We have a passion for finding the right solutions to your unique shipping challenges. We want to help you cut costs and increase efficiency while creating a genuine working partnership with you, our client. By truly listening and seeking to understand what our partners need, we set SOAR apart from average, run-of-the-mill carriers. Being truly different from other carriers means approaching your shipment with unmatched experience, having a sense of ownership in what we do, and loving our work. When are we satisfied? When we exceed your expectations!
Our team takes any shipping situation and analyzes it from the point of view of you, our client, and the point-of-view of the driver. We build solutions that are beneficial to both. In the end we create a win-win situation for all parties involved.
Kelle’s Transport Services, Inc., was founded by Kelle Simon in 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Kelle, an experienced industry veteran, built his business intent on using the best equipment, the latest technology and with an emphasis on making his drivers successful. In 2014, Kelle had grown the company to 150 trucks. It was in that year that he made two decisions that would alter the course of the business.
Kelle wanted to continue growing the company into the top-notch outfit he knew it could be. He also wanted to make Kelle’s Transport scalable which would make growth easier and more manageable. First, he partnered with AVC Partners and Marc Kramer, a private equity group with a focus on transportation and logistics. Marc Kramer had a track record of helping entrepreneurs like Kelle. The second thing Kelle did was acquire Specialized Express, a 100-truck fleet, located in Columbus, Ohio. Then, Marc Kramer, chairman of the private equity group, tapped into his industry network. Soon Kramer was able to attract new leadership to the company. In January of 2018, the company was rebranded as SOAR Transportation Group.
After two years of working to invest and refine its operating platform, SOAR partnered with the Shankle family and acquired their 81 year old family business, Robert Heath Trucking, located in Dallas, Texas. During this time amid unprecedented conditions in 2020 SOAR also acquired multiple logistics companies based in Chattanooga, Tennessee and formed what is now SOAR’s logistic arm Network Transport. With the acquisitions now complete, SOAR and Network operate over 350 trucks and are exceeding $200M in annual revenue.
Today our focus is on these core ingredients: a strict emphasis on safety, creating a culture of success around our drivers and non-driver employees, keeping our blue-chip customer base top priority, investing in the latest equipment and technology, and maintaining the highest professional standards in all aspects of the company. We believe these core ingredients will ensure our continued growth.
Transportation is a unique industry. We are proud to be a part of it. We feel deeply about our mission to offer a family culture to our drivers and employees while operating at a top-notch professional level. We want to continue our growth and continually offer exceptional service to our clients, now and in the future.
Kelle’s Transport Service (KTS) doors open with a single used tractor and trailer.
Tractor count grew up to 30 in the first year.
Tractor count grew up to 30 in the first year.
Tractor count continues to grow to 50 tractors exceeding $6 million in revenue.
Over 100 tractors and 175 trailers and exceeding $17 million in revenue.
Over 100 tractors and 175 trailers and exceeding $17 million in revenue.
KTS Logistics launched by customer demand.
Up to 130 tractors and 197 trailers with $24 million in revenue.
Up to 130 tractors and 197 trailers with $24 million in revenue.
AVC partners acquires KTS and Specialized Express.
Over 325 tractors and 500 trailers exceeding $54 million in revenue.
Over 325 tractors and 500 trailers exceeding $54 million in revenue.
Moved to what is now SOAR’s Headquarters in Salt Lake City, UT with a 10-bay maintenance facility on 8 acres.
New leadership team recruited into organization and operational realignment.
New leadership team recruited into organization and operational realignment.
KTS rebranded as SOAR Transportation Group.
Independent Contractor program launched.
Independent Contractor program launched.
5 successful acquisitions finalized in Dallas, TX and Chattanooga, TN.
5 acquisitions:
Operating over 350 trucks and 500 trailers exceeding a combined total of $200+ million in revenue.
Separated the trucking and logistics companies under the SOAR umbrella. SOAR Transportation Group as the asset trucking company and Network Transport as the non-asset company.
