company at 18 years old on the dock and retire from the company in their 60s. The company is committed to promoting from within and providing opportunities for employees to grow their career at Oak Harbor Freight Lines. “We’ve focused a lot these last three years on expanding our learning and development programs to build a bench Left to right: Mark Vander Pol, Ed Vander Pol, Dan Vander Pol, Henry Vander Pol, David Vander Pol, and Eric Vander Pol. Photo of the Cedar City terminal opening day team. Ribbon cutting ceremony of Oak Harbor Freight Lines’ 40th terminal in Cedar City, Utah. The Vander Pols circa 2006, standing in front of a retro version of the Oak Harbor Freight Lines trucks. Left to right: David Vander Pol, Henry Vander Pol, and Ed Vander Pol.
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