Intermodal Shipping to the WEST  COAST !  

    Who We Are   Our President and CEO is Jerry Kausch, SR.  

    A native to the Midwest, Jerry began clearing imports as early as 1970.   As his reputation for fast clearings grew, Jerry founded  Customs Services International in 1972.  Today, CSI is an Independent, Import-Export, Customs Brokerage that continues with the uncommon qualities of both personal service and pro-active service.   Their personal service has developed out of  the Midwest’s values of family and friendships that are now in their 2nd generation, while their pro-active service has developed through 32 years of dealing with over 40 governmental agencies.  The CSI staff know the signs of a delay or blockage and can manipulate cargo through the Customs maze with near seamless effect.  Add that to continuous cargo tracking and you get smooth and timely deliveries, consistently day in and day out.        

While CSI flourished, Jerry's commitment to service led to the 1980 creation of  Pyramid T.O.F.C trucking service to provide prompt delivery of the imported goods throughout the St. Louis region.  (T.O.F.C. stands for Trailers On Flat Cars, one of the early attempts at Intermodal service.).   By the late 1970's the Intermodal industry was shifting away from trailers permanently affixed to a chassis and moved to a new design that allowed the trailer box to be removed from the chassis. By making these removable boxes out of 12 gauge steel, they were strong enough to handle the stress of sea transport and became known as International Containers or Marine Containers.

Pyramid Trucking is an asset based company with 32 tractors operated by employee drivers. Their terminal has 8 doors and storage capability for over 100 containers.  Pyramid is a 24/7 operation dedicated to providing prompt, efficient pick up and delivery of International cargo containers from the railhead to factories, warehouses and distribution centers.   Located in the heart of the St. Louis Transportation District for the past 25 years, Pyramid has enabled both Custom Services International and Prairie States Terminals to provide award winning service to all of our customers.  These award winning services are accomplished through the outstanding efforts of a logistics staff and company drivers that truly “go the extra mile” every day.  It is this standard of quality and service that serves as the benchmark for our affiliate logistics providers.     

As  friendships within the Steamship community grew, Jerry was asked to help get the imported International cargo containers back to the West Coast ports.   Prairie States Terminals was created in 1984 to meet that need.  Today, companies shipping to the West Coast states can “hitch a ride”  inside a sealed cargo container at half the cost of an over the  road long haul.   Daily tracking of every shipment and long standing relationships with trusted drayage affiliates, gets cargo picked up and delivered like clockwork.