We’ve been crushing shipping rates for a decade.
Here are a few milestones along the way.
Humble Beginnings
Keith Byrd and Travis Burt leave UPS®. Sitting in the broom closet of the surf shop owned by Byrd and Starcke, they come up with the idea for a company that will help shippers save money. Later that month, they land their first customer and launch the business. Two months later, they launch TI’s sister company, First Flight Solutions. At the end of the year, Doug Starcke leaves UPS® and joins the team.
First Trade Show
Keith, Travis, and Doug attend their first trade show, Surf Expo. A few months later they attend the industry’s biggest trade show, Parcel, for the first time, which leads to a major increase in TI’s customer base.
First Employee
Transportation Impact launches a new service — the TI audit. In May, Keith, Travis, and Doug leave the broom closet for a suite in a strip mall in their small town of Emerald Isle, and then they hire the company’s first employee.
``Movers & Shakers``
The company makes its first million dollars, having saved clients $9 million to date, and Keith is named a “Mover & Shaker” in Triangle Business Journal.
Ten, and Going Strong
Transportation Impact hires its tenth employee. Co-founder Travis Burt is awarded the Small Business Person of the Year by the Carteret Chamber of Commerce for 2011, and the Town of Emerald Isle declares September 16th “TI Day.”
One of America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies.
TI exceeds $11 million and saves its clients $47 million. As public recognition of the company’s success, co-founder Keith Byrd is featured in the Wall Street Journal, and the company makes the Inc. 5000 for the first year at position #547.
Back home in Emerald Isle, TI is presenting sponsor for the town’s St. Patrick’s Festival for the second year in a row, and the next month pledges $50,000 to Carteret Community College.
After hosting a local business forum in spring, the company closes the year by being named an Outstanding Employer by the Eastern Carolina Workforce Development Board, and Carteret County names December 12th “TIDay.”
NC Governor’s Award
TI hosts its second annual local business forum and again presents the Emerald Isle St. Patrick’s Day festival. That summer the company is honored twice, with a second consecutive listing on the Inc. 5000 and the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Workforce Development as an “Outstanding Employer.” TI hires its fifteenth employee.
More Growth. New Relationships.
TI exceeds $17 million in revenue and is now growing so rapidly that more staff have to be hired, and the company spills over into a second office. The success brings a third consecutive ranking on the Inc. 5000, and Travis and Keith are personally honored by being named to the NCCoast Power List.
Beginning a long-term association with NASCAR, TI sponsors Erica Enders of Elite Motorsports and signs a season-long associate sponsorship with Richard Petty Motorsports.
New Headquarters
TI has now grown out of suites B, C, and D in the strip mall and moves into its shiny new headquarters on Crew Drive, which receives visits from both the Lieutenant Governor and the Governor of North Carolina. The company again makes the Inc. 5000, ranks sixteenth on the NC Mid-Market Fast 40, and is named one of the Grant Thornton NC 100 largest private companies.
Gaining steam with the sponsorships, TI sponsors Free Admission Day at the local NC Aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores, the Emerald Isle St. Patrick’s Day Festival (for the fifth year), and the EI Beach Music Festival, and signs an extension for a second year with Erica Enders. TI rounds out the year by putting on a local basketball camp for the regional Boys and Girls Club with NBA legend Rasheed Wallace.
Best Workplace 2017
TI employees vote the company onto the Inc. Best Workplace 2017 list. TI saves clients $234 million and generates $31 million in revenue. As a sign of its maturation, in January TI forms an Advisory Board, and the next month creates the IMPACT1 program to formalize and expand the company’s philanthropy, which this year includes sponsorships of the legendary Durham Bulls, as well as the local St. Patrick’s Festival and Beach Music Festival.
5x Inc. 5000 Awardee
TI joins a very select group as a 5-time Inc. 5000 awardee. And the awards continue. The company also is honored with the BBB Torch Award of Marketplace ethics, NC Mid-Market Fast 40 (second year) and Grant Thornton NC’s 100 largest private companies (second year).
Business NC Small Business of the Year
TI rounds out the year with a placement as one of the winners for the Business North Carolina Small Business of the Year. In December, TI puts on a basketball camp for the regional Boys and Girls Club with NBA legends Dikembe Mutombo and Steve Smith.
CAI Ovation Award for Corporate Social Responsibility
TI starts 2018 with 24 new employees (bringing the total to 80) and a new award, one that everyone at the company is proud to receive: the CAI Ovation Award for Corporate Social Responsibility. The awards don’t stop there. TI receives #1 Best Employer NC and two-time Best Workplaces for INC.
This year, TI is projected to generate revenue of $40 million, while saving clients an average of 19.9% on their shipping spend, for a total of $400 million in savings. And we’ve got the contractors on the job again: We will be expanding into yet another new building in 2019.
