Of course, the real biggest story, to those of us in the trucking industry, was TransForce’s surprise acquisition of Contrans. Of course we were the first to report on it and to post reaction from industry analysts and observers. You can check out reaction here.

This deal, said to be worth $495 million, has far-reaching implications for the industry. For starters, there were two major buyers of your mainstream over-the-road trucking firms and now there is one. If you run a trucking company of any size and you haven’t carved out a lucrative niche for yourself, to whom, other than TransForce, are you going to sell? You can’t even play them against each other!

Well, Manitoulin has stepped up as a pretty aggressive buyer of late, but still, there’s one fewer option out there to bank on. Unless, of course, a major US player enters the market, which is always possible.

There’s not much new to report since the story broke July 24. The deal is expected to wrap up in October and till then, everyone involved will be fairly tight-lipped. Analysts say the deal is likely to receive shareholder approval and most agreed it’s a good fit for both companies.