Manuel M. Sola Jr., who at the age of 18 was the youngest ever-licensed Customs Broker in Cuba founded Sola Transport Agency in 1951 in Havana, Cuba. By the mid 1950’s it had become one of the largest and most respected Customs Brokerage firms in Cuba. Not resting on his laurels Mr. Sola Jr. pursued and became an agent for Universal Carloading, one of the largest inland carriers via railroad in the USA.

Being a visionary, he developed the modern day NVOCC business before cargo containers even existed. Together with Universal Carloading he began consolidating less than container load cargo into railroad cars and putting them on ships bound for Cuba where he would unload them, Customs clear and deliver the cargo. When cargo containers came on the scene in the late 1950’s he established Transcarloading, an NVOCC company in Miami with the intentions of consolidating less than container (LCL) cargo containers bound for Cuba.

In 1960, Mr. Sola Jr. was forced to abandon his business and leave Cuba due to the political turmoil at the time and went to Miami and promptly opened up service from Miami to Puerto Rico under the Transcarloading banner. By 1965 he was the largest carrier of LCL cargo from Florida to Puerto Rico. Meanwhile another company by the name of Consolidated Express (CONEX) had copied his idea but from New York to Puerto Rico. In 1966 Transcarloading and Consolidated Express (CONEX) merged operations and became TRANSCONEX with Manuel M. Sola Jr. as its President. The company grew exponentially as they expanded into Panama and Jamaica amongst other destinations from the USA. Mr. Sola Jr. arrived in Panama in 1967, and immediately fell in love with Panama and its people. He established Agencia Nacional De Vapores dba Sola Transport Agency. His Panama business flourished because of his love and devotion for Panama. Through the years he spent the majority of his time in Panama and developed relationships that went far beyond business.

Transconex grew into not only being the pioneer of the NVOCC/ freight consolidation business but also to be the largest in the industry based on volumes, revenue and customer retention in the trade lanes it operated.

In the mid 1970’s Transconex built their own freight terminal that was revolutionary for its time with over 30 doors for receiving and loading. The first real freight terminal in Miami built specifically for LCL consolidation which is still under family ownership. In the early 1980’s the business had expanded to an extent that Manuel M. Sola Jr. decided that it was time to spin off the International business from the Puerto Rico business. The Puerto Rico business remained under the TRANSCONEX name while the International became TCX International, which served Panama and Jamaica. His son Manuel (Manny) Sola III took charge of continuing to grow the Puerto Rico market while Manuel M. Sola Jr. concentrated on his true love (Panama). In 1984 there was a parting of the ways with Mr. Sola Jr.’s business partner who kept the Transconex business and Manuel M. Sola Jr. naturally kept TCX International and henceforth Panama. In 1985 Manny Sola III went off on his own and started his own company Caribtrans, specializing in the Eastern Caribbean serving the chain of Islands from the V.I. down to Trinidad.