Canada's Top 100
The week we were putting the final touches on this list of Canada's 100 biggest for-hire carriers, GM announced a $38.7 billion loss-the biggest ever for an automaker. But you don't need to look at the company's annual report to read between the lines. Just go for a ride Highway 401. It bisects Ontario's Golden Triangle. Two years ago, the right lane of the 401 was a virtual freight train of tractor trailers heading from Ontario's heartland to the American border. It's not so busy anymore. As one driver told Today's Trucking, "The bright side is, it's easier to get a decent seat in the truck stops." At the same time as the automotive giant reeled, the American economy was trying to adjust to the triple whammy of sub-prime lending crisis, a diving dollar and the general uneasiness that precedes an election. However, as Today's Trucking staff compiled the list of top carriers, we got a chance to contact most of the companies on it and as a result develop an informal albeit in-focus snapshot of the industry. When one of our researchers asked "How's business?" one Quebec-based outfit said "Great except for the number of trucks parked against the fence." Also, as our staff entered the numbers, it became awkwardly apparent that quite a few of the companies had less iron on the road than they did last year. Company after company reported fewer trucks, trailers and owner-operators. Day&Ross, for instance, checks in with 3,119 total units this year, down from 4,303 this time last year. And Big Orange- Schneider National-is down to 1,970 units, as opposed to 2,454 in 2007. That less trucking was done in Canada during 2007 than in 2006 became painfully apparent. According to Statistics Canada, there were 3,482 for-hire trucking companies in Canada with annual revenues of $1 million or more in Q2 of 2007, down from 3,570 carriers in the same period a year earlier. And for those companies, operating revenues for the same period totaled $7 billion, down a full two percent from the same time in 2006. There is, of course, another side to the story, and that, too became apparent as we assembled the list. Change is afoot. Companies are realigning their lanes, traffic is flowing more east-west than north-south and intermodal transportation is coming on strong. In fact, several carriers told us about the addition of scores of containers to their fleets but as of this year, we don't count them in our tallies. Yet. And look at Schneider. Its total numbers may be down but as the company's newly appointed general manager for Canada Sandro Caccaro told Today's Trucking, truckers have to look beyond their traditional pastures for increased business. Schneider is in the throes of opening a new logistics arm operating out of Toronto, much like its big brother has in the U.S. Then of course there are the companies that continue to grow, and by doing so eliminate others from the list of top carriers. You won't see Groupe Thibodeau- 34th on last year's list-because TransForce purchased them in late '07. Ditto Glenncoe of Kelowna, B.C., which appeared as the 56th biggest outfit in the land in 2007. It is now part of Winnipegbased Bison Transport. That purchase, in addition to Bison's natural growth, changes the prairie trucker's standing from 13th to seventh. The Glenncoe purchase underscores why, just because the 401 has empty stretches, there's no reason to mourn the state of Canadian trucking at large. Glenncoe gives Bison a link to the growing Asian import business and the purchase follows other westward expansion for Bison, including a new terminal in Calgary, a new intermodal division connecting Ontario with the west and finally, the rapid expansion of their turnpike-double operations in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Bison President Don Streuber says it's been a matter of rethinking trucking strategies. "It requires a willingness to step back and have some good self-examination,"he told us. "It takes discipline and you have to be prepared to be analytical and reassess your current circumstances." While Streuber's not exactly bullish on the coming year-he predicts a neutralto- slightly negative 2008-he says companies will have their cost-control abilities taxed to the max. Finally, at the same time as we were finishing up the Top 100, the consultants Deloitte & Touche announced their list of best-managed companies in Canada. Among D&T's criteria are companies' abilities to respond to changing market conditions. And-surprise surprise-a disproportionate number of those finest outfits are also on our list of Carriers. As well as Bison (number seven on our list), the all-star team includes TransX (four), Challenger (five), QuikX (23), H&R (26), M-O (32), Yanke (35), Consolidated Fastfrate (48), and MacKinnon (75). That's gotta say something.