Le Mars Truck Stop rolls on with new owners

Kent Hanstein and Beth Dreckman are officially new owners of the Le Mars Truck Stop after taking the reins Oct. 16. Since the two have managed the business from its opening in December 2006, their ownership won't mean much of a change for them or their customers. [Click to enlarge]

The late Jim Brownmiller's dream of keeping a truck stop in Le Mars will live on even as ownership of the Le Mars Truck Stop changes hands.

Kent Hanstein and Beth Dreckman officially became the truck stop's new owners Oct. 16 -- but it's not much of a change for the two.

"We've been managing for the Brownmiller family since the day it opened," Hanstein said.

That was on Dec. 8, 2006.

"The original truck stop closed in June of '06," Hanstein said. "Jim bought it on an auction in August of '06."

Hanstein started working for Brownmiller in October 2006. Dreckman followed in November 2006.

After Brownmiller died in June 2008, his widow, Joyce, decided to sell the truck stop to Dreckman and himself, Hanstein said.

"Jim was always trying to sell it to us too," Hanstein said. "We've been working with Joyce on it about a year."

His decision to move from manager to co-owner-manager is simple, Hanstein said.

"I needed a job," he said. "And I wanted to help fulfill Jim's dream of keeping a truck stop going in Le Mars."

Dreckman said she became a co-owner-manager because she discovered after coming to work at the truck stop how much Le Mars needs one.

"It's really exciting to be part of something locally operated and owned in the Le Mars community," Dreckman said.

The new owners said they don't plan to make major changes to the gas station or restaurant.

"We're going to keep it business as usual," he said. "It's still going to be locally owned by two Le Mars area natives."

Both Dreckman and husband, Chad, and their four children, and Hanstein and wife, Jane, and their two children, live in Le Mars.

"We'd like to continue to do little updates and remodels as permitted," Hanstein said.

And there will be a new tasty addition to the restaurant's menu coming soon, chicken with a cajun flavor, he said.

Staying with tradition, gas station attendants will still pump gas and wash windshields for customers during designated hours Monday through Saturday, Hanstein said.

The Le Mars Truck Stop's name will stay the same, Dreckman added.

"We have lots of regular customers. They come in three or four times a day," Hanstein said. "We appreciate all past, present and hopefully future customers because without them we wouldn't be able to have a successful business in Le Mars, Iowa."