Where Did It All Start

It started with a vision that if you are willing to work hard, treat your employees with respect, be fair to your customers and remain loyal to your vendors, you can probably become successful and help make all of the people you touch successful along with you.

Over 50 years ago, Jerry Carlton began the journey into the business world that eventually led him to what is now AWL Transport and build it into the multifaceted company it is today. With a simple start of a single truck and van trailer hauling potatoes out of Mantua Ohio to a Frito Lay plant, the owner expanded to add a couple of dump trucks with his brother, hauling sand and gravel to keep themselves busy when potatoes were out of season. Always looking forward, Jerry took a chance and bought his first Flatbed trailer to started hauling precast products out of a new plant that opened in Aurora Ohio and needed some new carriers to haul their products over the state line into Pittsburg Pennsylvania. With a lot of nights away from family, hauling produce, building products and eventually steel, hard work, led him to become one of the premier steel hauling flatbed carriers in the Midwest.

We still proudly represent some of the oldest companies making and processing steel that still remain in operation. We also have expended our reach to include an ever-growing list of new high technology companies that have blossomed into the forefront of the manufacturing arena. Over the years we have expended our reach to many other types of hauling, including building products, oversized and overweight loads, dedicated logistics services, and a growing dry van operation.

We are most proud to celebrate drivers who have remained with our family for over 40 years. Through good and bad economic years, we have been blessed to have enjoyed a low employee turnover that has been a major reason for our success. We are also proud to reflect on vendor relationships where a handshake and a person’s word are what sets the stage for who we do business with. We have long term business relationships that extend over multiple generations.