History
Atlas Van Lines traces its roots back to 1948 when a group of 33 entrepreneurs formed a cooperative for the interstate transportation of household goods from coast to coast. The group took the name "Atlas Van Lines" and opened a new headquarters building in Evansville, Indiana.
The company changed ownership structure in the 1980s, when stock was offered to the public. After a hostile takeover attempt, in 1988 the company returned to ownership by its agents. Atlas expanded rapidly in the 1990s and established Atlas World Group as the holding company for Atlas Van Lines, Inc. and seven subsidiaries.
On April 18, 1996 Atlas announced the purchase of Red Ball Corporation, which at the time was the 13th largest household mover in the United States. This included two subsidiaries: American Red Ball International, an international freight forwarder based in Seattle, Washington and American Red Ball Transit Co. based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Red Ball specialized in the moves of US military personnel. In 2001, Atlas sold American Red Ball Transit, the domestic subsidiary, to its management.
In 1997 the company announced the two largest conversions in the history of the van line industry with the joining of Atlantic Relocation Systems (more than 600 vehicles) and Bekins Northwest (more than 250).
In 2000, Atlas' parent organization "Atlas World Group" purchased a controlling interest in Cornerstone Relocation Group, a full service global relocation management company based in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. The purchase of Cornerstone allowed Atlas to offer expanded global relocation services to its corporate transportation clients.
Over a two-year period, Atlas US implemented a document management system to better manage their paper-based documents, streamline business processes, and reduce operating costs. In late 2006, Atlas Canada successfully implemented its own imaging project.
2008 marked the 60th year in the moving and storage industry for Atlas Van Lines, and the company attained registration for its quality management systems according to the ISO 9001:2000 standard. In 2009, Atlas, among the first in the industry, received the ProMover designation, a quality credential from the American Moving & Storage Association. Atlas also acquired principal interest in Smart Move, the moving and storage industry's most flexible container service.
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