News
VersaCold opens new Milton distribution center
MILTON, ON – It’s freezing in VersaCold’s new distribution center in Milton, Ontario. Below freezing, actually, and that’s a good thing. Officially opened on January 11, the structure shares little in common with the Sobey’s warehouse that once called it home. It has been transformed into a fully temperature-controlled environment, with individual zones chilled to temperatures between 4 and -30 Celsius. Investments have been made in generators, boilers, and refrigeration panels alike. Concrete floors have been raised and re-poured in 11 seamless sections. The underlying technology used to move pallets of frozen foodstuff has all been upgraded, even to the point of including voice-activated equipment.
Creative solutions may be needed for capacity market: FTR
BLOOMINGTON, IN – FTR Intelligence is predicting the strong start for trucking in 2018 will continue, leaving fleets to get creative when solving the problems created by a market already at capacity. Avery Vise, vice president trucking research, says although fuel rates leveled in the first week of the new year, they aren’t expected to drop dramatically in the near future, contributing to record-level spot rates and rising contract rates he expects will peak and then fall sometime in late 2018 or early 2019, but will still remain high. The reefer market was also up in the first week of 2018, with a polar vortex creating an increased need for temperature-controlled transport to keep products from freezing.
Manitoulin acquires Direct Right
MISSISSAUGA, ON – Manitoulin Transport has acquired Direct Right Cartage -- an intermodal provider based in Brampton, Ontario – marking the fleet's seventh acquisition in 12 months. “This purchase enables Manitoulin to provide a higher level of service and frequency of intermodal service within Canada. We will continue to look for opportunities such as this to build our services and coverage to ensure our offerings meet our customers’ evolving needs,” said Jeff King, president of Manitoulin. “Manitoulin’s ability to extend customers’ reach from Canada to the rest of the world through multiple supply chain service offerings gives them a significant competitive advantage,” added Gord Smith, Chief Executive Officer.
