Working as an owner operator comes with its own set of unique challenges but also has the greatest rewards. Contrans is now offering a comprehensive business development program for company drivers who wish to make the transition to owner operators and are ready to launch their careers and further develop their business skills. We’ll support you throughout the entire five year term with the aim to get you ready for your second purchase, prepare you for financial independence, and ensure your confidence in running your own trucking business.

Our program gives you incredible professional opportunities and ample business support to help you get ahead in the trucking industry. By enrolling in our program, you can take advantage of the following incentives:

• Get your chance to partner with a financial advisor who will give you valuable assistance and guidance concerning money matters.
• Company-issued down payment on new International ProStar equipment for a 5 year term.
• Fundamental support, expertise and direction from our dedicated in-house business manager to assist in your development as a successful owner operator.
• Become better educated on fundamental safety regulations and learn how to make positive financial decisions, stick to a strong work ethic and utilize effective fuel mileage strategies.

At Contrans, we understand that a successful owner operator needs to be driven by the prospect of a financial payback for their time and investment. If you’re eager to take responsibility for your business by adhering to proper safety regulations such as regular truck maintenance programs, are reliable and motivated, possess the mechanical aptitude to diagnose and repair equipment, and have a true passion for the transportation industry, we’d love to hear from you.

Get in touch with us today to learn more about our comprehensive business development program and how we can help you grow and develop your career in this exciting field.

With the transportation industry facing rising fuel prices and stricter environmental regulations, raildecks provide a safe and efficient way to stabilize costs for shippers, free up major road congestion, improve capacity and significantly reduce carbon emissions. At Contrans, we’re proud to now be offering this brand new intermodal solution to our clients.
        
However, the introduction of this new intermodal solution carries the burden of requiring time-consuming inspections. When an open-top load or “load prone to shifting” is shipped intermodal on rail, a pull-by inspection is required by Transport Canada, and therefore CP. Currently, all raildeck test loads fall under this category.
          
A pull-by inspection of these loads has to be done every time a crew change happens, which is 25 times between Toronto and Calgary, for example. When a crew switches out, all open top loads must be inspected as the train slowly pulls by, after which the train powers up and is on its way. This can significantly slow transport times, as a train can be up to 6 to 7,000 feet long.

In an effort to ensure train schedules aren’t jeopardized, the following two initiatives are underway with Contrans Flatbed Group, Canadian Pacific, Rail Association of Canada and Transport Canada:

• To minimize pull-by times, raildeck test loads will be running to Calgary for the first 25 loads. This destination is always marshaled at the front aspect (first thousand feet) of a train, so the train can power up sooner, thereby minimizing impact on transport schedules.  We’ll gather data from test loads and obtain pictures of load position on deck, and securement at point of loading and destination to monitor any load shift or securement issues. We’ll also complete tracking forms, RAC test cards and build comprehensive files for each load to help us meet our goal of completing 25 successful moves without load shift or securement issues.
• After completing 25 successful moves without load shift or securement issues, we’ll compile data for presentation to Transport Canada with a request to remove the pull-by inspection requirements for raildeck moves. If granted, we’d be able to effectively run any intermodal lane with normal service times.

Despite the challenges that come with converting a traditional over-the-road commodity to rail, at Contrans, we’re committed to improving the efficiency and reliability of our long-haul intermodal network to better serve you.

As Canada’s largest national truck show, this event is a great opportunity for individuals in the trucking community to check out exciting new products and transportation solutions, network with other truckers from around the country, meet existing suppliers, and even learn some valuable tricks of the trade by attending the informative seminars scheduled for the weekend.

Whether you’re interested in doing business with us, coming on board our team or just want to learn more about us and the services we provide, we’d love to meet you! Come introduce yourself and check out our booth where our Contrans Flatbed Group representatives will be making a special effort to highlight our customized freight carrier services, innovative student and mentorship programs, and the green initiatives we’ve implemented which are helping to reduce our carbon footprint and provide greater fuel efficiency. You can even find out about how we’re utilizing efficient new rail products to create intermodal transport opportunities and the quality amenities we’ve recently added to select facilities.

