History

Transport Service Co. ("TSC") was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1946 by John V. Crowe, II to transport fuel oil in the Midwest. The opportunity to provide fuel oil transportation services in the Midwest arose during World War II. Historically, fuel oil was transported throughout the United States via tank cars on the nation's railroad system. However, during the war, the rail system's tank cars were dedicated to carrying oil to the coasts to fuel the war effort. This created a need for oil transportation services in the Midwest and an opportunity which resulted in the creation of Transport Service Co.

John V. Crowe, III joined his family's business in 1955 and continued its focus on the transportation of petroleum products until natural gas began to replace fuel oil as the primary heating fuel in the Midwest. As a result of this trend, the Company expanded its chemicals business. In 1967, TSC saw an additional growth opportunity in the transportation of food grade products and subsequently acquired a Decatur, Illinois based transporter of soy bean oil. After this acquisition, TSC expanded relationships with existing customers and fostered new relationships in the vegetable oils business through its attention to customer service. The strength of TSC's vegetable oils business led to the development of TSC's transportation of other higher value, quality sensitive food products such as corn syrup. In 1972, TSC expanded its chemical business through the acquisition of the chemical transportation operations of Refiners RTT. Strong diversified growth of TSC's business resulted in the creation of separate Chemical and Food Grade divisions in 1990.

Effective March 1, 2008 Kenan Advantage Group (KAG), the nation's largest bulk transportation and logistics provider to the petroleum and niche chemical industries, completed the acquisition of Transport Service Co.  

Today

Transport Service Co. is one of the largest tank truck carriers in the United States, and is also one of the leading independent tank truck carriers of Sweetener products. TSC conducts its business through two separate divisions, Chemical and Food Grade. The Chemical Division ( 60% of revenue ) provides tank truck carrier services to chemical manufacturers, while the Food Grade division ( 40% of revenue) focuses on serving manufacturers of bulk liquid food products. TSC employs 700 non-union drivers, utilizing 700 late model tractors and 1400 specialized, stainless steel trailers.