Trucking firm plans Jacksonville expansion after acquiring Trailer Bridge’s domestic logistics arm (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — Anderson Trucking Service is preparing to expand in Jacksonville, with plans to hire 50 to 100 people over the next two years following its acquisition of Trailer Bridge’s domestic logistics arm.
The growth could bring more finance and back-office jobs to the city, said Jay Thomassen, vice president and general manager of ATS International Services Inc. It also comes as Thomassen takes on a broader role in a business built around moving freight that doesn’t fit neatly into a shipping container.
Thomassen told the Business Journal that ATS is committed to growing in Jacksonville and is identifying opportunities to expand its support staff following the acquisition this year. He cited the city’s business environment as a reason to bring more of those functions here.
At ATS International Services, known as ATSI, Thomassen’s expanded responsibilities include strategic planning, business development, operational efficiency and employee development. Those duties build on years of strengthening customer relationships and helping grow the business.
In Jacksonville, much of that business involves partnerships with maritime carriers such as Trailer Bridge, TOTE and Crowley. ATSI helps handle oversized cargo, including transformers and HVAC units bound for Puerto Rico, providing specialized equipment and services that complement its partners’ ocean transportation operations.
“That partnership is very unique. We operate as kind of their flatbed, open deck division,” Thomassen said.
The arrangement brings together carriers with their own transportation assets to move specialized freight. ATSI provides equipment its maritime partners don’t have in large quantities, including multi-axle equipment and removable gooseneck trailers, known as RGNs.
For Thomassen, the relationships draw on a career closely tied to Jacksonville’s maritime industry — and experience on both sides of the partnership.
He was employee No. 14 at Trailer Bridge in the 1990s, joining as founder and containerization pioneer Malcolm McLean was launching the company. The opportunity prompted Thomassen’s move to Jacksonville, though he initially took the company’s name a little too literally.
“I got an offer to go to work for Malcolm McLean for this new entity called Trailer Bridge that he was forming,” Thomassen said. “And it was going to be this trailer bridge to Puerto Rico, and I said there is no bridge to Puerto Rico.”
Working at Trailer Bridge introduced him to ATS’s international subsidiary and gave him insight into how the companies’ capabilities fit together. Now a 14-year ATSI employee, Thomassen manages maritime relationships that extend well beyond Jacksonville, including business in Hawaii and Germany.
Puerto Rico remains a major focus for the Jacksonville operation. But overseeing shipping relationships across the globe has also meant navigating economic volatility and tariff uncertainty that caused some international customers to put cargo movements on hold.
ATS’s Jones Act trade segment was not significantly affected by that uncertainty, Thomassen said. The disruption was more pronounced in international trade, particularly among customers using the company’s transatlantic lane.
“A lot of that just took a sideline. They just stopped shipping,” Thomassen said. “Saarschmiede steel in Germany, which moves a lot of steel into the U.S., just stopped because of the uncertainty of what the tariffs were going to be, and there’s a list of others as well.”
Those cargo movements have since picked back up as some stability has returned to the market, he said, although the uncertainty created challenges for the business.
Thomassen’s expanded responsibilities are intended to support strong operational performance as ATS’s family of companies pursues more international growth, Chief Logistics Officer Jason Netland said.
“Jay has consistently delivered exceptional results, built a high-performing team, and played a pivotal role in ATSI’s sustained growth,” Netland said in a statement. “As we continue to expand our global footprint, strengthening our organizational structure under his proven leadership will enhance alignment, drive execution, and position us to capitalize on new opportunities while meeting the evolving needs of our customers worldwide.”
Across the company, Thomassen is expected to strengthen collaboration between international freight forwarding and ATS’s other capabilities. Those services include ocean transportation, project management, yard and warehousing operations, transloading, heavy haul transportation, permitting, route planning and final delivery.