| Manufacturing | Heat Treating | Transportation |
Pallet Recycling - About Us
Lee Tipton, President of Tico Inc., founded Tico in 1993 following a career as a commercial truck owner operator that started in 1976. After "peddling freight" on a local route for Pittman Transfer leased to Churchill Truck Lines for 15 years, Lee had developed a side business of wood pallet recycling, making the most of personal relationships that he had developed on that route. Lee's son, Allen Tipton had just moved back into Missouri along this same time, and the pallet recycling business began to grow into a pallet manufacturing business.
In 1996, Lee had applied for a grant through the Missouri State Department of Natural Resources, solid waste division, to assist building a new facility in the industrial park of Unionville Missouri. After being awarded the grant, Lee built a 12,000 ft. pallet manufacturing facility on 5 acres to be home to his pallet recycling business. In 1998, he purchased a neighboring 37,000 ft building on 9 acres to handle the warehouse and pallet manufacturing demand of the growing business. The additional acreage would prove to be vital for expansion in the pallet heat treatment business. In 1999, Tico built the first pallet heat treatment facility in the area to accommodate a customers' need to transition from fumigating pallets to heat treating pallets. Since then Tico has installed two state of the art pallet heat treating systems, and can handle any volume of HT needs.
Tico's pallet manufacturing and pallet recycling customer base grew significantly from 1998 to 2001. The distances traveled to service customers created unique logistical demands. In 2001, Tico obtained haul for hire authority to cut down on empty miles to or from customer and vendor sites. Consequently, Tico started hauling finished goods and products for its customers and vendors as well as general freight. By the year 2004, when Lee incorporated his business, Tico Inc. had become a competitive, reputable midwest trucking company. Tico Inc. now operates 12 semi-tractor units and hauls freight in the Mid-West, South, and Eastern United States. Tico Inc.'s freight involvement has branched to the transportation brokerage business as well, and operates as a trucking transportation broker under the name of Tricorr Logistics.
Lee and Allen Tipton's business philosophy has always been expanding and focusing on business partnerships with customers who need quality and service. Tico Inc. prides itself in delivering on those two needs and going the extra mile to maintain healthy relationships with their customers and vendors.