CLARKE INC. has received $101.2 million for its stake in Versacold Income Fund, for a gain of about $30.6 million. The company said it will put those funds towards strategic investments. Eimskip Holdings purchased Clarke’s stake in Versacold, a company offering refrigerated warehousing and distribution services.

TRANSFORCE has filed a letter of intent to acquire Century II Holdings, owner of courier company Information Communications Services (ICS). The courier company serves about 35,000 accounts in the insurance, optical, financial, travel, dental and legal business sectors across Canada. TransForce has offered a 58.4% premium over volume-weighted average closing share prices. TransForce hopes to conclude the acquisition by Oct. 31. ICS is based in Toronto and has a workforce of about 1,300 employees and owner/operators working out of 35 offices. It generated $90 million in revenue last year.

BISON TRANSPORT has expanded its Canadian presence with the purchase of two B.C.-based fleets. Glenncoe Transport and Winfield Motor Freight are both Kelowna-based operations and have been owned and operated by the Coe family since 1972. Glenncoe Transport is a truckload carrier, primarily serving B.C., Alberta and the US Pacific Northwest. Winfield Motor Freight is an LTL service provider connecting B.C.’s coast with the interior of the province. Glenncoe operates 160 trucks, 550 trailers and employs more than 200 people. Winfield Motor Freight operates 40 trucks, 20 trailers and currently employs 50 people. Don Coe and his brother Glenn Coe will continue on in leadership positions at Glenncoe Transport and Winfield Motor Freight.

The DAY AND ROSS GENERAL FREIGHT division of the Day and Ross Transportation Group has begun construction on a $15 million transportation terminal in Surrey, B.C. The new facility is expected to be complete in November and will replace the existing Day and Ross General Freight location in Vancouver. The new terminal will be located on a 7.5-acre site and consist of 6,000 sq.-ft. of office space, as well as a 30,250 sq.-ft. dock with 56 doors. Approximately 60 employees and owner/operators will be based at the terminal.

TOTALLINE TRANSPORT is expanding its Quebec operation with the move to a larger and more advanced facility in St. Laurent/Montreal. The redesigned building boosts the company’s available warehousing space across Canada to over 700,000 sq. ft. The new operation in St. Laurent provides customers in Quebec with 125.000 sq. ft of warehousing space, 20 shipping doors and custom-designed supply chain services.

FEDEX FREIGHT CANADA, the newly-formed subsidiary of FedEx Freight that provides intra-Canada and transborder less-than-truckload (LTL) service, officially unveiled its new combined national headquarters and 48 dock-door service centre, located in Toronto. Formerly Watkins Canada Express, FedEx Freight Canada began operations in February. The company provides all-points coverage to more than 7,000 cities in 10 of the country’s provinces, as well as transborder service for shipments to and from the US and other locations. In addition to Toronto, FedEx Freight Canada offers pickup and delivery service through a growing network of facilities that includes Vancouver, Winnipeg, London, Calgary and Montreal.

CN is acquiring 65 new fuel-efficient, high-horsepower locomotives in 2007 and 2008, in addition to 65 locomotives already on order for delivery this year. CN’s latest orders are for 40 ES44DC locomotives from GE Transportation Rail, a unit of General Electric Company, and 25 SD70M-2 locomotives from Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. The GE units will be delivered between December 2007 and February 2008, with the EMDs arriving in August 2008. CN previously ordered 50 SD70M-2s for delivery between August and October 2007, and 15 ES44DC units to come in November of this year. The new units are about 15% more fuel efficient than the locomotives they will replace, and will comply fully with the latest regulatory requirements for reduced locomotive emissions. The latest locomotive orders announced will permit CN to retire 145 older locomotives. The new locomotive orders are part of a major fuel conservation program by CN, which spent almost C$900 million on fuel in 2006.

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