Since 1887
A shipping house, not a broker
Six generations of the same discipline: know the cargo, know the route, and stand behind both. The tonnage changed; the standard did not.
The captain's standard
Captain Jonathan Abernathy built his reputation on a simple habit: he read every manifest himself before a line was cast off. Cargo left port only when the paperwork, the stowage and the weather agreed.
That habit survives in how the group operates. Documentation is prepared and checked in-house rather than farmed out. Every account is handled by a named coordinator who knows the lane, the terminals and the customs authority at the far end.
Today the group moves full-container and break-bulk ocean freight, consolidated and chartered airlift, North American road haulage, and operates bonded warehousing and a monitored vault for high-value consignments — all coordinated from its head office in Bellevue, Washington.
Timeline
Six generations on the water
1887
Captain Jonathan Abernathy registers his first trading schooner in New England, carrying salt fish and timber along the Atlantic seaboard.
1912
The family adds steam tonnage and opens a permanent agency office, taking on scheduled transatlantic general cargo.
1946
Post-war reconstruction brings break-bulk contracts across Northern Europe; the first dedicated warehouse opens.
1978
Containerisation is adopted fleet-wide and the group begins offering door-to-door intermodal movements.
1994
Head office relocates to Jacksonville, Florida, closer to the Gulf and Caribbean trades.
2009
Air freight and secure vault storage are added, completing the four service lines offered today.
What we stand for
Core values
01
Custody
Cargo is someone's livelihood before it is a line on a manifest. We handle, stow and store it as though the loss were ours.
02
Plain reporting
Delays get told the day they happen, with the reason and the recovery plan. No silence, no padded arrival dates.
03
Own the paperwork
Bills of lading, customs entries and dangerous-goods declarations are prepared in-house and checked twice before filing.
04
Stay for the long haul
We take lanes we intend to run for decades, and we keep the coordinators who know them. Continuity is the service.
The desk
People behind the paperwork
Every account is handled by named people you can reach by phone. These are the four who run the group day to day from Jacksonville.
Margaret Abernathy
Chief Executive
Sixth generation of the family. Twenty-eight years in liner trades before taking the chair in 2016.
Derrick Malone
Director of Operations
Runs the Jacksonville control desk and the North American haulage network. Former terminal superintendent.
Mei-Lin Zhou
Customs & Compliance
Licensed customs broker. Handles entry filing, dangerous goods and sanctions screening across all lanes.
Ray Corbett
Ocean & Air Freight
Thirty years chartering tonnage and booking airlift. Negotiates the space and the schedules behind every booking.
Want to know how we'd handle your lane? The operations desk answers directly.
Talk to us