A freight brokerage can grow quickly when it solves a real problem for businesses, but keeping that growth under control is a different challenge. Customers want dependable transportation, carriers need consistent freight opportunities, and someone has to keep the entire process moving when plans change. The story of mike ricklefs and King of Freight is closely tied to that challenge, with the company developing from a small Wichita operation into a much larger freight brokerage.
King of Freight was founded in Wichita in 2008. Since then, the company has expanded its workforce, office operations, customer base, and reach beyond Kansas. Its history provides an interesting look at how a freight brokerage can develop when transportation demand, customer relationships, and operational experience come together.
Starting With a Simple Transportation Need
The foundation of King of Freight is relatively easy to understand. Businesses have products and materials that need to move from one location to another, but not every business wants to own and operate a fleet of trucks. A freight brokerage provides another option by arranging transportation between shippers and carriers.
Mike Ricklefs became associated with this business when King of Freight was established in Wichita. Public reporting about the company has described its early operation as a much smaller business than the organization people recognize today. The company’s growth happened over time rather than through an overnight expansion.
That distinction is important in the freight industry. Getting customers is only one part of building a successful brokerage. The company also needs people who understand freight, carrier relationships that can support customer requirements, and processes for keeping track of shipments after a load has been booked.
King of Freight operates as a third-party freight brokerage rather than a traditional trucking company. Instead of focusing on maintaining its own fleet, the business works with transportation providers to arrange freight movement for customers.
This structure allows a brokerage to work with different carriers and transportation options depending on the shipment. A customer may have a full truckload one week and a smaller shipment the next, creating different requirements for each move.
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Building a Business in Wichita
Wichita has remained an important part of the King of Freight story. The city provided the company’s starting point, and its growth became visible through the company’s increasing need for office space and employees.
As King of Freight expanded, it moved beyond the kind of small operation it had in its early years. Local business reporting followed several stages of that expansion, including moves into larger office facilities and increased hiring.
For a freight brokerage, expanding the physical office can say quite a bit about what is happening behind the scenes. A growing workforce is often needed to support additional customers and shipment volume. Brokers have to communicate with carriers, coordinate pickup and delivery information, answer customer questions, monitor loads, and handle paperwork.
That workload adds up quickly.
A single shipment may involve multiple conversations before it even leaves the pickup location. Once the truck is moving, the brokerage may need to respond to changes in timing, traffic, equipment, weather, or delivery requirements.
King of Freight’s current service process reflects this need for ongoing coordination. The company says its team monitors shipments once loading begins and provides customers with updates if delays occur. Customers can also track shipments through the company’s website and receive delivery information through their preferred communication method.
The Role of Mike Ricklefs in the Company’s Development
Mike Ricklefs has been publicly associated with King of Freight’s growth and business development. His role is part of the company’s broader story, but the expansion of a freight brokerage also depends on the employees and transportation relationships built around the business.
This is particularly true in freight brokerage because customer service and operations are closely connected. A sales team can bring in new business, but those customers need support after the shipment has been booked.
The same applies to carrier relationships. A brokerage needs transportation providers that can meet the requirements of different freight movements. The ability to coordinate those relationships becomes increasingly important as shipment volume grows.
As King of Freight expanded, its workforce became an important part of the company’s ability to handle that additional activity. Hiring and office expansion were therefore not separate from the company’s growth. They were part of the infrastructure required to support it.
For businesses looking at a freight brokerage, this is a useful point to consider. A company may advertise competitive freight rates, but the actual shipping experience depends on what happens after the quote is accepted.
Clear communication, accurate load information, shipment monitoring, and timely paperwork can matter just as much as the initial price.
From a Small Operation to a Larger Freight Brokerage
The development of king of freight Wichita can be seen through the company’s increasing office requirements in Wichita. During the 2010s, King of Freight expanded into larger facilities as the business added employees and handled more freight.
One notable stage involved the company’s expansion within the Ruffin Building in downtown Wichita. Reports at the time described the company taking additional space as its workforce continued to grow.
The company later moved into the former Gander Mountain building at WaterWalk. The larger facility provided room for a significantly larger operation and became another visible marker of the company’s development.
Office space may not sound particularly important when discussing transportation, but it matters for a brokerage. Freight is physical, yet much of the work involved in arranging it happens through computers, phones, emails, tracking systems, and conversations between employees.
