TORONTO, Ont. — DTA Services is celebrating its 90^th anniversary this year.

It’s a long history for the freight management company which began in 1920 with two men returning to Canada from overseas after the First World War and establishing a business in Toronto offering to audit already paid freight bills and file the Canadian rail tariffs. They called the company back then the Dominion Traffic Association.

Times were different then and transportation costs were part of the government public policy. Trucking was a small force, run by teamsters and rates encouraged use of Canada’s railways and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Roads were not what they are now, couriers did not exist and most freight moved on tariff prices.

If carriers made mistakes, shippers could file claims and recover their money. And because rates were so complex, specialists provided a good solution. Freight rate auditing was a recession-proof, even depression-proof and the business flourished through the thirties and forties.

In the ‘50s and ‘60s DTA was a small business but grew through its owner’s hard work and determination.  Computerization in the mid 1970s was established to automate payment and generate reporting enhanced DTA’s service offering as did the downturn in the mid-80s and ‘90s when companies just didn’t have the staff to handle all the freight invoices.

Currently DTA provides freight management value-added activities including pre-auditing of freight bills, freight bill payment, consultation and information gathering and generation. 

“Fully EDI capable and web-based, DTA delivers the technology and logistics know-how to ensure shipping costs are competitive and fair,” says president Melissa Gracey.