History

The Columbia Group of Companies was founded in 1990 with its successful all-water container barge service, Columbia Coastal Transport. The company began with one barge and one service operating between New York and Boston. Twenty years later, the company is recognized as the premier container barge feeder operator in the U.S., and the greenest and most efficient mode of container transportation available today.

Under the leadership of Bruce Fenimore, President and CEO, Columbia Coastal continued to expand its reliable weekly services all along the Atlantic seaboard, operating as many as 11 barges at one time connecting multiple US ports.  The company also gained expertise in handling project cargo, government and military cargoes through its Project Management Division.

Presently the company operates four US-flag barges engaged in services in the Mid-Atlantic and Chesapeake regions. Freeport, Bahamas and Cuba connections are also available on demand

 In 2002, Columbia Group acquired the operating assets of Palmer Industries, Inc. and renamed the company, Columbia Container Services (CCT). Prior to the acquisition, Palmer Industries was a well established provider of off-dock container/trailer storage, handling, trucking and repairs in the Port of New York/New Jersey since 1978. They grew to become the leading provider of off-dock depot services in the region, a reputation that CCT maintains today.

Columbia Container Services offers the same high quality services, working with companies like GE and UPS since 2006 to store and repair trailers; with leasing companies such as Textainer, Gold Container Corp, Florens Container Services and Triton Container; and with major steamship lines including Evergreen, Zim, Hanjin and Yang Ming.

CCS also runs a first-class off-dock terminal for Maher Terminals in Port Newark, and a similar operation in the Port of Boston. These well managed facilities lessen port congestion, create faster equipment turn-around times, and increases port productivity by removing non-essential equipment from the terminal.

As demand for the trucking of empty containers grew, Columbia Group established Columbia Intermodal, the trucking and chassis pool management arm of the business. In Port Newark, Columbia Intermodal operates a fleet of trucks for container repositioning and for other services as needed. In the Port of Boston, CI manages their off-site chassis pool.

In September of 2008, principals Bruce Fenimore, President and CEO, and John Armstrong, Executive Vice President, acquired all three Columbia Group companies. Their key objectives are customer satisfaction and quality performance in all services, and to successfully meet expected cargo volume increases on the U.S. east and gulf coasts. .    

The Columbia Group of Companies is a forerunner of the “green movement” with Columbia Coastal already positioned as the greenest and most efficient mode of containerized freight transport available today.  With 20 years of experience serving customers on the Marine Highway, Columbia is poised to expand its reach as shippers, ports, carriers and the U.S. government make strides toward lessening the carbon footprint of cargo transportation.  With their integrated approach to cargo management, Columbia Group is a one-stop logistics resource for today’s smart commercial and project cargo shippers