CNC TRANSFERS - Chris and Rita Cerullo

CNC TRANSFERS

Chris Cerullo

Established in 1999, CNC Transfers is owned and operated by military veteran, Chris Cerullo and his wife, Rita. Based out of the Sunshine State of Florida, CNC Transfers is a refrigerated carrier dedicated to hauling produce nationwide.

Chris’s family history within the trucking industry involve three generations of professional truck drivers. His training in mechanical work date back to his early childhood; as a teenager he went on to further develop those skills over the course of 12 years while serving in the Army National Guard.

Determined to gain the knowledge needed to become a business owner, Chris wanted to expand his proficiency within the field of transportation. After years of experience as a company driver and owner operator, he then acquired his own authority, branching out as a small-fleet owner.

With 37 years in the business and well over 3-million lifetime miles to boot, by inviting Rita onboard as his business partner, she brings to the table a fresh outlook from the driver’s standpoint and an impressive background in administrative duties as a legal assistant, prior to joining CNC Transfers. Rita obtained her commercial driver’s license in 2015 and is a member of Women in Trucking.

The 20th anniversary of CNC Transfers is well in sight, as Chris and Rita continue to progress in an industry consistently evolving. The company is firmly established upon its foundation of honesty, hard work, and family values. During our interview, the couple takes a brief intermission from their busy work load to share with us their secrets on maintaining balance as a husband and wife in the realm of trucking, while also running a business operation as partners. Both come from families of truck drivers and share the same passion to explore all of God’s country together. Having originally met as teenagers, as Chris and Rita discuss their journey thus far, we’re given a peek into their lives after the universe reunited them after so many years later.

As apparent and confirmed by the two, teamwork (in all aspects of life) is the key to their success.

GROWING ADVANTAGE

Chris’s grandfather owned a junk yard in New York located on Long Island. As a young boy, age 8, Chris often rode with his father in the truck as he hauled scraps to the mill, or watermelons out of Florida. By 10, his father began teaching him how to drive, initially starting in reverse.

“I’ll never forget it; my dad drove a 1969 International Transtar Cabover day cab. He showed me how to back a trailer in the yard before I learned how to pull forward. I pretty much knew then that driving a truck is all I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It’s in my blood.”

At age 17, Chris enlisted into the Army National Guard searching for a sense of direction. As a young man entering adulthood he was eager to discover the possibilities available in the military with additional schooling and proper discipline. Although his age classified him an adolescent, he was further advanced than most teens. Having grown up turning wrenches and driving trucks, that experience combined with military training, Chris was able to fine-tune his craft and improve in other areas; making himself a viable asset in the career field of his choice: the trucking industry.

Chris was assigned to a support team, performing mechanical work in the field on equipment and vehicles, such as; generators, tanks, and trucks. Not long after joining the Army National Guard, he obtained a military license. He says, “I learned so much from my time serving in the military. I remember wanting to do it all, wanting to operate every piece of equipment accessible. Most all my authoritative type skills, I learned in the military. And I carried those qualities with me over the course of my career and still apply them daily. Our motto was: We don’t believe in problems. We believe in solutions.” In 1982, Chris acquired his chauffeur license, purchased his first truck -1982 International Transtar Cabover- and took off hauling general commodities throughout the southeast region.

With close to four decades of experience driving a truck professionally, Chris’s work history in hauling large loads is extremely vast. Including his time spent in the service, he has hauled ammunition, tanks, heavy equipment, and mobile homes. He currently owns two trucks, two trailers, and one leased truck. His every day driver is a 1985 Kenworth K100E; his spare truck is a 1987 International Eagle Cabover; and his 1978 International Transtar is in the shop under repair. “I’ve always been a fan of Cabover trucks, I think it stems from my childhood. The beauty of these Cabovers is that there is nothing on them that I can’t fix myself. That’s just like, every time a driver brings one of my trucks in, I go under it personally from front bumper to back bumper and see to it that everything is running the way it’s supposed to be.”

PARTNERSHIP

As for seasonal work, hauling produce remains steady. Chris typically runs for 10-14 days at a time. Operating as a produce company can be tricky, particularly for the summer months when the heat is bad for business. When the season for Florida ends in July, they follow it up to North Carolina and Tennessee, from there they go on up to Michigan.

