TORONTO — Doug Smith, chairman of the Manitoulin Group of Companies in Gore Bay, Ont. was presented the 2007 OTA-Trailmobile Service to Industry Award during a ceremony held at the convention.

The award is the highest honour bestowed on an executive in the Ontario trucking industry and honours an individual who, by their commitment, vision, leadership and unstinting service, has made an outstanding contribution to the development and success of the truck transportation industry in Ontario.

The selection was made by a panel of Smith’s peers, most of who are previous winners themselves, and recognizes Smith’s role as one of the industry’s major innovators, particularly in developing special truck configurations, which maximized the productivity of shipments of various products to and from Northern Ontario.

The Manitoulin Group of Companies is a single source transportation provider with services ranging from LTL and truckload to customs brokerages, warehousing, air and ocean freight forwarding, a truck driving school, fuel distribution and logistics services.

For over 50 years, Smith grew the business through strategic acquisitions and the company now has a terminal network of more than 60 terminals throughout Canada.

Since the beginning, the head office has always been and continues to be located in the small town of Gore Bay on Manitoulin Island. Smith began his career in trucking in 1957 when the family business, Smith’s Wholesale purchased its first truck and trailer to service produce moving from the Ontario Food Terminal to Manitoulin Island for distribution. By 1960, with the sale of Smith’s Wholesale to National Grocers, Doug acquired Hill’s Transport and renamed the company Manitoulin Transport.

In the early days, Smith loaded furniture, drove, and worked on the trucks. He was determined to make the business work and he did. That strong work ethic and in-depth knowledge of all facets of the business has carried the company forward.

Smith’s quiet and unassuming demeanour belies a creativity and inventiveness that is at the root of his success. Nowhere is this more evident in the “Supertrucks” for which Smith has become famous.

In 1980, the first eight Supertrucks were put into service and consisted of a cabover tractor with a 13-foot dromedary box. This box allowed temperature controlled freight to be moved to Northern Ontario while pulling a stake and rack trailer, and heavier product such as lumber or steel to be pulled south while putting general freight into the Supertruck box. This combination was a perfect fit for Northern Ontario’s customers.

Smith lives and works in Gore Bay on Manitoulin Island with his wife, Phyllis. Their two sons, Gordon and Jeffrey, have both been working at Manitoulin Transport for more than 20 years.