Our IT team has extensive experience and a deep understanding of both the complex world of IT and the challenges of maintaining a successful trucking operation. Because we know both worlds, we’re able to tackle complex issues and resolve them in a cutting-edge, creative way. Our team trains every employee on the use of internal software. With more employees involved in developing critical solutions, we create tremendous efficiencies within the company, benefiting our customers, drivers and vendors. Some of the technology we take advantage of are:
Safety is our number one priority. This means keeping our equipment at the highest industry standards and providing an over-the-road maintenance program with 24/7 coverage. We have a staff of 25+ employees dedicated to keeping downtime to a minimum, benefitting our drivers as well as our customers at two facilities, Dallas, Texas and Salt Lake City, Utah.
Building and maintaining the culture of the company is one of the most important tasks of the HR department. HR is one of the first points of contact for employees as they onboard employees and work with employees during their recruitment, hiring and employment lifecycle. HR serves as the hub for employees to the company in that they provide management of insurance benefits, company perks, and ensuring that employees are given the resources and support they need to be successful. They are also government facing, making sure of our compliance with state and federal employment laws.
Payroll works across all departments and across the entire company making sure our staff are paid correctly and on time. Payroll also works to make sure all state and federal laws are followed assisting with compliance to tax laws, processing changes in pay, tax recording and reporting, on boarding, processing bonuses, and many other behind-the-scene functions that help our company operate at a high level of efficiency every day.
Our Operations Team comes with over 100 years of combined transportation experience. This deep understanding of planning, customer engagement, dispatch and extended coverage gives SOAR a definite advantage as we provide service and overcome the challenges presented in each unique load. SOAR Operations Team is dedicated to providing safe and on-time services to our customers. We pride ourselves on being able to provide around-the-clock service to our customers, drivers and vendors.
Our SOAR financial team provides the largely unseen, but essential, back-office support that allows us to operate efficiently. This team provides the metrics, analytics and forward looking tools used to make both daily and long-range decisions that critically affect the company. The financial team makes sure customers, drivers and office employees get the services they need and deserve. Vital functions operating from this team include, accounting, AP, AR, billing, treasury, payroll, carrier services and other mission critical functions.
Each of our executive team members have over 20 years of experience in leading similar teams at some of the largest and reputable carriers in the industry across multiple transportation segments. And, each of our executive members have been a successful entrepreneur and owned their own transportation company. From over-the-road assets to logistics to expedited, we bring a deep bench and a vast knowledge base to our customers and teams. Our executive team is keenly focused on the development and growth of all our SOAR team members. We believe that if you take care of your team first then your team will take care of your customers, drivers and vendors, and the whole organization benefits.
When it comes to safety, there are no short cuts. If we cannot perform our tasks safely and legally, then we will not do it. Our goal is to be recognized as a top-tier safety organization. We are focused on compliance with all FMCSA regulations and minimizing risks to our drivers, the motoring public, our vendors and customers.
The best way to bring drivers to your company is to be straight up with them from the very beginning of the relationship, letting them know what is expected and letting them see and feel the company culture. We work hard to hire the most talented, safest drivers in the country and reward them for a safe job well done. This is the driver culture we promote, and this is what makes both drivers and companies successful.
Our sales team is committed to developing a highly desirable customer base of blue-chip clients, with the goal of selling profitable freight across both asset and non-asset businesses and provide our clients superior solutions at a competitive price point. We are gaining industry superiority by focusing on the verticals that we currently serve: Food and Beverage, Consumer Products, Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals, Paper and Packaging, and Construction and Automotive.
Drivers, both Company and Contractors, are the life-blood of any transportation company. In fact, there are only two positions in the transportation industry, drivers and driver support. We recognized this early on and have experienced it first-hand. Drivers have the hardest job in this country and arguably one of the most important, and we will always support them to the best of our ability.
Above all else we promote safety. These values are disseminated to the company, as a whole, from the top down and are nurtured through our team-based approach to problem solving and the future of not only our company, but the industry. Relying on our talented staff and leveraging diverse backgrounds within each department creates a cohesive and, we feel, unmatched support team for our drivers and independent contractors to succeed on the road.
SOAR Headquarters
977 West 2100 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84119
Network Transport Headquarters
807 Cherry St.
Chattanooga, TN 37402
Drop Yards
Ontario, CA
Dallas, TX
Pasco, WA
Stockton, CA
Phoenix, AZ
Amarillo, TX
Lubbock, TX
San Antonio, TX
Houston, TX
