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Brink's history
Brink's company history timeline
Since 1859, Brink's, Incorporated has developed a proud history of service in the secure transportation and storage of money and valuables.
In 1860, Brink’s employees delivered luggage and parcels during the Republican National Convention, where an estimated 50,000 delegates and spectators assembled to see local dark-horse candidate Abraham Lincoln win the nomination over other contenders.
In 1871, the Great Chicago fire destroyed some 18,000 buildings, including the headquarters of Brink’s City Express.
By 1872, Brink’s ran 20 wagons to every part of the city three times a day and had begun service to the prosperous new suburbs.
When Perry Brink died of encephalitis at age of 43 in 1874, he left an estate valued at $2,654 to his wife and two children; eldest son Arthur Perry Brink, just 19 years old, became the company’s new leader.
In 1878, Brink’s was one of the first businesses in Chicago to install a telephone; the company was one of only 500 subscribers listed in the November 1878 Chicago telephone directory.
In 1879, four investors, including Arthur Brink, financed further expansion as the company sold stock and was incorporated for the first time.
In 1891, the company’s first shipment of money was made: six bags of silver dollars, each weighing 61 pounds, delivered from the Home National Bank to the Federal Building.
In 1893, Brink’s was the sole authorized delivery company for packages and money at the World’s Columbian Exposition, better known as the Chicago World’s Fair.
The Erie Railroad bought the Pennsylvania Coal Company in 1901, making it a subsidiary of its own mining and railroad operations.
Rates were modest: in 1904, Brink’s contracted to deliver payroll twice monthly to the Corn Exchange National Bank; the $12,000 payroll delivery cost $5 per trip.
In 1904, the veterinarian Doctor Frank Allen began caring for the company’s horses.
Clinchfield Coal had been formed in 1906 when Ledyard Blair, Thomas Fortune Ryan, and George L. Carter merged together several smaller coal companies.
The arch Brink's was first registered in 1912 and has been used continuously since.
Barton Allen was one of two Brink’s employees murdered on August 28, 1917 during a robbery at a payroll distribution site.
Brink's safe products have been offered to retailers since the 1920's; signs advertising their security have been nearly ubiquitous ever since.
By 1923, armored cars were being constructed of lightweight steel, but frames and floors were still made of wood.
In 1925, Brink’s introduced the pioneering Two-Key Safe.
In 1927, in a new strategy to deter robberies, Brink's logos began appearing on trucks and facilities that had previously been unmarked. "Money and Valuables, Safety and Dispatch" frequently bracketed the older shield logo, underscoring the company's increasing reputation for secure transportation.
1930: The Alleghany Corporation creates The Pittston Company to oversee some mining operations.
Brink’s was one of the few firms that continued to prosper during the Great Depression of the 1930’s.
By 1932, Brink’s had opened branches in 49 cities from coast to coast.
In 1934, the company officially changed its name to Brink's Incorporated and updated the shield logo with the new corporate style.
1935: The Alleghany empire crumbles, and Pittston is sold to private investors.
In 1937, during an initial public offering of the company’s stock, assets were listed at $2.5 million.
When Routh took over in 1939, Pittston's stock was down to 12.5 cents per share, and the company owed the Erie Railroad $10 million.
1944: Returning to financial health, Pittston makes significant investments in bituminous coal mining operations.
In 1945 Pittston and Clinchfield Coal jointly acquired 67 percent of the Davis Coal & Coke Company.
In 1947 Pittston acquired Lillybrook Coal Company to increase its coal reserves.
Postwar economic expansion created demand for new services, like parking meter collections, introduced in 1949.
17, 1950 at the Brinks Armored Car depot in Boston’s North End.
Nonetheless, a series of setbacks endangered the company in the middle 1950’s.
In 1951 it acquired the Metropolitan Petroleum Corporation, a wholesale and retail oil distributor in New York City.
1954: Bolstering its transportation division, Pittston acquires Motor Haulage Company and merges it into United States Trucking Corporation.
A devastating 1955 strike by Brink’s workers in Chicago and other cities drove many customers away.
Not until 1956, after a years-long investigation, were eight men found guilty of the crime.
In 1956, former president John Allen sold his large holdings in Brink’s to the Pittston Company, a holding company with interests in mining, petroleum and trucking.
In 1958 the ICC approved Pittston's proposal, but the Justice Department objected on grounds that it could violate antitrust laws.
In 1960 coal accounted for 36 percent of net income, oil for 31 percent, and transportation and warehousing for 33 percent.
In 1961, Brink’s began operations in France, the company’s first venture outside North America.
1962: Pittston completes its purchase of Brink's Inc.
