TFI International recently added Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada-headquartered Vedder Transportation Group, which specializes in the transport of food-grade liquids and dry bulk commodities. The deal includes 155 tractors, 300 tank trailers, a wash rack, railcar transload and warehousing, and maintenance and repair facilities.
Vedder generates annual revenues of $58.6 million, TFI reported. The tank truck carrier will join TFI’s specialized truckload business, which last year generated $1.36 billion in revenue. The segment, which includes TFI’s dump, flatbed, reefer, and other non-conventional fleets, generated revenues of $749 million in 2020, when Dave Gatti, TFI’s vice president of business development, estimated bulk haulers contributed about $500 million.
“For many years TFI International has been a leading provider of reliable, safe, and cost-effective tank truck services to the liquid and dry bulk food-grade market in Eastern Canada,” Alain Bédard, TFI chairman, president, and CEO, said in a news release. “With the acquisition of Vedder, we add the premier provider of such services in Western Canada, along with a network of strategically located facilities, making TFI the premier Canadian coast-to-coast provider of food-grade tank truck transportation services.”
Vedder, founded in 1956, was one of the first companies in Western Canada to use tank trucks to transport liquid food-grade products, with operations now reaching from British Columbia to Manitoba. Fred Zweep, Vedder president, will join TFI’s specialized truckload segment as part of the deal, the companies said.
“We extend a warm welcome to Fred, to Larry Wiebe, whose family started the business in 1956 and who remains an advisor, and to their many colleagues throughout the Vedder organization—and we look forward to watching their future success under the TFI International umbrella,” Bédard concluded.
