ODFL | Canada

[Canadian Flyer]

Heard today that we are loosing Freight because the switch.Told things are really screwed up since they dropped Speedy's

It doesn't look like it's hurt Speedy. They're advertising for teams to run Charlotte. They won't say who the customer is, but it's not Holland. I figure it's Southeastern Freight Lines, judging from a press release they made a few months ago, but I don't know.

I do know that Manitoulin's Toronto terminal is a disaster zone. An agency hires all the drivers and they aren't very organized. It's easily their worst terminal, and it's the only one run like this.

 

[Grumpy O' Man]

It doesn't look like it's hurt Speedy. They're advertising for teams to run Charlotte. They won't say who the customer is, but it's not Holland. I figure it's Southeastern Freight Lines, judging from a press release they made a few months ago, but I don't know.

I do know that Manitoulin's Toronto terminal is a disaster zone. An agency hires all the drivers and they aren't very organized. It's easily their worst terminal, and it's the only one run like this.

Hope they get it straighten out.Wonder what caused OD to drop them???

 

[Canadian Flyer]

Hope they get it straighten out.Wonder what caused OD to drop them???

Speedy prefers being the agent wholesale, which is how they operate for Holland and New Penn (and before NPME, Red Star) and how the are operating for who I assume is SEFL. They sell their linehaul and city as a whole service. OD only wanted half the service (the cheaper half, too) and as such wasn't really paying Speedy to do much.

Manitoulin, on the other hand, doesn't do crossborder linehaul. They would prefer the way OD wants it done (OD runs transborder, they do city) so there would be a more natural harmony to the operation there. Manitoulin operating this way is unusual for a Canadian carrier, but they generally spec their equipment by Canada's weight allowances because they haul heavy for the mines in Northern Ontario. This equipment isn't illegal in the US, but it would be under-utilized and Manitoulin has never had any interest in crossing the border.

 

[upnorth]

Speedy prefers being the agent wholesale, which is how they operate for Holland and New Penn (and before NPME, Red Star) and how the are operating for who I assume is SEFL. They sell their linehaul and city as a whole service. OD only wanted half the service (the cheaper half, too) and as such wasn't really paying Speedy to do much.

Manitoulin, on the other hand, doesn't do crossborder linehaul. They would prefer the way OD wants it done (OD runs transborder, they do city) so there would be a more natural harmony to the operation there. Manitoulin operating this way is unusual for a Canadian carrier, but they generally spec their equipment by Canada's weight allowances because they haul heavy for the mines in Northern Ontario. This equipment isn't illegal in the US, but it would be under-utilized and Manitoulin has never had any interest in crossing the border.

Maybe in the east... But I run with two manitouin drivers every night crossing the border, loaded with ltl. Running turnpikes and Rockies.

 

[Canadian Flyer]

Maybe in the east... But I run with two manitouin drivers every night crossing the border, loaded with ltl. Running turnpikes and Rockies.

Those are carriers Manitoulin bought. They fly Manitoulin's colors, but retain their own identity within Manitoulin's network. Anything outside of Ontario and Quebec isn't Manitoulin TLX. Most of Manitoulin in the West is either Rainbow Transport, Ridsdale Transport, Exalta or Northwest Transport.

Manitoulin didn't expand westward, they bought into the West. Manitoulin TLX is the core carrier, and they only exist in Ontario and Quebec. And out east they've never crossed the border. Even out west, at least in BC, they have Reddaway come North (though they use Manitoulin's trailers).

The easiest way to tell what part of the Manitoulin Group a truck is registered with is to look along the bottom of the door. All the rigs are red with the scripted "Manitoulin" logo, but it'll say in white along the bottom of the door which carrier it actually is. If it says nothing, or Manitoulin TLX, it's registered in Gore Bay. Out east, for example, Manitoulin has no O/O trucks. They run some O/O's from Winnipeg to Dryden, but East of Dryden it's 100% company-owned equipment.

 

[upnorth]

Those are carriers Manitoulin bought. They fly Manitoulin's colors, but retain their own identity within Manitoulin's network. Anything outside of Ontario and Quebec isn't Manitoulin TLX. Most of Manitoulin in the West is either Rainbow Transport, Ridsdale Transport, Exalta or Northwest Transport.

Manitoulin didn't expand westward, they bought into the West. Manitoulin TLX is the core carrier, and they only exist in Ontario and Quebec. And out east they've never crossed the border. Even out west, at least in BC, they have Reddaway come North (though they use Manitoulin's trailers).

The easiest way to tell what part of the Manitoulin Group a truck is registered with is to look along the bottom of the door. All the rigs are red with the scripted "Manitoulin" logo, but it'll say in white along the bottom of the door which carrier it actually is. If it says nothing, or Manitoulin TLX, it's registered in Gore Bay. Out east, for example, Manitoulin has no O/O trucks. They run some O/O's from Winnipeg to Dryden, but East of Dryden it's 100% company-owned equipment.

Company units. Not any from the companies they purchased.

 

[Canadian Flyer]

Company units. Not any from the companies they purchased.

They have Ontario plates?

 

[upnorth]

They have Ontario plates?

Yep.

 

[Canadian Flyer]

Yep.

Consider me surprised. The tractors do get around sometimes though. All of the tri-drive cabover super trucks are registered to Northwest regardless of where they are actually based, so it could be a case of mix and match.

I just know that Manitoulin in the east has never crossed the border. Back when I worked at FedEx, I routinely saw a Sunbury truck cross at Sarnia with a Manitoulin trailer, headed for Romulus. Occasionally I'd see Challenger running the other way with a Manitoulin trailer as well.

 

[Freight Guru]

Consider me surprised. The tractors do get around sometimes though. All of the tri-drive cabover super trucks are registered to Northwest regardless of where they are actually based, so it could be a case of mix and match.

I just know that Manitoulin in the east has never crossed the border. Back when I worked at FedEx, I routinely saw a Sunbury truck cross at Sarnia with a Manitoulin trailer, headed for Romulus. Occasionally I'd see Challenger running the other way with a Manitoulin trailer as well.

sometimes anecdotal evidence doesn't tell the whole picture. making assumptions based on what you see of something is never soundproof.

 

[Canadian Flyer]

sometimes anecdotal evidence doesn't tell the whole picture. making assumptions based on what you see of something is never soundproof.

I'm pretty well-versed with Manitoulin. The Smiths are longtime family friends, so it's not just based on what I see. I can admit that I don't know as much about the carriers Manitoulin acquired in the West or how they distribute their equipment, but operationally speaking Manitoulin Transport has never wanted to cross the border in their home market of Ontario and Quebec. The Smith family made the business by doing what few carriers, to this day, are willing to do...delivering freight to Northern Ontario from the more populated Southern Ontario. Manitoulin is one of the only carriers to have terminals throughout Northern Ontario to serve the rural communities there, and it was through that method of moving north instead of south that they prospered.

I am admittedly less versed in the acquisitions Manitoulin has made. I don't know how those carriers operated. But I do know Manitoulin has always maintained each acquisition like a partnership, letting them be independent outside of integration into Manitoulin's network and supplying them with Manitoulin's technology and equipment. If those carriers crossed the border before Manitoulin bought them, I doubt they would force a discontinuation of the service.

It's just unusual, that's all.