By Don Bradley
Bill Cartwright had no job, seven kids and no way to feed them.
It was 1934, The Great Depression.
Somehow, he got his hands on a truck.
With lots of folk moving around, he figured things needed hauling and that’s how he would make a living and feed those kids.
His first load might have been furniture or firewood, maybe a cow. No one knows.
But today, if the American president appoints a new ambassador to Norway, or a soldier gets transferred from Fort Leavenworth to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, it is Bill
Cartwright’s truck, symbolically speaking, that likely hauls their stuff.
What he started 90 years ago with that one old truck is today the Cartwright Companies, an industry leader in global relocation for the U.S. military and federal agencies, including the country’s diplomatic corps.
“I think he would take pride that we are still here and it’s still called Cartwright,” Craig Cartwright, a grandson and now company president, said recently at the company’s headquarters in Grandview.
Through 14 separate arms, such as Cartwright Relocation and Cartwright Global Mobility, the company does an average of 13,000 relocations and more than $100 million revenue annually.
And today, they do it all from Grandview without grabbing onto a single table leg.
At its peak, Cartwright had over one hundred trucks and a fleet of drivers. But the trucks are gone. The company got out of the van line business in the 1980s. Now, it is software and a network of vendors that allows them to move people all over the world.
When a relocation order comes in, most often from the federal government, the clock starts on loading a client’s household possessions, arranging transportation, having the shipment met for delivery and setup in the new house or quarters.
“We do this in 187 countries,” Craig said. “It’s not the same as what my grandfather did, but it’s the same integrity, quality and knowledge handed down for 90 years.”
The company’s website boasts a 98.9 percent satisfaction rate.
There are some bad reviews online alleging delays and poor service.
Company spokesperson Erin Venable described the reviews as “disastrous” and said they are always investigated to learn what happened.
“Many times, there is more to the story,” Venable said. “Sometimes, it’s due to situations beyond our control.
“While I believe every story matters, 60 bad reviews out of approximately 12,000 moves per year means that there are thousands of happy customers.
“For decades, we have been a trusted move provider for countless U.S. ambassadors, high-ranking officials, military personnel, and civilian employees.”
Mike Hite, company controller and the longest serving Cartwright employee, arrived when Craig’s father, Mike, and his Uncle Tom were running the company.
“Both were involved until their deaths,” Hite said.
Today, it’s the next generation of Craig, Andy and Tom Cartwright.
“The company has a family feel to it,” Hite said. “I think William and Jessie would be very happy that the company has evolved into a major player in the relocation industry.”
They would likely take pride, too, in that so many family members have worked at the company in the 90 years since Bill Cartwright put that first truck on the road in 1934.
They have lived the change. Computers instead of trucks, software instead of dollies.
That’s a company and a large family adapting to changing times, Craig said.
“Because if you’re a Cartwright, you were brought up to lift furniture.”
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