Its share of the fuel-oils business in the northeast rose considerably, and by 1954 fuel oil accounted for 38 percent of Pittston's net income. It also entered the petrochemicals market by forming Metropolitan Petroleum Chemicals Company in 1965.
Under the leadership of its chairman, Nicholas T. Camicia, elected in 1969, Pittston spent heavily in its coal division, opening new mines and modernizing its production.
Expansion in the United Kingdom, Australia and Hong Kong followed in the 1970’s.
By 1970, the Air Courier group served 135 mainly United States cities, and was responsible for 10% of company revenue.
Through these efforts the coal division experienced a resurgence, and by 1971 it was contributing more than 55 percent of the company's net income.
Chairman Camicia appeared before a Senate hearing investigating the disaster in May 1972, and survivors filed a $65 million lawsuit against Pittston for psychological damages.
The energy crisis and the OPEC oil embargo squeezed Pittston's other divisions, but by 1976 the company's coal operations had expanded enough to bring in 91 percent of the company's profits.
In 1976 a federal grand jury began investigating possible antitrust violations in the armored-car business.
Pittston faced further legal action brought by the state of West Virginia, with whom it settled in 1977 for $4 million.
1978: Labor disputes and energy crises adversely affect Pittston's profits.
By the 1980’s, Brink’s again faced multiple challenges.
The current Brink's logo was first used in 1981 and adorns Brink's vehicles, facilities, employee uniforms and products in more than 100 countries.
In 1982 Pittston undertook its first major diversification in 25 years with the acquisition of Burlington Northern Air Freight for $177 million.
In 1983, Brink's Home Security opened its first branch office in Portland, Oregon.
1983: Pittston sells its oil business.
After several years of declining profitability, Brink's sold off its warehousing interests in 1984 and diversified into home-security services.
Nevertheless, Pittston, led by chairman, president, and chief executive officer Paul W. Douglas beginning in 1984, remained committed to developing its air-freight business.
In an attempt to recover these losses, Pittston devoted more resources to developing its low-sulfur coal sales, establishing the Pyxis Resources Company to market this product in 1986.
In 1987 it bought WTC Airlines, Inc., a group of companies specializing in air freight for the fashion industry, to expand Burlington's capacity and business.
Despite these efforts Burlington's initial performance was disappointing, posting a $19 million loss in 1987.
By the end of 1988 Pittston appeared to be on the road to recovery.
In 1988 the Bituminous Coal Operators' Association (BCOA), an industry trade group, had negotiated a new contract with the UMW in which the UMW promised to continue production in the coal industry without a strike.
Angry miners walked out on April 5, 1989, and sympathy strikes by other UMW members quickly followed.
The strike, marked by hostility on both sides, continued through the end of 1989 and cost Pittston's coal division $27 million that year.
Pittston and the UMW finally reached a settlement on January 1, 1990, with both sides making concessions.
Michael S. Dan became CEO of Brink’s Worldwide in 1991 and initiated an accelerated global expansion strategy.
In 1992, Brink’s began to manage the international logistics for high-value shipments of diamonds and jewelry.
By the end of 1993, as a result of the conversion to Tracking stock, the market value of the Pittston Company's common stocks had more than doubled.
Brink's CompuSafe service was introduced in 1995, bringing new security and cash handling solutions to retailers.
In 1996 profits were down to $15 million compared with $16 million the year before.
In late 1996 Pittston moved its headquarters from Stamford, Connecticut, to Richmond, Virginia.
The importance of international freight was emphasized in 1997, when two-thirds of Burlington's revenue came from shipments either traveling to or arriving from other countries.
In 1998, the Diamond and Jewelry group was merged with Air Courier to form Brink’s Global Services (BGS). Today, BGS serves more than 100 countries through a network of 900 offices on six continents.
1999: The company announces plans to exit the coal business and change its trading stock structure to a single corporate issue.
Marcial, Gene, "Will it Pay to be Patient with Pittston?," Business Week, August 1, 2000.
The Brink's Cash Logistics brand was born in 2001 to call attention to the company's money processing services for banks.
Securing revenues of $1.9 billion in 2002, BAX Global operated as the company's largest unit.
In 2002, Pittston announced plans to sell off its remaining natural resources assets.
2003: Pittston changes its name to The Brink's Company.
Pittston changed its name to "The Brink's Company" in 2004.
In 2006, Brink’s worked in partnership with major banks to pioneer CompuSafe with Daily Credit, allowing retailers to receive credit for funds that are in the safe, but not yet retrieved by Brink’s.
Offering home, retail, and small business security services, Brink's Home Security grew to more than one million customers by 2008.
Threshold Financial Services, which offered ATM services in Canada, was also acquired in 2010.
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Brink's may also be known as or be related to Brink's, Brink's, Incorporated, Brink’s, Brink’s Inc and The Brink's Company.