Local trucking start-up expands to hire COO

 Erin Curtis joins Motor Supply, Inc 

Motor Supply, Inc., a Midlands-based long-haul trucking company, is expanding after hiring Erin Curtis as its first chief operating officer to oversee the company’s rapid expansion.

Curtis joins Motor Supply, Inc. with more than 15 years of diverse experience in entrepreneurial start-ups, regional and international economic development, and live media and event production. Before joining Motor Supply, Curtis was operations director for Soda City Market and event director for the Gervais Street Bridge Dinner from 2016-2019. Most recently, she was the program manager for GrowCo, a local founder-driven economic development organization. Her role at Motor Supply will focus on leveraging technology to drive the company’s ambitious growth plans and to streamline operational efficiencies.

Founded in Columbia in 2019 by Alex Abrashkin, Motor Supply, Inc. already serves trucking customers in 48 states. A team of highly-trained professional drivers in its growing fleet of  temperature-controlled trailers and eco-friendly Volvo semi-trucks ensure a 99 percent on-time delivery rate, one of the highest in the industry.

“This company is run by techies using a tech playbook,” says Abrashkin. “Erin’s background with start-ups and rapid business growth strategies aligns perfectly with Motor Supply’s vision for long-term success in a line of business that’s been driven by tradition and slow steady growth. Erin has a strong track record of quickly solving problems in entrepreneurial environments that move fast and take risks.”

Abrashkin says he approaches the business with the vision of a tech start-up rather than the mindset of a traditional trucking company. His goal is to use technology to improve operational efficiency which leads to a better quality of life for drivers. To date, these efficiencies have led to double the industry-standard margins for profitability.

“My goal is to build entirely new tools, processes, and procedures to ensure the company can keep efficiently operating at the same pace as it is growing,” Curtis said. “The most exciting part of this new role is that Motor Supply was founded locally and grown by an entrepreneur who doesn’t come from the trucking industry. With a background in high tech, Alex looks at long haul trucking the same way you would look at any start-up.”

Curtis is a Lexington, S.C., native, graduate of the University of South Carolina, and resides in downtown Columbia, S.C.