Trucking pioneer gets his due

By IAN ROSS

All of Northern Ontario’s economy hinges on moving freight great distances from one place to another.

No one knows that better than the Smith family of Manitoulin Transport.

The story of the Manitoulin Island trucking company run out of its headquarters in Gore Bay (population 900) is an amazing one.

For more than a half-century, Manitoulin Transport has been a unique and steadily expanding entity as an LTL (less-than-load) carrier that has grown into a nation-wide operation of 2,500 vehicles and 65 terminals.

In November, Doug Smith, founder and chairman of the Manitoulin Group of Companies was recognized by his industry peers as a pioneer and innovator at the Ontario Trucking Association’s (OTA) annual convention presenting him with their Service to Industry award.

And the accolades keep coming for Smith this winter.

The Gore Bay trucking magnate was named as a recipient of the Order of Canada for his contributions as a business leader, philanthropist and champion of economic and community development in Northern Ontario.

The privately-held, family-run company has stayed ahead of the trucking industry’s wave of consolidation by making some deft and strategic acquisitions beginning with Lakehead Freightways in 1991 and has averaged one per year since then.

“In the last 18 months, we’ve done five,” says Manitoulin president Gord Smith, Doug’s 45-year-old son, based at their Cambridge terminal.

“We probably have as good a footprint in Western Canada as anyone in the business.”

Younger brother Jeff is the Sudbury-based vice-president of quality for all their affiliated companies of driver training schools, warehouses, fuel distributors and customs brokerages.

At 74, Doug, the media-shy patriarch still maintains an active role in the business, living with wife Phyllis in their home on a bluff overlooking Gore Bay.

“He’s been a great sounding board for the current management team and we expect he’s going to be in the business for years to come,” says Gord. “He’s a pretty remarkable individual.”

Doug started his career in banking in Toronto before being lured back to the island by his parents in the mid-50s to partake in the family wholesale grocery warehousing business, plus run a Ford dealership.

That’s how the trucking business started, hauling produce and dry goods between Toronto and the island.

Gord says his father is an interesting mix of the pragmatic, analytical and the creative.

Doug plays clarinet in a band, the Gore Bay Orchestra, that has played concerts at island events for more than 50 years.

Always a tinkerer, Doug’s company holds a number of patents on some innovative and diverse equipment configurations and he has been the designer of every one of them.

Gord says his dad’s knowledge of truck and equipment specs, load weights and measures “is second to none.”

One of his ideas became the ‘Super Truck,’ introduced in the early 80s.

The specially-outfitted tractors contain a dromedary box behind the cab for transporting temperature-controlled goods during otherwise empty back-haul runs back to Northern Ontario, while still having the capacity to pull a stake and rack trailer in behind.

Smith also designed a number of trailer kits with removable sides to haul goods north and lumber and steel south.

Like his dad, Gord says, “I automatically assume there’s a better way to do everything you do,” through KPI’s (key performance indicators), by making incremental improvements and constant review of their operations.

“We stand by the old rule if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”

Trucking has always had its challenges in recruiting, training and keeping drivers, says Gord.

Today, it’s a much more technologically driven industry and Manitoulin has invested heavily to become a North American IT leader in transportation systems by offering real-time tracking information to customers.

But Gord says everyone still measures up to Doug Smith’s legendary work ethic by following the 110 per cent rule.

“My father always preached since the time we were 10 years old that we’re not as smart as the other guys, so we’ve got to work harder.”