Andrus Transportation Services is the largest trucking company in Southern Utah and the third largest in the state of Utah. Andrus Transportation Services co-owner Mary Andrus said the family business dates back to 1972.

According to a written history of the company, Mary and her husband, Jim Andrus got into the trucking business in Mesquite, Nev., when 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©ˆ to California. He then built an office under the carport of his house, and launched a crew of dispatchers, customer service representatives and accounting personnel. The business grew to about 17 employees. Eventually, however, the office became so overcrowded, that the Andrus©ˆs moved to a larger yard for the trucks to park. A trailer was also brought onto the property to house office staff. A shop was also built for repairing the growing fleet of Andrus trucks.

In 1986, Bill Andrus, Jim's brother, who had been driving truck for many years, became a business partner. Andrus Transportation Services later moved in 1988 to 3050 East 630 North in St. George while the repair shop was located in Middleton. Today, Andrus Transportation Services has terminals in Fontana, Calif., Denver, Colo., Las Vegas, Nev., Dallas, Texas, and St. George. The corporate office is also located in St. George. The company specializes in on-time delivery with reefer, freight and dry van services.

While licensed in all 50 states, Andrus Transportation Services does most of its business in 11 western states. The company has also kept pace with the latest technology available in the trucking industry. For example, every truck owned by Andrus Transportation Services is equipped with a satellite dish so company officials know exactly where each truck is at any given time. A computer keyboard on every truck also allows truckers and company dispatchers to stay in constant communication. Through this technology, corporate headquarters updates the exact locations of all of its trucks every 45 minutes.

Recently, Andrus Transportation Services purchased 40 trucks. Within the next year, Andrus Transportation plans to expand its fleet to 500 new trucks.