C.O. Livingston had operated a bus line in Columbus before he founded the moving company in 1948. Cliff, his son, joined the business in 1957 and drove moving trucks throughout the Southeastern region; he took over the company when his father retired in 1970. Cliff retired in 2010, and the company – which switched to United Van Lines in 2003 – closed its doors this past December (2017). The large photo at left was taken in 1950 outside the Livingston storage facility in Columbus. The company moved to a new facility shortly after. This 1949 F-7 Ford with a 32-foot Dorsey trailer was the company’s only truck and trailer that operated coast-to-coast at that time. The Ford was powered by a 337 cu. In. Lincoln engine and had a 5-speed transmission with overdrive.
At its peak, Livingston had about three over-the-road tractor-trailer units and up to 25 trucks in its local fleet – local meaning Georgia and the other Southeastern states. The 1952 GMC 450 in the photo above was part of the local fleet. That is Cliff at age 18 in a leather jacket (which he still owns!). Cliff said he named the truck “Road Runner” for his favorite cartoon.
“Looking at kids today, even my grandsons, it is difficult to believe that I not only drove many states at my young age, but hired off-the-street labor to help me load and unload furniture on trips that sometimes lasted three or four weeks,” Cliff says.
Today, he spends his retirement years restoring vintage trucks and farm tractors.
