Crowley Maritime Corporation

5 After two years, Crowley realized there was not sufficient trade to warrant service by both Crowley and TMT Trailer Ferry out of Miami. So, the company chartered its Miami tugs and barges to its competitor and discontinued its own service, while maintaining its PRML service out of the U.S. Gulf. However, the vessel time charter was short lived. Crowley purchased TMT Trailer Ferry two years later, and renamed it Trailer Marine Transport (TMT). And thanks to the late Ed Hopkins, former executive assistant to TMT President R.D. (Nick) Carter, optimism soared at TMT after the acquisition. "Ed did everything from advertising to sales, but had a very bad heart condition," Brickman said at the time. "Yet he would run up the stairs despite the concerns of co-workers, to whom he would always respond, 'No, I can't slow down. Don't you understand that we're building a new concept in transportation, and that can't wait!' His desire motivated many Crowley employees to work even harder. They reasoned if Ed could do it, they could too." Shortly after the acquisition, Crowley added Jacksonville, Fla., as a mainland port-of-call and added more single-deck barges to the fleet. Those vessels were later replaced by double- and then triple-deck barges to increase trailer capacity. Several of Crowley's new 9,000 horsepower Invader Class tugs were committed to the line haul service, including the Crusader and Invader, which were heralded for their power and ability to reduce transit times. Caribbean Expansion By 1976, Crowley's business had mushroomed into a group of several companies serving Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Leeward and Windward Islands, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, and Guatemala. The expanded services led to the formation of the Crowley Caribbean division. The company continued to grow its presence throughout the late 1970s, adding more barges and retrofitting several existing ones with auto-carrying racks. Crowley also strategically increased its number of tank trailers and refrigerated trailers to further serve the community. By 1978, the company had over $154 million invested in its Puerto Rico business and built the largest Ro/Ro barges in the world; the latter earning a spot in the 1980 Guinness Book of World Records. Barely fitting width-wise through the Panama Canal, these U.S-flag, triple-deck barges measured 580 feet in length, 105 feet in width, 57 feet in height, and could each carry 374, 40-foot highway trailers. The first of these new barges to enter service was La Reina, Spanish for "The Queen," followed by El Rey, El Conquistador and La Princesa. These triple deck barges became the company's celebrated super barge fleet. By 1976, Crowley's business had mushroomed into a group of several companies serving Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Leeward and Windward Islands, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Guatemala. The expanded services led to the formation of the Crowley Caribbean division. Trailers loading onto an early seatruck.

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