Could be UPS in 1907 but the oldest is a flatbed steel hauler out of Cleveland Kaplan Trucking http://www.kaplantrucking.com/map.html which got its ICC number in 1934. Saint Johnsbury Trucking Company was 72 years old in 1993 before it went under. Red Ball Moving has been around since 1919-- Here is a rich history of them-http://www.redball.com/long-distance-moving-company/our-rich-history/ Main Problem was that untill the 1940s most US Routes were not even paved yet outside of metropoliton areas.
Jones Motor Co… they’ve been going since 1894. You can read about their history at www.jonesmotor.com
Does anyone remember the truck line that was running before WWII named “Horton”…It appeared to be first class equipment. Believe orange and black were the colors…and some stainless steel trailers started to work into the fleet…{At least it appeared as stainless does now}…My point of viewing them on a regular basis was in Pennsylvania in Somerset Co. running east /west on Highway route 30. That was before the Pennsy Turnpike was put thru…So 30 was the main route thru that area. Also at the same time, another one comes to mind…Koontz Motor Freight. Equipment not as first class and most tractors, were smaller units…Fords…Might even have been GMC or Chevy…Believe they were a dull red on paint scheme…
We’re all glad to see you back, Modelcar.
First off, to remember anything from before the Penna. Turnpike was opened is certainly rare these days! I can’t say I recall Horton or Koontz trucks specifically, but I do remember the days when truckers were often the knights of the highway, and in Pennsylvania they had some challenging roads to drive. How I hated following a truck up a mountain that state!
Second, in the summer of 1966 I worked as a mechanic for the Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Company. This was a truck company whose roots lay in operating steam ships on Lake Erie between the two eponymous cities. The company couldn’t operate ships in the winter ice, so it began a trucking company to keep its freight customers. By 1966 the ships were long gone; the C&B truck company component was sold to Morrison Motor Freight about 1968 or so. I got to know a number of truckers and their culture, for which I’m grateful. For example, they had a great cafe on St. Clair Ave. called the Fifth Wheel; typical truck-stop food and delicious hot coffee.
Remember Spector-Mid States trucking? Pacific Intermountain Express? I used to like seeing the logo of the Preston Trucking Company (“the 151 Line”), and another company whose logo was a camel (“Humpin’ to Please”). Today I see trucks from A. Duie Pyle and Englander truck companies.
Those truck tractors I greased and oiled that summer were Whites and Diamond REO’s. Do you know they took 40 quarts of oil?
Thank You NKP Guy
Yes 40 qts probably worked pretty hard in those sizeable diesels.
Guess I didn’t think too much what I was asking…Kinda funny…I go back a ways. Born in '31 so I do have memory of before the Turnpike. Lots of memory in watching some of the construction. First rode on it about a week after it opened which was Oct. 1940…We rode from Somerset to Donegal. That way we got to go thru a tunnel. Laural Hill Tunnel…One of the longer of the 7 original ones when the first section was built. You know I slipped in here to do a quick email and figured I’d check out the Trains. forum…and now look at the time…I’ll try to visit more often…Nice to converse with you.
Used to be a Canadian trucking company named “Husband.” The name took up the whole side of the trailer. We’d see them on our trips to NY from MI on the “401.” Always kept a lookout for one that said “Wife.”
I chuckle every time I see A. Duie Pyle go by. Makes me think of a cow pasture in the early morning…
Me, too!
Mike-Terebecki is a Trucking Historian… There was a trailer museum
just found this=
https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2015/07/06/national-auto-and-truck-museum-obtains-only-known-parade-of-progress-trailer/#&gid=1&pid=2!
https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/vanishing-trucking-pioneers/author/mike-terebecki/
https://www.amazon.com/Vanishing-Trucking-Pioneers-Mike-Terebecki/dp/9991368159
Yeah, you’d think they’d change their name. They could probably add $10 million to their sales by simply coming up with a name that doesn’t conjure up a fresh cow paddy.
Must be Mr. Pyle didn’t like his first name, which isn’t all that bad - Alexander…
Now, if his first name had been Gomer…[:)]
A good point & pun, johnny! [8-|]
But is anyone else here old enough to remember when the name of Ernie Pyle was held in the highest regard by our fathers’ generation, especially by the dogfaces?
Maybe the truck company knows that some of us never forget (such) a name.
Statement by President Truman, April 18, 1945
The nation is quickly saddened again by the death of Ernie Pyle. No man in this war has so well told the story of the American fighting man as American fighting men wanted it told. More than any other man he became the spokesman of the ordinary American in arms doing so many extraordinary things. It was his genius that the mass and power of our military and naval forces never obscured the men who made them. He wrote about a people in arms as people still, but a people moving
I was a manager for St. Johnsbury for 12 years - was there to the end. The sad part is that we made a profit right to the end - but a 13% junk-bond sell off by Sun Company (who owned us until about 1990) made the situation hopeless - especially when we had had to service the debt from three other regional carriers that they closed.
His work consists of The Vanishing Trucking Pioneers and The Trucking Pioneers Vol II through vol IX. The companies in each vol are discussed in alapabetical order. Each discussion has a short history (couple of pages) and a few full page black and white photos of their rigs. In many cases there is also a map showing the company’s service area. Vol III-X each have a Classic Photos Section of about 16 pages of color photos. There are about 30-50 companies per book. Unfortunately there is no overall index for the series and there are also many companies that are not included.
Remember going to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn YEARS ago and seeing the restored very early Freightliner COE they have. Didn’t realize that Freightliner was started by Consolidated Freightways because they weren’t happy with the tractors that were available at the time so built there own. They were sort of around until last year as Conway, now EXPO.
CAROLINA had a good run, from 1932 until 1995 when they sold out to ABF.
CAROLINA dominated east of the Mississippi from the late 60’s through the 80’s.
Sheldon
Truck Lines had to get ICC authority to run a certain route and if I recall had to prove to the ICC that the route was not served adequately by rail.
The current Navajo freight lines is based on the former Digby Golden Arrow and Ringsby lines.
It was a little more complex than that, but yes, territories were regulated to prevent too much or too little competition. Motor carriers generally had to buy existing carriers to get into new areas, or buy part of a territory from an existing carrier not interested in the business in that area.
And of course rates were controlled as well. Your only way to compete was service.
Sheldon