C.H. Robinson history

According to popular legend, related by Lee Egerstrom in the St Paul Pioneer Press, Robinson 'sold out a couple of years later and ran off with Annie Oakley, the showgirl shootist of Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show fame,' dying shortly thereafter in 1909.

In 1918, Minneapolis became Robinson's headquarters, from which the company continued to expand until the war effort intervened some two decades later.

1919: Nash Finch moves C.H. Robinson Co. headquarters to Minneapolis.

C.H. Robinson’s entry into the trucking business came after the Federal Highway Act of 1956 expanded interstate commerce and the roadways of America.

In 1968, the firm entered the regulated truck business as a contract carrier named Meat Packers Express based in Omaha, Nebraska.

By 1976, the Nash Finch shares had been bought out and the company was 100% employee owned.

C.H. Robinson focused on using emerging technology, and adopted IBM mainframes in 1979.

And since produce freight was exempt from many of the transportation regulations in place prior to 1980, our early roots in the produce industry gave us a head start on developing strong business relationships, expertise, and supply chain solutions.

Robco Transportation Inc. was formed by merging Meat Packers Express with additional carriers three years later and was sold in 1986.

1989: Makes first international expansion by opening a logistics office in Monterrey, Mexico.

1990: Begins providing air cargo service.

In early 1993, Robinson bought a trucking operation based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in order to service Carlisle Plastics, whose Western Division was also based there.

In 1994, on the verge of celebrating its 90th anniversary, Robinson expanded its intermodal strategy with two purchases, Atlanta-based Commercial Transportation Services Inc. and Boston-based Bay State Shippers Inc., both for undisclosed amounts.

In 1995 the company entered the full-service logistics market through the formation of C.H. Robinson Logistics.

The initial market value totaled $743 million, and the firm began trading on NASDAQ under the symbol CHRW. Gross revenues for 1997 reached $1.79 billion, while net revenues amounted to $206 million, a 15.1% increase over the previous year.

1998: Preferred Translocation Systems and Comexter Group are acquired.

Also in 1999, C.H. Robinson acquired Vertex Transportation Inc., which was based in East Rochester, New York, and provided third-party logistics services throughout North America.

In August 2000 C.H. Robinson entered a new segment of the market through the purchase of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota-based Trans-Consolidated Inc., which was a third-party logistics firm specializing in refrigerated partial truckload shipments for perishable food manufacturers.

2003: President John Wiehoff, 40, named CEO in planned succession process.

2011: Hits annual revenue of $10 billion

2012: Launches proprietary IT logistics platform, Navisphere.

2013: Purchases Phoenix International for $635 million, its largest deal, which doubles international ocean freight capacity.

2015: Acquires Freightquote.com, a Missouri-based e-commerce freight broker, which expands market power for partial truckload shipments and brings more small-business clients.