When a company is coordinating a large number of shipments at once, the people handling those shipments need the resources and systems to keep information organized.
That becomes especially important when something does not go according to plan. A truck arriving late at a pickup location, a change in delivery instructions, or a carrier issue can quickly affect a customer’s schedule.
A freight brokerage earns its value partly through how it handles those situations.
King of Freight’s Broader Shipping Services
King of Freight’s business has grown around several freight transportation needs, including full truckload and less-than-truckload shipping. These services address different shipment situations, so businesses need to consider the size and requirements of their freight before choosing an option.
Full truckload shipping is generally appropriate when a shipment requires most or all of a truck’s available capacity. It can make sense for larger shipments, dedicated transportation, or freight that needs to move directly between pickup and delivery points.
Less-than-truckload shipping works differently. Smaller shipments can share trailer capacity with freight belonging to other customers, which can be useful when a company does not have enough freight to justify an entire truck.
The important point is that there is no single shipping method that works for every business. Freight volume, destination, timing, handling requirements, and available capacity all affect the transportation decision.
That is where working with a freight brokerage can be useful. Instead of trying to arrange every transportation detail internally, a business can provide the shipment information and work with the brokerage to arrange transportation.
Growing Beyond the Original Wichita Market
Although Wichita remains central to King of Freight’s identity, the company’s development has extended beyond the city. Public information about the business has described expansion into other markets as the organization continued to grow.
This makes sense for a freight brokerage because freight itself is rarely confined to the market where the brokerage is located. A Wichita business may ship products to another state, while a carrier in a different region may be looking for freight heading in a particular direction.
A brokerage connects those moving pieces.
The broader a brokerage’s network becomes, the more transportation relationships it can potentially draw upon when arranging shipments. That does not mean every carrier is appropriate for every load. Carrier qualifications, equipment requirements, route availability, and customer expectations still need to be considered.
King of Freight’s website specifically emphasizes carrier vetting as part of its operation. The company states that drivers in its vetting system must have the appropriate qualifications to handle customer freight.
For shippers, that type of process is worth paying attention to because the broker is often the link between the business and the carrier physically transporting its goods.
What the Company’s Growth Says About Freight Brokerage
The development of King of Freight is also a useful example of how the freight brokerage industry operates. A brokerage can begin with a relatively small team, but increasing shipment volume creates pressure on nearly every part of the business.
More customers mean more loads to quote. More loads mean more carrier coordination. More shipments in transit mean more tracking and customer communication. More deliveries mean more paperwork and billing work afterward.
That is why growth in freight brokerage is not simply about increasing sales.
A company needs operational systems that can keep pace with the number of shipments being handled. It also needs employees who can respond when transportation plans change.
King of Freight’s shipping process reflects this approach. Customers provide load details, receive pricing, approve the shipment, and then the company’s team monitors the freight while it is in transit. Once delivery is completed, the company handles the necessary documentation and billing process.
For a business that ships freight regularly, having this process clearly defined can make day-to-day transportation easier to manage.
The Wichita Connection Remains Part of the Story
The history of king of freight is closely connected to Wichita’s business community. Local reporting has documented the company’s expansion, office moves, hiring activity, and development as it became a larger freight brokerage.
That local connection is still meaningful because the company began in Wichita and has continued to maintain its headquarters there while expanding its reach.
The story also shows why freight businesses can have a broader impact on the communities where they operate. A growing brokerage needs employees, office facilities, technology, business services, and relationships with other companies.
At the same time, its customers may be located far outside the city.
For King of Freight, that creates an interesting balance. Wichita remains the company’s home base, while its work connects shippers and carriers across different states and transportation markets.
Why the Story Matters to Businesses That Ship Freight
For a business choosing a freight brokerage, the history of a company can provide context, but practical service details should remain the main focus. Shippers need to understand how a broker handles quotes, carrier selection, tracking, communication, delays, paperwork, and delivery.
King of Freight’s development under Mike Ricklefs provides a useful example of how those needs can shape a brokerage as it grows. The company’s expansion required more employees, larger facilities, broader transportation relationships, and systems capable of handling additional shipment volume.
The basic requirement has remained the same, though. Businesses need freight moved from one place to another without having to manage every transportation detail themselves.
That is the role King of Freight has built its business around since its Wichita beginnings in 2008. Its story is ultimately tied to the practical work behind freight shipping, from finding transportation and coordinating carriers to keeping customers informed while their shipments are on the road.