During that extended time Chris and Rita like to stay out on the road together. Chris adds, “Sharing the road with my wife is the best part of what I do out here. Usually she is stuck in the office for the most part, handling all the paper work and billing. So, we enjoy taking those two months and getting to see the country. We have traveled to so many beautiful places together. It’s just not the same doing this by myself.”

Joining them on their long summer journeys is Miss Peaches, Rita’s four-year-old dog. While parked at a Coca Cola facility in Florida, Rita befriended another female driver that had a litter of nine newborn puppies on her truck. Chris gave the green light on taking one of the puppies home, allowing Rita to pick one of her choosing, without taking a look at the dogs for himself… Rita explains that when she started walking towards their truck where Chris sat inside, with a twenty-pound dog in her arms, his expression said it all.

“I could read his lips through the truck windshield. He said, ‘I thought you said a puppy!’ And I looked back at him, saying, ‘But she is a puppy.’”

Miss Peaches doesn’t get the luxury of riding in any of their Cabovers, but she gets to tag along when they take out the regular convention truck.

The partnership between Chris and Rita is a combined effort on behalf of both parties, in return offering a mutual respect for their spouse. They work well together in unity, sharing common goals; strengthening their work relationship, as well as, their marriage. Chris states that while they are in the truck, traveling for long hours, they enjoy bouncing business ideas around and getting each other’s feedback.

Chris goes on to explain the two most important factors to running a trucking business, in his opinion. Teamwork is one, the other is maintenance. Every trucker operating as an independent business needs a reliable person in their corner; someone who is willing to work just as hard and understands that driving a truck is a livelihood, not a job. Chris continues,

“This line of work is not for the faint at heart. It has taken everything we have together as a team to manage our business, add on the chaos of trucking itself. If you have a supportive partner with great patience, the opportunities are endless. We have chosen to stay small, reason being, we can have more personal time at our own discretion. And we can focus on our current clients. Either way, it takes a lot of teamwork to keep a trucking business productive.

Second, it all falls back to maintenance. If the truck’s maintenance isn’t up to standards and the driver gets pulled over -it wouldn’t take but a minute for a small company to go out of business if they didn’t have a financial backup plan in place.

These two things may sound minor, but they have both been the reason to the success of CNC Transfers.”

Being in business since 1999, the Cerullo’s pride themselves in never being late with a load. Born and raised in Florida, before joining Chris over the road, Rita had never ventured too far from her home state. Though she was familiar with 18-wheelers, as her two brothers drove trucks while serving in the military. The couple was aware of their advantage once Rita received her CDL. If a driver gets sick, or any scenario comes about, there is no question if the load will get delivered. “We like to be able to handle any situations that may arise,” Rita says.

Their definition of a true truck driver is an honest, hard working individual. A trucker that is respectful, dependable, and knowledgeable that presents himself or herself in a professional manner. Those same principles are what they look for in a driver to represent CNC Transfers. Rita states that Chris sets the example, as seen through his dedication to the trucking industry and to their family.

During their days off, Chris and Rita enjoy fishing and spending time with their family. Together they share 4 children and 2 grandsons, Waylon and Wyatt (ages 9 and 10). Waylon started riding in the truck at 9 months and Wyatt was a year old. With the grandchildren living nearby, the boys take turns sitting on their laps and practice driving the trucks up and down the road, back and forth between their houses. Chris says, “They climb onto my lap and steer the wheel and try to shift the gears. We love every minute of it! Both boys are very active in our business… a few months ago I was building a motor inside one of our garages and they were right next to me handing me tools as I worked.” When they are away on the road and the boys ask to spend the weekend with Chris and Rita, best believe they make a beeline back to Florida.

As for the many years and trips out on the road together, Rita thanks her husband. Stating, “If it weren’t for him, there is so much of the country I would’ve never seen.” With Chris being around trucks all of his life, ends our interview in hopes that the trucking community will remember him as a friend and someone anybody can count on.

“Being in the business this long has been a journey of life lessons and beautiful memories.”