Company completes $2 million expansion.

Diversification has been the key to success for one Winnipeg-based company that has experienced growth in "leaps and bounds" over the past seven years, says the district manager.

Gardewine North, a less-than-trailer load (LTL) trucking company, began as a family operated business 50 years ago in Northern Manitoba. In 1967, Gardewine North was merely a small company operating a fleet of six Ford trucks based in Flin Flon, Manitoba. Today, Gardewine North provides daily service to over 600 communities throughout Manitoba, northwestern Ontario and Saskatchewan, employs 700 people and operates over 1000 pieces of equipment.

On December 6, Gardewine North celebrated the official opening of a 17-door terminal in Sudbury, a $2 million expansion to complete the hub for transportation between terminals. A Sudbury-based facility first opened five years ago with a staff of five employees at a six-door terminal shared with another company. The new facility, located in the Walden Industrial Park, now employs 25 people.

Expansion to northwestern Ontario came through the fate of Motorways, one of Northern Ontario's largest trucking companies, which closed in the early 1990's. Gardewine North purchased all of the company's terminals in northwestern Ontario and has since then opened new terminals across Northern Ontario and one in Toronto, says Kenneth Merkley. Gardewine North is the LTL division of Paul's Hauling Group of Companies, one of Canada's five largest carrier companies.

"Over a seven-year period, we've grown this company to be a very strong presehce in northwestern Ontario and have since then become the strongest carrier in northwestern Ontario from Winnipeg," Merkley says.

The company's main customer base is from the mining and forestry industry. However, the hauling of general freight, wood chips and refrigerated food products is also a large part of their services, he adds.

As a customer-driven business, Gardewine prides itself on its ability to meet the "ever changing" needs of customers through expansion of services to meet demand, he says.

"We pride ourselves on our service to the community and pride ourselves with the fact we employ people in the small communities we service," Merkley says. "We're always looking at ways we can grow our business. We're very large into refrigerated service in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario and looking at ways to expand that. If there's a base and a need, then we'll fill that need."

Sudbury became an important hub for the trucking company following the opening of the Toronto-based terminal in 1998, Merkley says. The terminal in Toronto has provided a better link with customers in Northern Ontario and northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario, northwestern Ontario and Manitoba are serviced from the Sudbury location. The freight coming in from Toronto headed to northwestern Ontario is organized at the Sudbury terminal. Manitoba's terminal services northwestern Ontario through to Northern Ontario.

Over the past few years, the number of distribution centres in major cities has declined, placing more onus on trucking companies to ensure strict timelines are met when delivering freight, says Merkley.

Aside from diversification of equipment, Gardewine North's success can also be attributed to a strong foundation of employees, including drivers, foremen, managers and staff, he says. "Our business has grown in leaps and bounds over the years because of our people and because of diversification of equipment," Merkley says.