Zach Linnell Turns Dream into Reality as Owner of Proksch Transit

In 2013 when Zach Linnell was trucking for Proksch Transit, owning the company was just a pipe dream for him. He enjoyed trucking and mentioned to owner Bob Proksch over the years that he’d be interested in it eventually, but never dreamt it would become a reality.

In February 2022 after Zach had been with the company for almost nine years, Bob shared with Zach that he had been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer with just months to live. By that time, Zach was a manager, and he and the other managers took over the day-to-day duties of the business. Linnell had already been doing almost all of the operation; the only thing he’d not been involved in was in the contracting for routes.

All the employees were worried about their own futures with the company. Linnell decided to look into the possibility of buying the company himself. He was a busy man at that time — doing his own work, a good share of his boss’s work, and trying to create a business plan for his potential business.

Proksch passed away in the summer of 2022; nine months later, Linnell closed on the deal and became the proud new owner of Proksch Transit. When Linnell took over as boss, what helped him most was being familiar with the company, knowing the operational aspect and being familiar with the routes. As a result, he was confident in his ability to handle the challenge. It was a smooth transition from manager to boss. Linnell pointed out that he knew the urgency of getting the mail through in a timely manner.

Linnell had grown up in Mesa, Arizona. His family moved closer to southwestern Wisconsin where they had family. When Zach was in seventh grade, his mother got a job at Mayo and the family moved to Chatfield. Zach’s parents currently live in Viroqua, Wis.

Zach originally went to school to become a police officer, but never got a job in law enforcement. Instead he got into transportation. His first job in transportation was a short stint driving a garbage truck in Chatfield. He followed that by doing drive away; he would deliver new commercial vehicles to the end users. When he first began working for Proksch, he was a driver for a route out of Rochester.

As a substitute for another mail driver on a run to Fountain, Zach met his future wife Emily who also happened to be substituting that day at the post office. They eventually married eight years ago. After living in Chatfield for a time, the couple moved to Viroqua.

Proksch Transit has its offices in Stoddard, Wis. At this point, it has 30 employees and 17 routes a day. Those routes cover all of Fillmore County, Southeastern Mower County, parts of Olmsted, Winona and Houston County in Minnesota. In Wisconsin routes include the greater La Crosse area as well as a route from Rhinelander to the Michigan border.

When Linnell took over the company, he purchased six late-model box trucks. “I’m not afraid of purchasing new equipment to better the company and stop fixing the old stuff,” Linnell declared. He feels that investing in those trucks saves time and, as a result, also saves money.

The postal service has been making changes in transportation, causing Proksch Transit to also change and evolve. There is a greater focus on safety and GPS tracking.

Changes after COVID for the company also included allowing managers to operate remotely; the pandemic taught them that they didn’t need brick and mortar buildings to operate.

At this time, Proksch Transit only transports mail, but Zach is open to other opportunities. While he has no concrete plans, he is keeping his eyes open to opportunities as they arise for expansion.

Zach has always enjoyed driving; he still often gets a chance to do so. The day of his interview, Zach had a driver call in that he couldn’t drive that day. Zach left his home at 2:30 a.m., drove to Rochester and took mail to Chatfield, Lanesboro and Rushford. He then needed to go to his office in Stoddard and be back in Rushford to take the outgoing mail to Rochester.

When asked if he had any regrets that he didn’t get into   his first career choice of law enforcement, Zach said he’s okay not being in law enforcement with today’s challenges in the field. Linnell does still volunteer in emergency services, however. In Chatfield he had been on the ambulance; he is now on the Stoddard Bergen Fire Department and is a first responder.

Zach has other interests as well; he is a locksmith and has been collecting keys since he was little. He’d love to open a locksmith shop, but since locksmithing is an emergency type service, he doesn’t feel he can open a shop in addition to his other obligations.

Zach and his wife Emily both enjoy visiting “quirky” post offices. Some of the post offices they have visited include the smallest post office, Ochopee Post Office, which measures just 61 square feet; the most northern one in the lower 48 at Angle Inlet, Minn.; and the southernmost one in Key West, Fla. The couple also enjoys hiking and exploring state parks in their spare time.

Linnell considers himself the third first generation mail contractor at Proksch Transit. The original owners, Gerald and Helen Sheehy, founded the company in 1952. Bob Proksch purchased the company in 1981, and Zach Linnell purchased it in 2023. He has no idea at this time who will follow him as the next owner.

Linnell shared that he feels the next few years in his business are going to be “interesting.” Post COVID didn’t see a decrease in packages in the mail. All the packages in the mail result in bigger loads for Proksch Transit.

When asked what he enjoys most about being an owner, Zach replied with a chuckle, “The freedom to decide what I want to do and the freedom to delegate what I don’t want to do!” He enjoys being able to execute decisions without having to go through someone else.  “If I have my mind made up, I can just go do it!” Zach definitely has what it takes to run his trucking company; we need to appreciate the work he and his employees do to deliver the mail!