Virgil Kandel first incorporated his small company in 1959, it was then called Kandel Produce Co., Inc. Kandel Produce bought and sold truckloads of produce under the authority of the U.S Department of Agriculture. Kandel Produce also arranged for transportation of the loads. In 1970 Kandel Produce was purchased by Joseph Capak, the proprietor of Seaway Reefer Service in Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Capak then hired our former president, Richard Daniels, to operate and manage Kandel Produce. Through the 1970's and early 1980's Seaway acted as an agent for a variety of large trucking companies. The produce business was seasonal. Mr. Daniels would operate Kandel Produce in the summer and help Mr. Capak manage Seaway Reefer Service during the winter months.

    Kandel Produce and Seaway Reefer were sold to Richard Daniels in 1984. Seaway Reefer was a good complement to Kandel Produce, because of its strong customer base in the food industry in the Cleveland area. These two companies were merged to form Kandel Transport, Inc. in 1989; at the same time Kandel acquired I.C.C. authority.

    During the early 1990's Kandel Transport continued to act as an agent for outside carriers, and built up a fleet of company owned trucks and leased operators. In 1993 Richard Daniels retired, and both companies were sold to Mr. Jack Daniels. Following intrastate deregulation, we have aggressively pursued the short haul/intermediate haul market ranging from 500 to 800 miles between Chicago, Montreal, Boston, and Philadelphia.

    We opened a terminal in Fort Wayne in 2001; the main role this facility plays is to move freight from the Chicago area into our Akron, Ohio main terminal.

    Today, we are a regional refrigerated carrier serving Ohio and surrounding states. Our fleet consists of 36 company-owned tractors and 4 leased independent truck owners.

    We opened a 75,000 square foot cold storage facility in 1996. In 2007 we opened a second 70,000 square food cold storage facility less than 1 mile from the original. Kandel Cold Storage has become an integral part of our organization.