Foundation and early history
The company was founded by Reno and Réal Émond in 1957 as a regional trucking service in Cabano, Quebec. Cabano Transport expanded its operations mainly in Quebec and the Maritimes through a series of acquisitions. In 1985, Cabano Transport purchased D'Anjou Transport and changed its name to Groupe Cabano-d'Anjou.[8]
In 1987, the company acquired Groupe Expéditex and changed its name to Cabano Expeditex Group Inc.. The same year, it also acquired Groupe Brazeau Inc. from La Verendrye Management Corp. for CA$14.4 million and Expeditex Inc. for CA$12.5 million. Cabano had reported a profit of CA$1.7 million in 1986 but both Brazeau and Expeditex had been unprofitable. The purchases increased Cabano's fleet from 700 to 5,000 vehicles[9] making it the largest trucking company in Quebec and fourth-largest in Canada. Following the acquisitions, Cabano Expeditex focused on reducing debt shutting down 15 terminals by October 1987, had plans to shutter 4 more, and expected to reduce administrative staff at the new acquisitions by about 40% and unionized workers by about 10%.[10]
Cabano Expeditex was forced to restructure its finances under pressure in 1988 and the next year reported losses of CA$16 million. By 1990, however, it was recovering and reported a profit of CA$4 million for the 1990 fiscal year. In July, it acquired the general freight operations of Clarke Transport Routier for CA$2.9 million. This deal added 610 rolling stock units and 300-400 employees to Cabano Expeditex's existing 2,100 employees and 3,200 vehicles.[11] In December 1990 the company changed its name to Cabano Transportation Group.[8]
In 1992, Cabano acquired Ontario-based Kingsway Transports Ltd. and its US operations from Kingsway's parent, Winnipeg-based Federal Industries Ltd. Following the purchase, Cabano changed its name to Cabano-Kingsway. The combined company operated 1,200 trucks, 3,400 trailers, and 63 service centers, and about 3,000 employees in eastern Canada and 19 northern US states. Cabano had been Canada's fourth largest trucking company but this deal meant it surpassed Reimer Express and TNT Canada to become the second largest after CP Express.[12]
Strategy shift
In 1997, Cabano Kingsway made significant management changes focused on operational efficiency and cost reductions. The company had been severely impacted by a strike in 1996 resulting in an earnings deficit. One key focus of the new management team was to reduce risk by diversifying its service offerings. Early acquisitions, therefore, were primarily intended to increase efficiency and grow new markets and services.[13]
By following their acquisitions strategy and divesting "non-core assets," the company subsequently experienced a significant increase in revenue with a much lower increase in expenses. In 1999, it changed its name to TransForce Inc.[13]
In February 2000, TransForce acquired TST Solutions the parent of US and Canadian LTL carrier TST Overland Express. This purchase represented a significant increase to TransForce's presence in the US. Post acquisition, TST continued to operate as an independent subsidiary.[14][15]
The company made major changes to its structure in 2002 when it converted itself into an income fund known as TransForce Income Fund.
Diversification and expansion
Also in 2002, TransForce acquired Brampton, Ontario-based parcel-delivery company Canpar Courier. Canpar provides domestic services directly and cross-border services via interline agreements with other carriers and had been established in 1976 as a division of Canadian Pacific Trucks. By the time of its acquisition, Canpar operated 53 terminals and 1,000 vehicles and had reported revenues of approximately $150 million in 2001.[17]
Another significant purchase came in January 2004 when TransForce acquired the assets of Canadian Freightways from the recently bankrupt US trucking company, Consolidated Freightways. The deal was reported at CA$69.6 million plus assumption of debt worth CA$15 million. Canadian Freightways offered LTL, truckload, warehousing, brokerage, and other logistics services.[18] With acquisitions and organic growth, by 2005 TransForce was Canada's largest trucking company operating two dozen subsidiaries with a combined nearly 3,500 trucks and 9,000 trailers.[19]
TransForce again expanded its courier services in October 2007 with the purchase of ICS Courier and its parent Century II Holdings Inc. Founded in 1978 as Information Communication Services, Toronto-based ICS primarily focused on commercial shipments including parcel and document services and claimed 35,000 accounts, more than 1,300 employees and owner-operators, and 35 offices.
US and further Canadian expansion
TransForce moved into the US parcel market with its December 2010 acquisition of Dallas-based Dynamex (nasdaq: DDMX) for US$248 million. The company provided parcel delivery and logistics services in both the US and Canada and had reported revenues of US$418 million in the fiscal year ending October 31, 2010. Dynamex would be renamed TForce Logistics.[24] Additional parcel expansion came in June 2011 when TransForce acquired the domestic Canadian business of DHL Express. The division would be operated as Loomis Express and continued to focus on domestic services while offering international services via an alliance with DHL Express.[25][26]
TransForce once again reorganized its energy services holdings in 2012 by consolidating its Canadian subsidiaries Kos Oilfield Transportation and Howard's Transport with their US counterparts Hemphill-Speedy and I.E. Miller to form TForce Energy Services.[27]
A months long campaign by TransForce to acquire one of its largest rivals, Canadian truckload carrier Contrans Group Inc., and its subsidiaries for CA$495 million
UPS Freight acquisition
In January 2021, TFI agreed to purchase UPS' LTL and truckload subsidiary UPS Freight for US$800 million.[40] At the time, the acquisition was the second largest deal in North American trucking history after the 2017 merger of Swift Transportation and Knight Transportation and made TFI one of the largest trucking companies in North America.[41]
UPS Freight had been formed in 2005 when UPS acquired LTL carrier Overnite Transportation and its subsidiary Motor Cargo for US$1.25 billion.[40] In the purchase UPS expected to find synergies between the LTL services of Overnite and UPS' core package services. The move was also a bid to head off rival FedEx[42] which had recently expanded into LTL via a series of acquisitions.[43]
2024 acquisitions
In March 2024, TFI acquired Hercules Forwarding.[50] In April 2024, the company acquired Daseke for $1.1 billion.[51] In June, the company acquired Entreposage Marco, a food-grade truck hauler.[52] In July the same year, TFI acquired Groupe CRS Express, a flatbed and heavy-haul carrier based out in Canada.[53]
2025 abandoned move to the U.S.
In February 2025, TFI announced their intention to move their headquarters to the U.S.[54] The company claims 70% of its operation is in that country. TFI later decided to abandon moving to the U.S. after shareholder backlash.[55]
