ABOUT

Learn More About Our Rich History & Current Operations

HISTORY

KT&S traces its routes back to 1879 when Thomas H. Hobron, the head of the postal authority in Kahului, established the Kahului and Wailuku Railroad, which ran a railway line from Wailuku to the harbor in Kahului. While initially in response to the need to transport sugar quickly following the U.S. Government's duty-free status of Hawaiian sugar, the track became the first public railway in the Kingdom of Hawaii following the first passenger train on July 29, 1879. An extension to Pa'ia was opened on September 21, 1880, and from July 1, 1881 the rail operations operated under the name Kahului Railroad. The branch to Spreckelsville was in operation from 1884.

In 1899, the railroad was acquired by the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. In 1906, the railway company built from the port of Kahului. The line was extended again on February 8, 1913, with the railway crossing the Maliko Gorge via a steel bridge to reach Ha'ikū and Kuiaha. The bridge, with a height of 230 ft (70 m) above the valley floor, was the highest railway bridge in Hawaii and had a length of 682 ft (208 m).

From 1959, the railway was the last public railway in the state of Hawai'i and after a total of almost 87 years, the organization with the longest operating time. In 1962, Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar was acquired by Alexander & Baldwin. The railway was decommissioned on May 22, 1966 and subsequently degraded. The Maliko bridge was demolished. The tracks and some vehicles were used for the construction of the Lahaina, Kaanapali and Pacific Railroad, a tourist train in the west of the island.

The Company continues today as Kahului Trucking & Storage, Inc. ("KT&S"), and was a subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin up until  2023. 

TODAY

KT&S is an essential operating business whose experienced leadership team and highly qualified, unionized workforce provides vital shop and support services to transportation, logistics and construction companies on Maui, Kauai and Hawaii Island under the KT&S and A&B Fleet Services banners. 

In addition, the Company provides self-storage solutions through A-Storage Inn and Penske® Truck Rentals on the island of Maui. 

In total, KT&S employs approximately 50 talented individuals across its various locations and business lines. 

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