Vaughan Xpress, Inc. is a company new and old at the same time. Through reorganization of an existing business, the current company name was initiated in 2009 with a deliberate intent: re-fit with a name more appropriate to what we do, and return to the family name to show our pride and experience.
Indeed, our experience with trucking and logistics goes back four generations to 1952, when Alvin Vaughan began operating as an agent for the Carolina Freight Carriers Corporation, picking up and delivering local freight with a pair of straight trucks. Alvin's son Raymon Vaughan began apprenticing in 1956.
In 1978, Raymon responded to local customers, who asked him to fill a void created by the Railroad's decision to close the rail ramps in the West Ga. area. Obtaining authority in 1978 to haul piggy back trailers to and from the rail heads in Atlanta, his next step was to buy two used tractors, an International and a GMC. Deregulation after 1980 offered another opportunity, so Raymon applied for 48-state authority and bought an "almost new," cab-over Kenworth to begin hauling. Many tractors later, Raymon is still active with Vaughan Xpress.
Raymon and his wife, Jerrell, are President and Vice President. Sonyia Kitchens, their daughter, is General Manager, the chief of operations; and their son, Terry Vaughan, heads up our in-house maintenance operation. As a not so incidental note, Terry has been known to fill in almost anywhere needed: drive a load, haul hard-to-handle wrecked units, hoist a wide load onto a flat bed, and perform and/or plan other specialized services. Also among the operations managers is Chase Vaughan, their grandson. The dynamic relationship among them is truly a family thing, which spreads to include the drivers and the office staff and maintenance crew. We work together, cry together, laugh together; and together we succeed as we support each other and our customers.
Through the ensuing years, our experience has increased, even as we operated under several company names: Vaughan Cartage Co. Inc., LaGrange Warehouse and Distribution Center Inc., and now Vaughan Xpress, Inc.
Throughout this span of time, the Vaughan brand has continued its local presence and grown into national delivery – 48 states. Within that span, the family made a decision to leave the trucking portion of its business to pursue other venues; yet the severance was very temporary. Transportation, once in your veins, burns with an urgent emotion. The family, as a group, decided to return by adding local transportation to its local storage business. This addition, in turn, quickly grew into long-haul regional and then national, at the request of our customers.
Again, responding to our customer's needs, we expanded our warehousing over the past decade into 750,000 sq. ft. locally and partnerships beyond. As our partner customer's needs changed, so did our offering. As they asked, we tried hard to perform and to step beyond our normal paradigm. Thus to our truckload delivery, we added oversize loading and delivery, specialized less than truck load, and the other services you can see at the tab above.
Year by year we took the Vaughan family values and made them our company values. Plus, we learned from our customers' values and processes and will continue to do so. Hence we dedicated ourselves to quality, expanded our drive toward energy-carefulness as a Smartway participant, and gladly expressed our patriotism and logistical care as a U.S. Customs Partner Against Terrorism.
All through, particular attitudes prevailed: Take care of the customer’s needs - always. Be flexible and say no reluctantly. Deliver on-time. Communicate carefully and often. Be available. Do all honestly and with integrity. Dedicate ourselves to quality. Exceed the customers’ expectations.
It is our expectation that we will maintain our past values and go on with learning from our customers. We will support our country, our fellow associates, our community, our environment. These expectations and more are the Vaughan Xpress experience.