We’ll also be available to discuss current and upcoming employment openings with our company. If you’re looking for a challenging and fast-paced work environment with opportunities for growth and professional development, training incentives, and flexible workplace accommodations, please don’t hesitate to drop in and discuss your career interests with us. We’re always on the hunt for qualified, passionate and hard-working individuals to add to our reputable team!

If you count yourself an active member of the trucking industry, you can’t really afford to miss out an event like this. With loads of free parking and free admission just for registering early, why should you have to?

For more information, check out the event website here.

We hope to see you there!

International Centre
Toronto, ON

Thursday April 19: 10-6
Friday April 20: 10-6
Saturday April 21: 9-5

We invite you to come out to our Contrans Flatbed Group Recruitment Open House on Sunday May 27 from 9am-2pm at 80 3rd Line in Hagersville, Ontario. This event will provide a great opportunity for prospective Owner Operators and Drivers who are interested in a career with our company to meet our key partners and team members, network with other trucking industry experts, and find out more about exciting current and upcoming employment openings.

Have questions about our competitive pay packages, fuel surcharge program, communication system, employment benefits or training programs? Our friendly staff will be happy to address your concerns and offer you some helpful feedback. Learn about what measures we’re taking to provide a positive work environment that encourages equality, effective communication and adaptability in order to support our employees so they may grow, excel and flourish in the workplace.

We’ll also be giving tours to open house guests so you can check out our full service maintenance facility, impressive yard and state-of-the-art equipment. We’re thrilled to have a chance to show off our recently opened drive-through wash bay which uses an automated Gantry System capable of completing a full truck and trailer wash in only fifteen minutes! The system uses a combination of rain water, well water and reclaimed water, reusing 70% of the water each time the truck is washed so it’s more environmentally-friendly. Prospective Owner Operators are encouraged to bring out their equipment for a free wash to take our newest equipment addition for a test drive!

If that isn’t incentive enough, visitors will also enjoy a complimentary BBQ lunch. We don’t know anyone who can turn down free food. So come out on Sunday May 27 from 9am-2pm to 80 3rd Line in Hagersville, Ontario for some good grub, friendly networking and a free tour of our facility. We look forward to meeting you!

The Transportation Solutions Group has the proven expertise to get your freight to its destination using the most efficient strategies, advising you on the specific transport methods that will help cut down on your costs, minimize the transport time of your freight, and guarantee your cargo is handled as little as possible to limit the chances of your goods being damaged.

The Transportation Solutions Group services include the following:

• Intermodal Transportation: We provide intermodal containment system solutions which offer you an economical and environmentally-friendly alternative to road transport, ensuring the hassle-free transfer of your cargo.
• Transload Services: Our reliable transloading services will help you cut down on costs, reduce carbon emissions by decreasing the road transport time of your freight, and promise you greater security by minimizing handling of your cargo.
• Freight Management: We have experienced management staff on board who are committed to providing service-driven logistics analysis involving optimal equipment utilization, ideal routing plans, accurate tracking and on-time deliveries.
• Logistics Services: Our knowledgeable brokerage experts will help you find the right solutions to your logistics problems to ensure your cargo is delivered in a timely and cost-efficient manner.

Our Transportation Solutions Group takes pride in offering intermodal freight transport and management services that improve the efficiency and affordability of hauling, tracking and storing your freight. Our qualified brokerage services will help to solve your unique logistics problems, so you can enjoy hassle-free movement of your cargo and have access to the professional support you require at all times.

For more information about our services, request a free quote or get in touch with one of our knowledgeable representatives to discuss how we can help you with your transport needs.

The system will use a combination of rain water, well water and reclaimed water. It will reuse 70% of the water each time the truck is washed so as to be friendly to the environment. The equipment that is used in this system will be constantly monitored by the manufacturer in Atlanta, providing us with the tools needed to properly maintain the bay.

