MTS STORY
In 1978 Charles Williams, president of the company, was offered the opportunity to purchase the
Yellow Cab Co. in Ashland, KY.
“It was a bad time to start a new business with interest rates jumping from 9 percent to 23
percent.” Williams explained. In addition, political friction in the Middle East at that time
caused gasoline prices to skyrocket. “Times were hard in the 70’s for any new business, especially
one that relied on fuel.”
Over the years, Williams’ business went through several transitions. From 1983 to 1987, he ran an
Ashland car rental business, in addition to the Yellow Cab. The rental business quickly boomed,
but he sold when space requirements became a problem.
For the next nine years, Williams ran Yellow Cab in Portsmouth, setting up a special radio and
telephone system so dispatching could be conducted from the operation in Ashland. In 1999 Yellow
Cab had 15 independent contractors and has chauffeured a variety of customers, including the FBI,
secret service, and famous entertainers.
In 1989, the state approached Williams about establishing a non-emergency ambulance business.
Non-emergency transportation in the area was weak at the time, so Williams agreed to tackle the
challenge. In June 1990, he received a license for two non-emergency ambulances and MTS was born.
Transportation Center Inc. grew from a small local taxi service with a handful of employees to a
multi-dimensional transportation provider with more than 70 professionally trained drivers, EMT’s
and Paramedics.
MTS is located in the former Kentucky Power on Greenup Avenue and has three stations. Ashland is
the main station, with sister stations in South Shore, KY and Huntington, WV. Currently MTS has
15 ambulances and 7 wheelchair vans. We operate a defensive driving school for employees, Certified
EMT Academy and are a Certified Training Center for CPR & First Aid with multiple instructors
throughout Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia & Virginia.