March 1936- Inter-State and Consolidated Freight Co. had combined operations in Detroit, Michigan in the Star Terminal Warehouse at 7831 West Fort Street. August 1936-a new $115,000 terminal being built in Chicago, Illinois November 1936- Indianapolis terminal located at 333 West Ohio Street, M. J. Steffanl, former terminal manager, has been appointed district traffic manager,… Continue reading History of Inter-State Motor Freight System- Part One

This is a list of all Class 1 common carriers listed by revenue in 1939. To be classified as a Class 1 carrier the company had to have revenues above $500,000. Many of the companies on the list are long gone. The majority on this list have been absorbed by other carriers.Eventually I’ll present a… Continue reading List of Class 1 Motor Carriers in 1939 Ranked by Revenue

This was part of a company advertisement in the Greenville, South Carolina newspaper on May 26, 1935. Three years later Poole was acquired by Horton Motor Lines, Inc. You may have heard about Horton, it was one of several large trucking companies that merged together in 1942 to form Associated Transport, Inc.  

Here we go again to the early years of trucking shortly after regulation by the Interstate Commission Commission started. This time we present another company you have never heard of, only because it grew fast and got bought quickly. This is the history of White Line Motor Freight, Inc. based in Des Moines, Iowa. They… Continue reading Companies You’ve Never Heard Of: White Line Motor Freight, Inc.

Our latest installment of our series in trucking companies you haver heard of before includes an unknown carrier that grew quickly in the 1950’s and then gobbled up in a merger. The company presented today is St. Louis-Nashville Freight Lines, Inc. which was based in St. Louis, Missouri.The earliest mention of the company came in… Continue reading Companies You Never Heard Of: St. Louis-Nashville Freight Lines, Inc.

Craun Transportation was based in the little town of Bettsville, Ohio which is close to Tiffin, Fremont, Fostoria and Toledo. Bettsville at the time had only about 1,000 residents and most worked for Basic, Inc. which made furnace linings used in making steel. In 1960 Basic had a research plant outside of town and its… Continue reading Companies You Never Heard Of: Craun Transportation Company

AA Trucking Inc 26 Main St CC Coser- secretary- treasurer, George H Lyon- traffic manager ABC Trucking Inc Clarence Gafeny- driver Acme Cartage 808 Seneca Street (shares building with Acme Fast Freight) Ralph G Brann- driver, Donald Ruthoff- general agent Acme Fast Freight 808 Seneca Street William M Cloyne- driver, Henry G Ebright Jr- checker,Lawrence… Continue reading Toledo, Ohio 1957 Trucking Employees

This is a list of those trucking companies that had terminals in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1936: Adkins Transfer Co. 350 W New York St Air City Motor Freight Co. 333 W Ohio St Anderson Motor Service 1412 N West St Bates Motor Transport Line 19 E Wilkins St Becraft Motor Express 333 W Ohio St… Continue reading Carriers Serving Indianapolis, Indiana in 1936

  Council Bluffs,  Iowa in 1957 was a city of 45,429 people just east of Omaha, Nebraska. Being so close to a prominent center of trucking, Council Bluffs was where a lot of employees of those trucking companies lived. Ringsby Truck Lines was the only company with a terminal actually in Council Bluffs. The others… Continue reading Trucking Employees In Council Bluffs, Iowa in 1957

From the March 1922 issue of Commercial Car Journal is this list of truck manufacturers in 1922 along with their addresses.  The numbers following the brand name represent the weight of the trucks made in tons.