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WHAT WE DO
Bruce Oakley, Inc is a diverse commodity trading, distribution, and transportation company. Our vertically integrated transportation system allows us to provide excellent service to an extensive customer base. We have suppliers and customers all over the world and are able to connect them in the most efficient ways. Our knowledge, experience, and global network support our operations and allow us to better serve our customers.
ABOUT BRUCE OAKLEY
After leaving school in the 10th grade, he took his first job as a window washer. For several years after that, he drove a milk truck.
1935Bruce joined the United States Navy—where he began developing the entrepreneurial skills that would serve him so well in life.
Early 1960sBruce returned to farming in El Paso, where he initially raised cows. When the price of grain increased, he sensed an opportunity: Although he and other area farmers had begun raising their own grain, there was a shortage of suppliers who could deliver and spread the lime they needed to fertilize their fields.
1964Bruce purchased a dump truck and began making the 75-mile trip to Batesville, Arkansas, where he bought the lime he then sold to, and spread for, his first customer.
1968Demand for Bruce's services grew, and he began hiring workers. He built a fertilizer storage facility in El Paso, and established himself as a fertilizer dealer. He then built a second fertilizer facility, strategically located 12 miles down the road in Beebe, Arkansas, which gave him access to the railroad. By now, Bruce was buying his fertilizer by the railcar load. And since fertilizer was a seasonal market, Bruce entered the grain business.
Mid 1970sOakley looked to the Arkansas river system to meet demand. He bought a 20-acre site, in North Little Rock beside the Arkansas River, where Oakley's headquarters is located today.
1977Gradually, the company’s barge business grew to the point that Oakley purchased half-a-dozen or more new barges—then established a second Arkansas River location at Morrilton, Arkansas.
1980Bruce Oakley’s son Dennis officially joined the family enterprise at the age of 18. Having worked all his life for his father, he already had first-hand experience with many of the company’s operations.
1982Over the next decade, Dennis became increasingly involved in Oakley’s business administration—and in 1993, he succeeded his father as president of Bruce Oakley, Inc.
1993Oakley added river terminals in Caruthersville, MO, Shreveport, LA, and Pendleton, AR to expand the geographic footprint of its distribution activities.
1998-2001Bruce Oakley's grandson, Justin Oakley, officially joins the business.
2010Oakley enters the marine towing business with its acquisition of Jantran. Jantran operates vessels on the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers.
2011In early 2014, Oakley acquired Johnston's Port 33 in Catoosa, Oklahoma. Port 33 is the largest private port on the Arkansas river.
2014Oakley grows its river terminal and distribution network with the acquisition of Oxbow Fertilizer. This adds strategic locations at Ottawa and Seneca, IL, and Cincinnati, OH.
2016Oakley grows its presence in the St. Louis harbor with the acquisitions of the Lange-Stegmann terminal and a new high-speed grain facility in Cahokia, IL.
2019-2020Oakley continues to grow its presence in the St. Louis area with the acquisition of the Feed Products & Services company.
2024Bruce Oakley, Inc. | 3400 GRIBBLE STREET, NORTH LITTLE ROCK, AR 72114 | 501-945-0875 | 800-662-0875 | Fax 501-945-5722
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