OSHAWA, Ont. — Mackie Moving Systems marked its 80th anniversary last night with an open house celebration that attracted 200-plus guests from far and wide, along with a bevy of local politicians.

Company chairman Ross Mackie, grandson of the founder, left the speaking to sons Norm and Dean as well as president Gilles Bernier, but proudly led tours of the head office and the 115,000 sq ft of space that serves as the main facility in its warehousing and storage division. Mackie also has another 120,000 sq ft of warehouse space in Mississauga, Ont. and Montreal.

An institution in this city just east of Toronto, much involved in community projects, the Mackie Group is a family-oriented company and nowadays a diversified enterprise that includes a commercial and household moving division under the North American Van Lines flag.

Other divisions cover general freight, high-value freight, specialized auto hauling, trailer rentals, and there’s even a Harley-Davidson dealership.

Ross Mackie, far left, with sons Scott, Dean, and
Norm. Holding a plaque is local MP Colin Carrie.

Not surprisingly, the company has two Kenworth T660 tractors with matching trailers dedicated to hauling Harley-Davidson Canada products. Mackie pioneered the enclosed transport of family and classic vehicles in the early 1950s and now hauls ultra-modern exotics, manufacturers’ prototypes, and rare museum pieces.

That’s a very far cry from the company’s humble origins a couple of hundred miles north of Oshawa in South River, Ont., where Scottish immigrant Charlie Mackie began hauling logs and produce and whatever else he could find in 1928.

By 1934 his son Merle had also put a truck on the road under the Merle Mackie Transport banner and a pattern was set — the sons don’t just join the company, they start by getting their hands dirty at the steering wheel. Merle’s son Ross, born in 1934, did it in the 1940s. As a teenager, he and his father were even running to Vancouver in a gas-powered Chevy with hydraulic brakes. By the time he was 17, Merle had bought Ross an air-braked White to continue working that Toronto-Vancouver lane. In the early 1950s, that was not easy trucking.

Ross’s own four sons, Norm, Dean, Paul, and Scott, all of them in senior positions with the company, started in the same way. His sister Marilyn looked after the books for many years, and some of his 14 grandchildren are sure to be Mackie employees. That will represent the fifth generation of the family to go trucking.

By the 1940s the company was located in Oshawa, where Merle dabbled in household goods moving and even transformed his stake-and-rack truck to haul skiers to and from the hills.

In the 1950s the company joined North American Van Lines, one of its two most significant milestones. The second came in 1964 when Mackie was first offered General Motors business, in that case hauling cars and displays to auto shows.

GM Canada, also based in Oshawa, became a staple customer and remains so today. In the 1990s Mackie was even doing light assembly for GM in the Mackie Automotive Systems division.

Mackie Moving Systems now has 400 employees, not including 200 drivers, who run a fleet numbering over 500 vehicles.