DAY AND ROSS TRANSPORTATION GROUP‘s General Freight Division has begun construction on a $9.1 million transportation terminal in Edmonton. Located at 15603-131 Ave. in Edmonton, the new facility will replace the existing Day and Ross location in the province’s capital and is expected to be completed in August. Located on a 10-acre site, the new terminal will consist of a 4,464 sq. ft. one-storey office building and a 17,955 sq. ft. dock space with 31 doors. Approximately 40 Day and Ross employees and owner/operators will be based at the terminal.

CANADA CARTAGE has been acquired by a US equity firm as part of a deal worth more than $140 million. Nautic Partners CI LP of Providence, R.I. has agreed to pay $11.30 per share to acquire the income fund. Canada Cartage offers trucking, warehousing, distribution and logistics services in 12 Canadian cities. It operates more than 1,500 trucks and 1,900 trailers and owns more than a million square feet of distribution and warehousing space. The $11.30 per share offering is 27% more than the fund’s Apr. 30 closing price of $10.33. The deal is likely to be approved in late June.

DAVID BROWN UNITED of Cambridge, N.S.; SEAFOOD EXPRESS of Charlottetown, P.E.I.; and BELL CITY BRANDS of Brantford, Ont., are the three latest carriers to have implemented the Canadian Trucking Alliance’s Trucking Food Safety Program (TFSP). The TFSP program is designed to give shippers confidence that their product’s integrity will continue to be protected even after it leaves their care.

REIMER EXPRESS LINES has made major enhancements to both its my.ReimerExpress.com and ReimerExpress.com Web sites to provide customers with quicker access to shipment information and better tools for managing their supply chain via the Internet. To improve ease of use, a calendar view of shipping activity, templates for more customization, and default settings for faster data entry have been added to my.ReimerExpress.com. The enhancements also focused on the shipping management applications, with special attention to the interactive bill of lading (BOL) tool. Improvements to the company ReimerExpress.com Web site include a new feature which allows registered users of my.ReimerExpress.com to log on to their secure accounts from the ReimerExpress.com homepage. This feature allows customers to begin their online shipping the way they prefer, from either the ReimerExpress.com site or the my.ReimerExpress.com site.

CHALLENGER INVESTMENTS, the parent company of Challenger Motor Freight, has announced its intention to purchase Lodwick Transport, an Ontario based predominantly long haul refrigeration carrier. The addition of Lodwick’s 60 tractors and 80 trailers will allow Challenger to expand its level of temperature controlled services to its clients. Founded in 1941 by Cliff Lodwick Sr., Lodwick Transport is a third generation continent-wide trucking company. Lodwick was the first Canadian carrier to offer remote temperature monitoring of freight on trailers for their customers.

KRISKA HOLDINGS LIMITED has purchased the shares of Lavigne Truck Lines. Lavigne has been a family owned and operated company for 20 years in the Ottawa area, much like Kriska. Kriska operates close to 400 power units across Canada and the US and Lavigne operates 40 power units within Canada only. Chris Lavigne will continue as president of Lavigne Truck Lines.

TRIMAC TRANSPORTATION SERVICES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP has completed the purchase of the Alberta based business and assets of Logistics Express, Inc. Logex is engaged in the transportation of liquefied gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide primarily on behalf of industrial gas manufacturers. The fleet acquired includes 15 trailers and 31 independent contractors/leased tractors with annual revenues for the Alberta based business of approximately $6.0 million.

THE MSM GROUP OF COMPANIES has expanded its operations to include an office location in Charlotte, N.C. The office will provide sales and administrative support for the company’s commercial transportation business. It will also support MSM’s information technology group, which has been based in Charlotte since 2003. The new facility is located at 4324 Wilgrove-Mint Hill Road.