This wash bay is a welcome addition to the 3^rd Line Facility. We would like to thank all of those people who helped get it up and running from the first brick laid to the final touches. It was a big undertaking and we are now reaping the benefits.

We want to provide you with information about our company, who we are and all we can do as a group. This site will allow you to gain some insight into our capabilities and we are hopeful it will demonstrate to you how we can fulfill your needs. Whether you are interested in doing business with us, coming to work with us, or are just interested in seeing who we are, this site was made for you. I encourage you to take some time to browse our site to see all that we have to offer. We are a proud group and look forward to being able to show you this.

My hope is that our website provides you with beneficial information and supports you in understanding why we are so proud of our group and all they do. We are dedicated to providing efficient quality service and strive to continually grow and develop as a successful and sustainable transportation company.

Sincerely,
Steven Brookshaw
- Vice President, Flatbed Operations

The foundation is in for this new building and the bricklayers have started creating the rest of the structure. The main building will be a cement block building with siding on the outside to match the rest of the terminal. The building will stand alone; it is not directly connected with any of the existing buildings on site and will be approximately 100 feet x 30 feet.

The system will use a combination of rain water, well water and reclaimed water. It will reuse 70% of the water each time the truck is washed so that it will be an environmentally friendly system. The equipment that is used in this system will be monitored by the manufacturer in Atlanta who will send us reports about how things are running and will identify if repairs need to be made to the system.

We are very excited to be past the permit part of the project and to finally have construction underway. The expectation is that construction and installation will be complete by the end of January 2012.

In accordance with the Ontario amalgamation that occurred in March 2011, we also created an Ontario brand that mirrored the National brand. The amalgamation brought 4 individually operating divisions under one umbrella – Contrans Flatbed Group, therefore each is represented in the designed brand as a way to utilize their current brand equity as we build more equity in the Contrans name.

During this process, we also established a tagline: COURAGE TO GO FAR. This is representative of our courage and willingness to grow, diversify and further establish ourselves in the industry. We are always looking for new opportunities while never losing site of our current goals and direction. We believe this helps us stand out among the crowd.

Our new National Brand:

Our new Ontario Brand:

“Raildecks’ innovative product extends the efficiencies of intermodal rail to industrial products shippers,” said John McBoyle, Vice-President Intermodal at Canadian Pacific.  “We believe industrial product customers will be attracted to the consistency, efficiency and , reliability of our long-haul intermodal network.”

“The Raildecks solution provides a viable option to convert some of the industrial freight that is moving over the road to be transported on intermodal rail,” said Rick Jocson, CEO of Raildecks.  “By converting a traditional over-the-road commodity to rail, Raildecks are reducing greenhouse gas emissions, freeing up major roads and highways, and reducing costs for shippers.”

“We are excited to be able to provide shippers with a brand new service offering,” stated Stan G. Dunford, Contrans’ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “This will revolutionize the long haul flatbed market and will result in substantial efficiencies and savings for shippers.”

Canadian Pacific has been testing Raildecks’ 53ft collapsible, multimodal carriers over the summer at its Toronto Intermodal Facility in Vaughn, ON.  The testing proved the concept, as pipe and other industrial products moved seamlessly on CP’s longhaul intermodal trains.  Previously shippers relied on trucks to move these types of products over a long distance.

About Canadian Pacific:

Canadian Pacific (TSX: CP) (NYSE: CP) operates a North American transcontinental railway providing freight transportation services, logistics solutions and supply chain expertise.  Incorporating best-in-class technology and environmental practices, CP is re-defining itself as a modern 21st century transportation company built on safety, service reliability and operational efficiency. Visit cpr.ca and see how Canadian Pacific is Driving the Digital Railway.

About Contrans:

Contrans is a leader in the Canadian transportation industry and has been providing exemplary service to its customers since 1926.  With the widest array of trailer configurations available for shippers, Contrans is Canada’s most diversified transportation company.

