The Bestway International team has always understood: There is no telling when they might get called into action, and you’ve got to be ready at all times.
That reality manifested on July 24, 2025, when a train carrying hazardous materials derailed in Meeker County, Minnesota – about 25 miles southwest of St. Cloud.
As the quiet Thursday night in this rural setting was shattered by a rail pileup, the first bit of news was encouraging: It did not appear any of the hazardous material being transported had leaked, so there was no threat to the public.
But the cleanup was still a massive job, and a Kansas City-based company that specializes in responding to train derailments realized it needed trucks, and fast.
“It was 8 p.m. on a Thursday night, and we got a call,” says Bestway CEO Jay Devers. “He said, ‘We need trucks!’”
The situation was urgent. The railroad was losing money by the second and facing a massive backlog of trains.
The task was challenging on multiple levels. Not only was the cleanup task enormous, but it was in a farmer’s field with nothing but soft ground. Especially in late summer, that would make the surface extremely difficult for the trucks to drive on – unless gigantic mats were laid down for the trucks and the cranes that would be needed.
Bestway’s team went to work immediately, reaching out to as many carriers as could be reached – booking the first 20 flatbeds within a few hours to make their way to Meeker County. In addition to the cleanup work they would need to do, the carriers would also need to transport materials to help with the task at hand.
By the time the operation was in full gear, Bestway had sent a total of 50 trucks and routed all the necessary swamp mats to the site.
Finding so many trucks at that hour of the night required some creativity. Bestway tapped its carrier network and hit the spot market to find every available carrier. Even under the time crunch, the Bestway team was careful to vet each carrier to ensure top quality – because a job like this had to be handled professionally.
“It was a massive hodgepodge of who was available,” Devers recalls. “In an emergency situation like that, we spent the weekend keeping on top of the situation and making sure we were helping them get the best outcome possible.”
Because Bestway was able to deploy the 50 trucks so quickly, the cleanup was completed fast enough to resume operations immediately, while the railroad was able to limit its costs and avoid penalties.
“You’re never really off duty in our business,” Devers says. “Being ready and knowing what to do is part of the job. And while we had never before been faced with that exact situation, we knew we could work to deploy our carrier network and get them to the site to help produce the best outcome. We’re very glad things returned to normal as quickly as they did, and we’re glad the response team trusted us.”