March 20, 2010 - Kane Is Able Celebrates 80 Years in Business
Scranton, PA - Happy 80th Birthday, Kane Is Able.
80 years ago on this day, Edward J. Kane founded Kane Freight Lines. To hear Gene Kane, Sr. tell it, “My father had an indomitable spirit to not only survive the Great Depression, but to succeed.”
Edward Kane, who at that time worked in the life insurance industry, was faced with the fact that people would not be purchasing insurance in the grips of the catastrophic economic landscape. So, being resourceful, Mr. Kane traded his family car for a truck and began hauling product for the valley cities of Lackawanna County.
As testimony to our founder’s drive, the company grew even in the dim light cast by the gloom of the Great Depression.
| When Gene Kane took over operations of the company in May 1955, the company had 5 trucks and worked out of an office with an attached garage in North Scranton. | |
Gene, who always jokes that he must have been picked up by the wrong family at birth because he didn’t inherit his father’s mechanical skills, speaks of his father with admiration regarding equipment…“My father could take a truck completely apart and rebuild it from scratch.” When Gene told his father that he was planning on renovate the garage to make 2000 square feet of warehouse space, his father couldn’t understand the reason why.
Gene Kane is a visionary. Gene saw around the corner and knew that the marriage of trucking and warehousing was a natural fit. Gene also knew that Northeast PA was a perfect spot for distribution.
Over the next half century, the company continued to blossom adding services such as custom packaging, inventory management, consolidations, and fulfillment. Whenever a customer would ask if KANE performed a certain offering, Gene would respond, “Kane is Able.”
It’s that dedication to providing excellence in customer service that is one of the main ingredients for celebrating 80 years in business. The other is certainly the people.
Gene states, “We’re a service business and our greatest asset is our people. The associates are the constant driving force behind our best in market results. I believe in our associates and I believe in our mission to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations. With that formula, I always knew the company would succeed.”
Congratulations, Gene, Kane family, Kane associates, and customers for making Kane is Able. We’re all looking forward to the next 80 years.