About Raildecks:

Raildecks is a North American company that has developed innovative transportation solutions by creating the industry’s first fifty three foot open top intermodal flat rack for double stack transportation. The equipment has been designed to convert traditional over the road industrial freight onto the high speed intermodal rail network.  As an open container with no ceiling or side walls the Raildecks container can be collapsed for cost effective repositioning and storage. This road-to-rail conversion reduces greenhouse gas emissions, frees up major roadways and highways, adds capacity and reduces cost.  Raildecks is an active member of The Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) a qualified member of the AAR.  Visit www.raildecks.com to learn more about our innovative open-top intermodal solutions.

BACKGROUNDER – Raildecks Intermodal

Raildecks Intermodal is a North American company that has developed the industry’s first fifty-three foot open top intermodal container for double stack transportation.   The equipment has been designed to convert traditional over the road industrial freight onto the high speed intermodal rail network.  Without a ceiling or side walls, the Raildecks container can be collapsed for cost effective repositioning and storage.  This road-to-rail conversion reduces greenhouse gas emissions, frees up major roadways and highways, adds capacity and reduces cost.

Raildecks Intermodal has spent considerable resources to develop a double stack intermodal container solution that is light enough to compete with existing over-the-road flatbed trailers yet durable and strong enough to meet the safety needs of the rail industry.  Before launching the commercial model of the container, Raildecks Intermodal tested the model 5.1 design at the Association of American Railroads (AAR) test facility in Pueblo, Colorado.  Following the successful testing of the initial prototype decks in Pueblo, a field trial program was initiated with the BNSF Railway and Boyd Brothers Transportation.

The field trial program was launched in June of 2010 with the BNSF Railway providing the intermodal rail expertise, Boyd Brothers providing the traditional flatbed expertise and Raildecks Intermodal as the coordinator of the equipment and service.   Initially there were only a few markets that were open to the trial program, and only select drivers, commodities and shippers could participate.  The start of the program was highly monitored to ensure that best industry practices were being followed.  Load diagrams were prepared in advance and shared with all the field trial partners.  Lading chalk lines were drawn on the deck prior to in-gating at the intermodal rail terminal to measure the movement when it arrived at the destination terminal.  The first 60 loads were documented from the time the Raildeck container was loaded at the consignor to the time it was unloaded at its’ destination.  Based on the success of the first sixty loads, the program has expanded to all of the intermodal terminals on the BNSF system.  In addition, test loads have moved on the Norfolk Southern and the Union Pacific network.  As of today, the Raildeck container has moved over 230 loads without any incident.   The use of the Raildecks container solution in the US has reduced an estimated 1425 tons of CO2 emission by moving over 15 different commodities over a total of 335,409 miles.  Recently, the Canadian program was launched with Canadian Pacific as the rail partner and the Contrans Flatbed Group as the motor-carrier partner.

The data captured during the field trial was analyzed by Raildecks Intermodal engineers and used in the design of the commercial model.  The result is a new 6.1 model Raildecks container that is lighter and stronger than the previous version.  In addition, the new model has fewer moving parts and no removable main parts, thus reducing the total cost of ownership.  The final product uses an aluminum deck surface that is mounted to a steel sub-frame structure.  The process to mount dissimilar metals is a proprietary method that has proven to eliminate any galvanic action.  The aluminum floor is a series of cross tubes that have been friction welded together to eliminate any heat affected zones, which can weaken the structure.  This process unitizes all the individual aluminum cross tubes and rub rail into one single extruded piece of aluminum.

The final product is a Raildecks container that is light, durable and very rigid.  Each deck comes with 15 sliding winches, 26 chain tie-down points, 10 lateral pipe stakes and a hydraulic power system.  To actuate the support arms, the deck has industrial grade jumper cables that can attach to any 12V power supply.  A simple remote control is used to move the support arms from the standard transport position to a 52ft loading position or to a fully collapsed position.  The tare weight of the US model Raildecks container is 10,750 lbs. and the Canadian model is 11,800 lbs.  For loading, the maximum height at center is 92 11/16″ and 91 3/8″ under the two support post.  For storage, the 6.1 Raildecks container has internal cabinets that are built into the main frame.  The cabinets also act as addition cross bracing for increased torsional strength.  When collapsed, the Raildecks containers can be stacked up to eight high using a fork lift, side loader or overhead crane.  A four stack of collapsed Raildecks containers is the same height as a high cube container and the four-stack can fit into a single slot position in a rail well car.  If additional longitudinal securement is needed, sliding anchors that move on the surface of the deck can be positioned every 9″ throughout the length of the deck.

