Starting with only one highway tractor, Duke's Transport has grown to be one of the largest freight carriers in Canada today.

Duke's Transport Ltd. has been locally owned and family operated since December 1979. According to the company, it has become one of the largest general freight carriers in Canada, providing its services between Edmonton and Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada.

The company says it is proud of its ownership, with Lyle Duke starting the company from scratch.

Duke's Transport started as a freight carrier with only one highway tractor. Today, Duke Transport owns 30 tractors, five vans with a capacity of five tons each, 60 trailers and three one-ton delivery vehicles. It provides climate control general freight service for LTL and full trailer loads, using van or deck trailers, B trains or rockies.

It also provides equipment trailer, trailer and seacan rentals, and offers local freight pick up, delivery, trailer-shuttling services, freight consolidation and freight forwarding through interline carriers.

What sets the company apart, it says, is its high-quality service. “Service is everything [for Duke's],” Duke's Transport states. Current commitments include contracts with Jacobs Catalytic for truckload shipments; Syncrude Aurora for loads of pipe; CNRL for LTL service; Edmonton Exchanger for LTL service to all sites; Flint Energy for LTL service to all sites; and Opti/Nexen for LTL and full load services. The company has also partnered with other carriers for the past 20 years.

“We operate under an inter-provincial operating authority in the province of Alberta,” Duke's Transport states. “We have created interline partnerships with Manitoulin Transport, who provides freight service as far east as New Brunswick, into the United States and Mexico; and Duckerings Transport, which provides service to Southern Alberta and Van Kam to all of Western Canada.”

Additionally, some of the major companies that Dukes Transport works with are:
· Ocean Trailer - One of Western Canada's trailer specialists, it sells, leases, rents and supplies parts for commercial trailers. With six locations - Coquitlam, Delta, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Saskatoon - it says it has state-of-the-art equipment to provide high-quality service to customers. “Our shops are equipped with all the latest equipment required to quickly and efficiently put [customers'] trailers back on the road,” the company explains. “Our trucks carry most common parts and the equipment to get [customers] on the road 24 hours a day.”

· Clearwater Welding & Fabrication Ltd. - A wholly owned aboriginal company, the company says it has the “expertise, equipment and resources to focus on ensuring the success of the customer.” Established in 1984, Clearwater Welding has achieved recognition as one of the leading welding and fabrication firms in Alberta and throughout Western Canada. Clearwater Welding is a member of the Golosky Group of Cos. “[Golosky Group] enables us to draw upon a vast pool of resources, equipment and services that can be offered to customers.”
· Manac Trailer/R&D Trailers - Manac Trailer says storage vans or multi-axle heavy equipment such as vans, flat decks, step decks, trombones, double drops, super B's, loggers, gravel, heavy haul, specialty and custom built are available at the company. R&D Trailers, on the other hand, offers trailers throughout Canada and the United States. It says it leads the industry because it offers high-quality equipment at competitive pricing.
· TS Signs - For more than 20 years, TS Signs has been providing customers with a variety of sign materials including aluminum, banners, crezone, coroplast and magnetics. In addition, it provides customers with a variety of vinyl lettering and graphics selections. It says its employees are the company's advantage. The staff, TS Signs says, is always willing to assist customers in choosing the right materials.
· Edmonton Kenworth Ltd. - If customers need something for their truck, Edmonton Kenworth says it can meet their needs. “[We] stay at the leading edge through innovation and technology,” the company notes. “We will get [customers] back on the road faster [than anyone else].”
· Premay Equipment Ltd. - Since 1964, the company has been offering its services to the petroleum, energy, mining and construction industries. It says it loads from smaller to large cargos on-time. Transport services include conventional, heavy haul, jack and roll, gantry work, rail car on-and-off loading, engineering and logistics.
· C. Schultz Enterprises Ltd. - The company offers general freight and equipment service of various cargo sizes.

Innovative Systems
To improve its customer service, Duke's Transport says it adopts technology innovations. Its accounting, billing and dispatching services, for example, are all done with an IBM AS 400. “This system has a tracking unit set up which allows our customers to go online to our Web site and retrieve copies of their bills of lading and proof of delivery for materials that have been shipped through [us],” the company explains. “Customers just have to contact us to get a user name and password to obtain access to their account online.”

Additionally, the company offers rentals on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Rental equipment includes pullout wide load lights, dump valves and gauges, flipdown beavertails, upper live roll-on rear and rear plug-ins for extension lights. Trailer rentals include vans, highboys, drop decks and reefer vans.

Safety Concern
Aside from offering the best service to its customers, Duke's Transport says its other goals include:
· Maintaining financial viability in the Fort McMurray regional economy
· Enhancing the employment opportunities for aboriginal people in the trucking industry
· Developing the company's human resources to its fullest potential
· Expanding market share in a progressive and strategic fashion
· Providing one of the safest working environments in the trucking industry. Duke's Transport says its motto is “to be the best and safest that we can be.” “Safety is our first concern,” it adds.

Surviving Changes
Even with some challenges in the market, the company says it has been growing at a stable rate. It plans to expand its operations beyond Edmonton. “Duke's Transport have survived the changing economic climate to remain the only locally owned and operated general freight carrier based in Fort McMurray,” it says.  E+P