Go Ouest: TransForce looks for more black gold in oilfields

MONTREAL — If you need further evidence of where the bulk of this country’s wealth is springing from, look no further than the daytimer belonging to TransForce President CEO Alain Bedard of Montreal.

TransForce has moved its annual meeting
west of Toronto for the first time

On Tuesday, April 24, the largest carrier in Canada will be holding its annual meeting at the Hyatt Regency in Calgary. It’s the first time TransForce has had its unit holders (TransForce is an income fund so has unit holders as opposed to shareholders) gathering in a center other than Montreal or Toronto, and according to TransForce’s VP marketing and communications Johanne Dean, it’s because a full 25 percent of the company’s revenue last year came out of the western Canada.

“Over the last year,” she told TodaysTrucking.com, “we made some significant purchases in Western Canada. We bought Byer’s KOS, Hemphill, Streeper and finally, in January, the heavy-haul and over-dimensional experts Westfreight.”

Not only will the company unit holders be gathering to hear Bedard report great 2006 results, they will also get a chance to tour his company’s new operational gem — the splashy new Calgary facilities of CF Managing Movement, better known as Canadian Freightways.

“They will be operating out of it by the end of March,” Dean said.

She added that Bedard will be delivering very positive news about last year’s financial performance at the Calgary meeting.

“We came at year end with an increase of 21 percent on revenues; 24 percent on EBIDTA and 20 percent on our cashflow, and we did a special distribution because of the excellent results,” she says. “Everybody’s really pleased.”