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Stone Belt Freight began hauling Indiana limestone by truck in the early
1950s. In those days everyone knew limestone to be "America's building
stone." Landmarks such as the National Cathedral, the Pentagon, Rockefeller
Center and a host of other buildings and monuments all used the strong and
rugged stone quarried from the southern Indiana hills. Extracting the slabs
from the ground was challenge enough. Transporting it to the various
building sites in the area and beyond had its own demands.
At the time, the majority of the limestone moved by rail. Stone Belt
Freight bucked the trend and soon converted many limestone suppliers to
truck service. As a small company, we concentrated on providing good local
service to the limestone industry from our base in Oolitic, Indiana. We've
hauled stone for numerous schools, churches, homes, libraries and office
buildings in Indiana and neighboring states. The America United Life
Insurance Company building in Indianapolis was our largest project
prior to 2000. However, the new Keystone building in Harrisburg, PA equalled the 300 loads used in this project.
During motor carrier deregulation in 1980, Stone Belt Freight seized the
opportunity to expand and enter new markets. The country was undergoing a
building boom. And US Gypsum Company near Shoals, Indiana, was a major
supplier of gypsum wallboard. Seeing the advantage of consistent,
year-round shipments, we began hauling sheet rock for USG. In 1983 we
relocated our operations to Shoals and built a first-rate maintenance
garage on USG property. Starting small, we worked our way up to 40+ loads
per day for USG, displacing a much larger carrier in 2000.
With loads of gypsum, stone and other products moving out of Indiana on
Stone Belt Freight flatbeds, securing return hauls made good
transportation sense. Lumber, steel, bricks, pre-cast concrete and other
flatbed commodities all fit well into our transportation niche and allowed
us to become a full-service flatbed carrier both in and outside of Indiana.
Today some of our largest accounts are inbound customers. Stone Belt
Freight hauls raw materials and supplies to companies in southern Indiana
and transports their finished products to destinations across the country.
In 1993 we purchased a new office adjacent to our garage, allowing us to
expand operations to include dispatch, safety and recruiting. We are now
well positioned to travel new roads into the 21st century and continue to
search the horizon for new opportunities. Our goal in southern Indiana is
twofold-to seek out more customers and provide them with cost-effective
transportation solutions and hire dedicated drivers to help us achieve that
end. Stone Belt Freight.
We grew by 36% last year. Can we still grow more? You bet. We're looking for the right fit. It may be you.
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