A company with over 125 years of history.

Transports Solés history begins in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Joaquim Solés i Ralló, who is the grandfather of the current manager -Joaquim Solés i Alsina-, starts transporting wood and cork extracted from “Les Gavarres” mountains thanks to a carriage drawn by two horses and a mule. Next, the cork is sold to cork businesses in La Bisbal and Palafrugell. Vicenç Solés i Valls is the son of Joaquim Solés i Ralló, who works along with his father and continues the family business. Vicenç is also a lumberjack and opens trails in “Les Gavarres,” from which he also obtains the cork to be sold to companies in La Bisbal, Palafrugell, Sant Feliu and Palamós.

The animals lived in the lower part of the house that the couple formed by Vicente Solés and Maria Sais bought to uncle Ponç Coll. Today, the house is still known by this name and is home to the parents of Joaquim Solés i Alsina, in La Bisbal.

From carriages to the first truck.

Josep Solés i Sais, Vicenç’s son, began working in 1939 at the age of fourteen. The Spanish Civil War had ended and his father bought him a carriage.
For a while, his father presents heart problems and they hire a man to ride his carriage. Yet, once he is fully recovered, they buy a third carriage. Besides the material already transported (i.e. cork and wood), they begin carrying building materials.
In 1962, his father quits his job and Josep Solés sells the three carriages, the horses and the mules, and decides to buy the first truck and a machine to work on the river. Josep is granted a license to extract gravel from the Daró river; from now on, he will only transport construction materials.
In 1967, Joaquim Solés i Alsina enters the scene by handling the machine in the Daró river as he is only seventeen years old and cannot get the license to drive a truck. In the next three years, Josep Solés buys another truck, driven by a man who is self-employed.
Between 1971-1973, Joaquim Solés must leave work to do the military service. When he returns, his father has health problems and is forced to take the disability leave. Now, Joaquim Solés is an adult and self-employed so he can work in his father’s company. He sells the machine used on the river and begins driving the truck his father had left.

Five generations dedicated to transportation.

From 1976 onwards, Joaquim Solés leads the company owned by his father. Later in 1989, Josep Solés and Joaquim Solés become the only shareholders of Transports i Grues J. Solés S.L., which already has four truck-mounted cranes, two trailers and a van. Joaquim Solés is the sole manager, and the company keeps transporting building materials; however, it has expanded its range of operation in the east of the Mediterranean and the south of France.
The headquarters are in La Bisbal, in the Ponç Coll's house, where the grandfather Joaquim Solés i Alsina had the animals to pull the carriages. Progressively, they are abandoning the transportation of sand and gravel, and the work in construction sites with truck-mounted cranes. Between 1992 and 1998, Josep Solés sells his stakes in the company to Joaquim, who in August 1998 became the only partner. In 1997, his son, Francesc Xavier Solés Coll starts working in the company driving a truck. Just one year later, the company opens a warehouse in Castelló de la Plana for their own use and to speed up the gathering of material. Thanks to its superior performance, it also becomes the logistics center and it is used by other companies in the sector. Francesc Xavier Solés will be in charge of this new service in the family business. Currently, Transports i Grues J. Solés S.L. has eight trailers, two three-axle trucks and two vans, and fourteen people are employed.

Good work and management excellence

There is no doubt that the company’s maximum expansion has been conducted over the past 30 years under the administration of Joaquim Solés i Alsina. His great capacity for work, a higher motivation for work well done and its impeccable management are the reasons why, 125 years later, the fifth generation of carriers keep offering an excellent job in the province of Girona and, by extension, to the east of the Mediterranean.
Today, and for some years, the transport sector in general has undergone changes at all levels that make it difficult, year after year, that family businesses like ours survive. However, Transports i Grues J. Solés S.L. has become a leader and an innovative benchmark for other companies.

Our Fleet

Transports Solés has a fleet of last-generation vehicles which prioritizes the environment, fulfilling the strictest European regulations, especially in terms of equipment and safety.
Apart from conventional transport, Transports Solés provides container semitrailers, special containers for construction sites, semi-tautliners, tautliners for coil loads, special containers for paper, and log semitrailers with and without side rails.
It must be emphasized that the company is specialized in ceramics, as we are one of the most promising companies in the province with this kind of material.

Awards & recognition

Volvo's Acknowledgement - 2013

Due to his professional career and personal enthusiasm, the current manager of Transports i Grues J. Solés was invited by VOLVO TRUCKS to visit the factory in Ghent (Belgium), where the company’s new acquisitions were manufactured. To Mr. Solés, it was a pleasant surprise to see the assembly line of the vehicles that would later become part of the company..

In recognition of an entire trajectory dedicated to heavy vehicles and his enthusiasm for the brand, the representative of Volvo Spain and the head of the fleet of Europe Volvo Trucks gave him both the vehicles’ keys and a commemorative plaque for his career and love for the brand.

It must be said that very few people have access to this type of recognition and monitoring of vehicles procured by VOLVO TRUCKS.

Bussines tradition prize - 2005

Recognition to Transports i Grues J. Solés by the Chamber of Commerce for its 125 years of history and continuity in the transportation world with the fifth generation already in charge of the company.

50th Aniversary, 1947-1997

The company in charge of the manufacturing and covering of containers awarded our manager for its loyalty on its 50th Anniversary because they had been -until then- the only container manufacturer for Transports i Grues J. Solés, for small vehicles and crane trucks.

Master prestige and quality 1998

Undoubtedly, this is considered one of the most valuable awards for the company. The staff’s work, dedication and enthusiasm when doing such a careful task was acknowledged after being subjected to a one-year control process by the Comerç Nacional-Internacional (ACTUALIDAD) magazine. Award for Prestige and Quality, and Leadership Award for its good service during 1998.

Volvo's Acknowledgement 1928 - 1986

Between 1980 and 1985, Transports Solés made its first major expansion buying a total of six new units to expand its fleet. All vehicles were 3-axle crane trucks, and two of them were equipped with trailers to cover the construction boom in La Costa Brava. The incorporation of so many vehicles of the same brand led Volvo to invite the company’s manager to visit the factory and the museum of VOLVO TRUCKS in Gothenburg (Sweden), and to give them a vehicle as an acknowledgement (Volvo LV40 model 1928).