The Raildecks container was designed to integrate seamlessly into the existing North American intermodal infrastructure and to minimize the amount of driver interaction with the equipment.  Operationally, the Raildecks container loads and secures like a standard flatbed trailer at a shipper’s yard.  However, when it in-gates at an intermodal rail terminal it will be lifted and secured like a standard steel box container and it is capable of double-stack transport in the top or bottom position.

When a shipment is ready to be loaded, the driver picks up a Raildeck container using a day-cab and a fifty three foot chassis at a designated storage facility.  The Raildecks container is inspected to ensure that it is in proper working order and that all primary securement devices are functioning properly.  The Raildecks container is lifted onto the chassis using a forklift, side loader or overhead crane.  The driver can decide whether to travel with the support arms in the upright position or in the collapsed position.  Once at site, the driver ensures that the support arms are in the loading position.  To do this, jumper cables that are hard-wired to the deck are taken out of storage and connected to the battery of the day-cab or an external 12V power supply.  Once power is running to the hydraulic pump, the driver then releases the four post / brace locking pins that secure the arms during transport.  With the locking pins disengaged, the driver uses the remote control that is located at the center of the deck to move each arm independently.  For loading, both arms actuate away from center to a maximum length of fifty two feet from post to post.    The time it takes the driver to move the arms into the loading position is under 5 minutes.  At this point, the Raildecks container will load and secure like a standard flatbed trailer.  During the field trial, shippers would use overhead cranes and heavy duty forklifts to load the freight onto the Raildecks containers.

Once all the freight has been placed on to the deck it is secured using an approved rail transport diagram and tarped (if needed), the driver, using the remote control, returns the support arms from the loading position to the transport position.  Prior to transport, the driver ensures that all four post / brace locking pins are fully engaged and that the lateral pipe stakes are in place.  At this point, the driver simply disconnects the jumper cables from the power supply and stores the cable in the dedicated storage box.  The hard-wired remote control is also put away in a separate storage box.

When the payload arrives at the rail terminal, it in gates just like a standard steel box container does.  The driver is instructed to position the load in the staging area.  Prior to rail transport, the fully loaded Raildecks container is disconnected from the chassis.  The lift operator picks up the container using a WTP (wide top pick) configuration and places it into the well car in the top or bottom position.  At this point, the Raildecks container will move across the country like a standard steel box container to the final destination.

At the destination terminal, a separate driver is notified forty-eight hours in advance that the Raildecks container with lading will be ready for pickup.  The rail hub operations team unloads the Raildeck container from the well car and typically loads it on to a chassis.  The designated driver in-gates at the destination terminal and picks up the Raildecks container.

After the driver has left the terminal, he pulls over to inspect the integrity of his equipment and container and ensures the proper functioning of the securement devices.  Any issues that have been identified are corrected before over-the-road transport.  At the consignee site, the driver prepares the Raildecks container for unloading.  When the load is ready to be lifted off the deck, the driver connects the jumper cable to a power supply and uses the remote control to actuate the arms into the loading position.  With the freight safely unloaded, the driver uses the remote control to actuate the arms into the collapsed position.  The driver can load up to three more collapsed Raildecks containers onto the chassis and in-gate at the destination intermodal terminal.  The four collapsed Raildecks containers have the same dimension as a high cube container and can be top or bottom mounted in a fifty-three foot well car.

For further information:
Contacts:
Canadian Pacific:
Mike LoVecchio
Media Relations
778-772-9636
mike_lovecchio@cpr.ca

Contrans:
Steven Brookshaw
Vice President, Flatbed Operations
Contrans Flatbed Group
Cell: 519-636-2751
Phone: 605-768-0310