In 1970, Jim Andrus and his wife, Mary, got into the trucking business in Mesquite, Nevada. Jim bought an old truck with a crushed-in cab with an engine that worked. As the business grew, Jim added a few trucks, and in addition to a separate fertilizer business, he started hauling hay cubes to California. Jim then built an office under the carport of his house and launched a crew of dispatchers, customer service representatives and accounting personnel. Eventually the office became so overcrowded that Andrus Transportation moved to a larger yard for the trucks to park. A trailer was brought onto the property to house the office staff and a shop was built to repair the growing fleet of Andrus trucks. In 1986, Jim's brother, Bill Andrus, who had been driving truck for many years, became a business partner. Andrus Transportation moved the corporate office in 1988 to St. George, Utah and a repair shop was established a few miles away. Today, Andrus Transportation Services boasts a modern fleet of 320 tractors and 800 trailers. The company that started out as a local produce service now specializes in on-time delivery of refrigerated and dry van freight, with headquarters in St. Andrus has additional terminals, located in Fontana CA, Dallas TX, and Salt Lake City, UT. Andrus Transportation has drop yards in Phoenix, AZ, Las Vegas, NV, Denver, CO and Northern, CA. While licensed in all 50 states, Andrus Transportation Services does most of its business in the 11-western states. The company has kept pace with the latest technology advancements in the trucking industry, including Qualcomm communication and tracking devices in every tractor and GPS tracking devices on over 75 percent of our trailers. A New Era at Andrus Transportation
In October 2010, James R. Andrus (Jimmy), one of Jim and Mary’s children, was promoted to President of Andrus Transportation. Jimmy came up through the business and has held many key positions of responsibility over the years, including serving as the current President of SUTA (Southern Utah Trucking Association). These positions and responsibilities have prepared Jimmy well for his new position and responsibilities. In addition to Jimmy’s promotion, Tav Andrus (one of Bill and Cloella’s sons) was promoted to Vice President of Maintenance. Tav also came up through the business and worked closely with his dad, Bill, in overseeing Andrus maintenance. Tav is now responsible for all Andrus maintenance shops and personnel. In April, 2011, Jim and Mary Andrus left behind full-time responsibilities at Andrus Transportation in order to serve as missionaries for their church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). Jim and Mary are now serving as LDS missionaries in the British West Indies Mission on the island of Tobago. Jim and Mary will complete their missionary service in October, 2012. In Memoriam
In April, 2011, Bill Andrus passed away after a lingering illness. Bill was known and loved by many in the St. George, UT and Mesquite, NV areas. Bill was a pillar in the St. George community as well as the trucking community and will be greatly missed. Cloella Andrus (Bill's wife) continues to work at our St. George shop.
