Cambridge, ON (May 30) – Challenger Motor Freight has begun construction on a new headquarters building on the outskirts of this central Ontario city. The ceremonial shovels hit the dirt on a 53-acre parcel of land while a dozen graders and bulldozers were already moving mountains of dirt in the background. Some time around the end of the year, or early in 2005, the 113,000-square-foot facility will be ready. It will consolidate activities now housed in two separate buildings in the area.

Challenger president Dan Einwechter, speaking to a small crowd of friends, staff, contractors, and local dignitaries, called the new project “The culmination of 29 years of hard work.” He launched the company, now number six on the Today’s Trucking Top 100 list, with one truck in 1975.

The new facility will feature 50,000 square feet of maintenance space, plus an 8000-square-foot mezzanine, as well as 55,000 square feet of office space. The shop will combine indoor fuelling with safety inspection lanes. The new facility will also feature a driving simulator for training purposes.

“It’s going to be a world-class facility,” Einwechter told Today’s Trucking. “Drivers are going to love it. We think they’ll be very proud of it.”

Einwechter took the opportunity, with federal, provincial, and municipal politicians present, to slam Jack Layton for comments made on a recent CTV television program in which the NDP leader said he would work to “get those big rigs and trucks off the road that are destroying the roads by investing in rail again.”

In angry response, Einwechter said “We keep society going…We’re making a significant contribution.”

Challenger has been named one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies several times and has been ISO-9002-certified since 1998. Einwechter has served as chairman of both the Canadian Trucking Alliance and the Ontario Trucking Association.