The history of the “DALZOCCHIO” family, of Italian origin, begins in a place called “Toca da Onça” in the Espinheiros district in the hinterland of the town of Itajaí (SC), Brazil. Emílio Dalçóquio and Rosa Orsi Dalçóquio had nine children. Cecília, Augusto, Otílio, José, Maria, Arnaldo, Carolina, Dalcizio and Luiz (listed in order of birth). All the children were raised on a farm, with the daily routine typical of humble folk, with their feet firmly planted on the ground, lots of will power, honesty, humility and, above all, a deep-rooted faith. In the fields they planted fruits and vegetables such as: corn, sugarcane, potatoes, manioc, bananas and beans. Through this close contact with the land, their love of the simple life was transmitted to everything they did, and they lived by the dictate that if a job’s worth doing, its worth doing well.

In 1960, Augusto, Private “396”, served his military duty in the fifth artillery unit in Curitiba (PR), where he managed to obtain his first driver’s license, driving a three-gear gasoline 6x6, GMC, 1945. After fulfilling his duties with the Armed Forces, Augusto took a job as an assistant driver for the Itajaí municipal council, and then as an assistant driver for Cia Antártica, where he distributed soft drinks and beer. His third job included trips to western Santa Catarina to collect wood bound for the coastal area of the State.

In 1964, with the help of relatives and friends, he bought a 1960 Internacional, box truck, with 12,000 liter fuel capacity, and managed to join Transportes VANOLLI Ltda, where he distributed Ipiranga products. In that same year Augusto married Edemir de Souza (Mrs. Mirian), who was only fifteen at the time. From this union, there were four children: Emilio (1965), Maria Regina (1966), Isabel Cristina (1974) and Augusto Emilio (1975).

In 1968, the company “TRANSPORTES AUGUSTO DALÇOQUIO” was created, accredited by Petrobrás Distribuidora, which, at the time, was making its initial foray into the South of Brazil in the distribution of Oil Derivates and Fuel Oil. Transportes Augusto Dalçoquio began with a fleet of five trucks:

• A Mercedes Benz – model: LP 321;
• An F.N.M.- model: D 11000 – National Engine Manufacturer ( known as a Fenemê or Alfa Romeo);
• A Gas Internacional;
• Two gas Chevrolets, all box trucks, with capacity of around 12,000 liters.

In 1969 one of the first Petrobrás Gas Stations in Santa Catarina was launched, the Irmãos Dalçoquio, a place for meeting friends, relatives and, especially, clients.

In 1975, the Company’s name was changed to TRANSPORTES DALÇOQUIO LTDA, with Augusto Dalçoquio as its owner, strengthening the partnership with Petrobrás. At that time, the fleet had around fifty trucks. In 1978, the company implemented a new business segment, the transport of toxic and corrosive products, i.e.: Sodium hydroxide, Sulfuric Acid and 98% Nitric Acid.

In 1981 there was another innovation: The transport of minerals and fertilizers with thirty-ton tipper trucks between Santa Catarina and São Paulo. In June 15, 1983, during the month of the great floods in Vale do Itajaí, the partnership with Petrobrás Distribuidora was signed (when Petrobrás Distribuidora took over 40% of the company's shares), and the company became TRANSPORTES DALÇOQUIO S/A, now with a fleet of about 150 trucks.

Following the National Privatization Plan, Petrobrás Distribuidora sold its share in all the affiliated companies, including its share in Transportes Dalçoquio S.A. A competitive tender was held by BNDES (the bank in charge of the privatization of state-owned companies), through the São Paulo Stock Exchange. The shares were acquired by Mr. Augusto Dalçoquio (95%) and his sister-in-law, Maria Joana Dalçoquio (5%) who then became the owners of all the capital of Transportes Dalçoquio S.A., changing its legal designation to Transportes Dalçoquio Ltda. This change from a public limited company to a "LIMITED" liability company occurred on June 15, 2001, a coincidental date, as this was also the date on which the partnership with Petrobrás Distribuidora had started 18 years before.

Family Origins

Dalçoquio comes from "Dal zocchio", that is the city of "zocchio" near Trento, northen Italy. At the end of the 19th Century, these immigrants settled in Santa Catarina, near the city of Brusque, in a place called Barracão (30 km west of Itajaí).

There were two branches of the family at the beginning of the 20th Century: One branch settled in Mato Grosso, and the other remained in the Itajaí area. The families translated Dalzocchio to Dalsocchio. During the 1940s and 1950s, the name became Dalsoquio amongst the families that remained in Santa Catarina. However, Dalçoquio with a “Ç" was adopted in the 1960s, when Augusto Dalsoquio Neto, a private enlisted in the military, became Augusto Dalçoquio.