Kaua‘i Commercial to close after 100 years

HONOLULU — Kaua‘i Commercial Company, Inc., a subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc., announced it will cease all trucking operations by the end of June to focus exclusively on fleet service and repairs.

Negotiations are ongoing with HawkTree International, Inc., Hawai‘i-based parent company of several transportation companies, to assume the trucking and fuel hauling business while KCC’s shop repair and parts sales operations will continue to provide services at the Puhi baseyard under the A&B Fleet Services trade name.

HawkTree earlier had assumed KCC’s household goods delivery business and the anticipated transfer of the transportation segment would support a smooth transition for long-time customers and mitigate the impact to KCC’s remaining 40 employees.

Founded in 1906, the Kaua‘i Railway Company, which later became Kaua‘i Terminal, Ltd. and Kaua‘i Commercial Company, focused on hauling sugar and supplies between plantation and port and conducting terminal operations at ‘Ele‘ele Landing.

As Kaua‘i’s sugar industry dwindled over the years, KCC adjusted and diversified its service offerings.

However, with the closure of the last sugar operation in 2009, and the total loss of its core sugar business, KCC’s business model was completely changed.

KCC has been a proud part of the trucking community on Kaua‘i for more than 100 years.

“Over the last four years, we’ve looked at a number of scenarios to keep our doors open and retain our hard-working employees,” said Glenn Wilbourn, KCC executive vice president.  

He said KCC’s business model shifted with changes in the economy.

“Understanding that we fulfill an important role in fleet service, we will focus on and look forward to continuing our decades-long relationship with our clients, and are hopeful that our ongoing discussions with HawkTree International will enable continued employment for as many of our trucking and fuel hauling employees as possible,” Wilbourn said.