Atlas Van Lines

Atlas Van Lines
Type	Private
Founded	1948
Headquarters	Evansville, Indiana, USA
Key people	Michael L. Shaffer, CEO
Industry	Moving & Storage
Revenue	$689.4M FY2004
Website	www.atlasworldgroup.com

Atlas Van Lines is a moving van company formed in 1948 by a group of 33 local moving firms and based in Evansville, Indiana. As an agent-owned company it is similar in form to a cooperative. Atlas provided a means to compete with other emerging alliances of moving van companies. 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. It presently has about 800 agents worldwide (in over 140 countries), of which 75 own shares in Atlas World Group, which controls Atlas Van Lines and other related companies. It is in fourth place in market share with about 10-11% of the US moving market (according to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics).

Red Ball

On April 1, 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 military personnel. In 2001, Atlas sold American Red Ball Transit, the domestic subsidiary to its management.

See also

• Atlas (mythology)

External links

• Atlas Van Lines web site