Canadian companies

Kriska CEO spies post-coronavirus growth with the intermodal acquisition

A Kriska tractor hauling an intermodal container.

Even by Canadian standards, Kriska Transportation System’s recent acquisition of Wills Transfer’s intermodal division was tiny. The Ontario cross-border carrier added just 21 power trucks to its fleet of over 800. 

But the deal, announced on May 18, provides a toehold into drayage from the Port of Montreal to eastern Ontario. 

“I’m thrilled about this acquisition,” Kriska CEO Mark Seymour told FreightWaves. “It’s a nice line of business we’re currently not in. We plan to grow it.” 

The drayage...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/kriska-ceo-spies-post-coronavirus-growth-with-the-intermodal-acquisition

Canadian heavy hauler ENTREC obtains creditor protection, plans US bankruptcy

An ENTREC tractor hauls an oversized piece of equipment.

Heavy equipment hauler ENTREC has secured creditor protection in Canada and is seeking U.S. bankruptcy, blaming the COVID-19 pandemic and the collapse in oil prices.

The Canadian company filed for protection under Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), similar to U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy, on May 15. The filing came after Wells Fargo demanded immediate repayment of nearly C$90 million (about US$65 million). 

The company blamed COVID-19 and the collapse in oil prices for its recent...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/canadian-heavy-hauler-entrec-obtains-creditor-protection-plans-us-bankruptcy

Canadian trucking company gets high marks for stemming COVID-19 outbreak

A tractor hauls a tanker trailer.

When word got out that Paul’s Hauling had an outbreak of COVID-19 cases in early May, it became something of a big deal in Manitoba. Canadian media outlets covered it in at least 30 articles as reporters pressed officials on whether the carrier had become a vector for the novel coronavirus.

No truckers among cluster of COVID-19 cases tied to Brandon business, association says | CBC News https://t.co/Yn9QuJ1P4s

— Ken Hanly (@northsunm35) May 8, 2020

It hadn’t. In fact, the carrier’s proactive...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/canadian-trucking-company-gets-high-marks-for-stemming-covid-19-outbreak

Cervus reports jump in Canada truck sales, warns of coronavirus slump

A Cervus Equipment mechanic works on a truck

Cervus Equipment (TSX:CERV) reported on Thursday a jump in sales from its network of Canadian Peterbilt dealerships during the first quarter but warned that COVID-19 will weaken demand for trucks.

The Canadian heavy-equipment seller lost C$2.7 million, or C$0.17 per share, on C$182.5 million in revenue during the quarter. The loss was essentially unchanged from a year ago, while revenue increased by 9%.

CEO Angela Lekatsas highlighted the fact that on an adjusted pretax basis, Cervus reported...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cervus-reports-jump-in-canada-truck-sales-warns-of-coronavirus-slump

Today’s Pickup: How a Canadian carrier recession-proofed its business

A tractor-trailer of Titanium Transportation Group

Before Ted Daniel started Canadian cross-border carrier Titanium Transportation Group (TSX-V:TTR), he specialized in helping turn around distressed companies. It’s perhaps no surprise that the CEO and his wife, Chief Operating Officer Marilyn Daniel, built a company that they call “recession-proof.”

“We didn’t realize the magnitude of what this really meant until we faced a once-in-a-lifetime world shutdown pandemic,” Ted Daniel told financial analysts on May 13 after reporting a 13.6% surge in...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/todays-pickup-how-a-canadian-carrier-recession-proofed-its-business

Titanium’s US brokerage fires up in resilient first quarter

A tractor-trailer of Titanium Transportation Group

Titanium Transportation Group (TSX-V:TTR) reported a 13.6% increase in revenue in the first quarter Tuesday as the Canadian company’s U.S. brokerage more than offset slightly weaker performance from its cross-border trucking business. 

Ontario-based Titanium posted a net income of C$0.6 million, or C$0.02 per share, on C$44.3 million in revenue. It compared to C$0.5 million, or C$0.01 per share, on C$39 million during the first quarter of 2019.

“Our results were excellent given the current...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/titaniums-us-brokerage-fires-up-in-resilient-first-quarter

Canada’s few big trucking companies now have a lifeline: the feds

A tractor-trailer of Bison Transport

A small group of Canadian trucking companies got a piece of good news when the federal government announced on Monday it would become a lender of last resort for the country’s biggest firms.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau characterized the Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility as “bridge financing, not a blank check.” It’s intended to keep Canada’s largest companies in business during the COVID-19 pandemic in the event they exhaust their access to credit.

Companies generating C$300 million...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/canadas-few-big-trucking-companies-now-have-a-lifeline-the-feds

Canada jobs report shows staggering losses for trucking from COVID-19

A tractor-trailer from Nova Scotia-based W.R. Bolivar Transport in Toronto, Canada

It just keeps getting worse for Canada’s trucking industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as freight volumes recover, the job losses are staggering.

Canada’s transportation and warehousing sector shed 102,800 jobs in April, or about 10.4% of the workforce, federal jobs data released Friday shows. Canada shed about 2 million jobs, or 11% of its sector-wide workforce during the month, bringing the total to 3 million since February.

“The truth of it is we’re not immune from the impacts of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/canada-jobs-report-shows-staggering-losses-for-trucking-from-covid-19

Today’s Pickup: Shopify’s fulfillment strategy ‘validated’ by COVID-19

A warehouse worker with a robot at a Shopify fulfillment facility.

Good day,

Shopify had its single-largest increase in merchants joining its fulfillment network during the first quarter, the company said today as it reported financial results.

Canada-based Shopify did not disclose any specifics about the growth of its fulfillment business. But executives made clear that its push into fulfillment takes on renewed importance as COVID-19 accelerates brick-and-mortar stores shift online.

“I think COVID-19 validates the decision to go into fulfillment,” Shopify Chief...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/todays-pickup-shopifys-fulfillment-strategy-validated-by-covid-19

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