Were into boat moving, Intrastate and Interstate.

Well, a picture says a thousand words. But here’s the short of it: we move large objects—typically built from hundreds of gallons of resin, sheets of fiberglass, Kevlar and carbon fiber, steel and aluminum, brass and stainless, and sometimes even titanium. “The bigger the object you can combine these materials into, the better,” says owner Casey Onsgaard. 

 This company actually started with a single frozen pea. Yep—the kind you’d find in the freezer. It had fallen from the bag, collected some frost, and ice started to form around it. And that’s where the story began.

The original business (or hobby, really) was called Afordtransport. Get it? A-ford transport. Affordable Transport! A knee-slapper, right?

It started when Casey purchased a Ford F-350 dually flatbed truck off Craigslist and bartered with his father-in-law for a single-car, two-axle trailer. The idea was simple: haul something here or there, buy a car, fix it up, then sell it for a profit.

The first car came—a Jeep Cherokee Laredo with a bad transmission and mold throughout the interior. After three weeks of repairs, Casey barely broke even. That plan didn’t work out so well.

So he turned to hauling. By day (well, night), Casey worked the graveyard shift at a produce warehouse in Portland, OR. On the side, he started picking up small hauling jobs: towing trailers, moving boats. Before long, he upgraded to a diesel truck—better mileage, higher towing capacity, and cheaper than the old 460ci gas guzzler.

That new truck landed him his first real hauling job for an actual boat manufacturer: Alumaweld Boats. They required full insurance and proper licensing—everything Casey didn’t yet have the money for. But he dove in anyway, putting everything he had into making it work.

This is where DRFT Co. Transport began.

Why “DRFT”? Casey jokes that maybe he’s afraid of vowels. Really, he just wanted something catchy and memorable. “DRFT, DR-I-FT, DR-FT… DRIFT!” Like a drift boat. People still make jokes—“Doin’ Right For Transport!” or “Doctor Fit!”—but the name stuck.

By 2011, things got serious. Casey landed his first long haul: moving a Boston Whaler from Rhode Island to Oregon. He promised himself if he got that job, he’d chase the dream full-time. He quit his graveyard job and never looked back.

“I’ve always loved the water, marinas, sunshine, and good people. It makes me happy,” says Casey.

Boat-moving requires expensive equipment, serious insurance, and skills learned over years of experience. “I’ve taken everything I excel at and put it into one package,” he says.

Fast-forward 15 years. The business is still Casey’s but under a new name: Drift Company Boat Hauling, LLC.

“Funny enough, I didn’t expect insurance rates to go up just because I added ‘Boat’ into the name,” Casey jokes.

Today, the business is growing. Drift Company hires like-minded people—employees and owner-operators—to continue the journey. We’re a small company with a big capacity, the kind that remembers your name, your boat, the weather the first time we met, even if your dog was by your side.

If you’re still reading, you’ve found the right place for high-quality service in a demanding line of work. With Drift Company, you can rest easy knowing your prized possession is handled with foresight—whether that means watching out for a low overpass or spotting a tree branch headed for your antenna.

At Drift Company, you’re family. We look forward to providing you with an experience so good you’ll come back the next time—and hopefully share a kind word with a friend at the marina.

 We’re proud to be recommended by:

• Schooner Creek Boat Works
   
• WS Yacht Brokers
   
• Rocky Point Boatyard
   
• Multnomah Yacht Repair
   
• Sundance Yacht Sales
   
• Royal Marine
   
• Stevens Marine
   
• Alumaweld Boats
   
• Astoria Boatyard – 

• Michalsky Fab
   
• Cascade Yacht
   
• K Manufacturing
   
• Reutov Boats
   
• Swantown BoatWorks Olympia
   
• Gig Harbor Marina & Boatyard
   
• Hylebos Marina Inc.
   
• Nordlund Boats
   
• Modutech Marine
   
• Port of Tacoma
   
• Seaview Boatyard, CSR Marine (West & South)

• Canal Boatyard
   
• Alaska Marine Lines (AML)
   
• Manson Construction Co
   
• Boat Haven Port Townsend ? Port Angeles

• Sea Marine,  

• Cape George Marine Works

• ACI Boats
   
• KKMI – Richmond / Sausalito, CA
   
• Svendsen’s Bay Marine – Richmond, CA
   
• Vallejo Boatworks – Vallejo, CA
   
• The Boat Yard – Marina Del Rey, CA
   
• Marina Shipyard – Long Beach, CA
   
• Driscoll Boat Works - San diego, CA
   
• Safe Harbor Shelter Island San Diego, CA
   
• Koehler Kraft Co. Boatyard – San Diego, CA
   

…And countless happy customers who would be glad to share their experience. We proudly hold a 5-star rating.

 Casey runs a tight ship. We prefer trailers to be loaded in both directions. If you’re easy-going and flexible with scheduling, we can offer up to a 30% discount on combined shipments. Quotes are always provided with this in mind.

If you need a rush shipment, we can handle that too. Just keep in mind—fuel isn’t cheap in a semi-truck, and each state charges per mile whether loaded or empty.

Now based in Astoria, OR, after more than 30 years in Portland, we’ve spread our wings to a place where boats float even while on the hard.

We also maintain storage in Portland, OR and Longview, WA, making it easy to coordinate between hauls.

And don’t worry—just because we’re based in Astoria doesn’t mean you can’t get a great deal from California, Florida, Seattle, or even Rhode Island. We travel for a living. That’s just the nature of the business.