Service solutions for trying times
Trailcon Leasing has come a long way since founder Alan Boughton opened its doors on October 26, 1992, with just one employee – himself. “I knew what I wanted to accomplish with this new company and believed that every day we stayed in business was one day closer to being a recognized and legitimate trailer provider in the Canadian market,” he says.
For many years now, Trailcon has been a leader in transportation solutions, specializing in trailer leasing, rentals, service, fleet maintenance and management, including temperature-controlled equipment.
As it celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, Trailcon has grown to more than 10,000 owned units, $100 million in annual sales, more than 150 office staff, technicians, and brokers, and over 20,000 customer trailers being serviced under its “TrailerCare” fleet management program.
The company has also expanded to five locations: two in Ontario, including its 75,000-square-foot
state-of-the-art Brampton headquarters; two in Alberta; and one in British Columbia. And it won’t stop there, notes Boughton. “We will add two additional branches by the end of 2022.”
Boughton credits one of his mentors, his previous boss George Hendrie of the Hendrie Group of Companies, with teaching him the value of retaining customers, employees, and suppliers.
It has stood him in good stead over the years – “we signed our first account for three trailers on our third day of business in 1992 and that customer is still with us today,” he says proudly.
Fast-forward 30 years, and today Trailcon is a national provider to Walmart, Canadian Tire, Loblaw, Home Depot, TransForce, Canada Cartage, and hundreds of other customers from coast to coast. “Beneath my name in our lobby is my quote from 1992 that states, ‘Trailcon was built on the cornerstones of honesty and integrity,’” Boughton notes. “George Hendrie passed on his knowledge and wisdom on how to run a business and one by one, we added new business, opened new locations, and retained our accounts, both large and small. Today, I still believe in the core values that got us started in the right direction so many years ago.”
Focus on Service Offerings
As Trailcon expanded its physical locations, it also increased its service offerings. Because Trailcon services some of the largest grocers and retailers across Canada, the company has focused efforts on expanding these offerings to help businesses weather the pandemic storm.
A case in point is Trailcon’s exclusive TrailerCare program, available anywhere in Canada. TrailerCare is a full fleet management and maintenance program for trailer fleets of all sizes. Trailcon’s licensed technicians oversee all service and preventative maintenance needs, freeing organizations with growing fleet demands of these responsibilities.
“Trailcon is currently servicing more than 20,000 trailers across Canada,” says Mike Krell, Vice President, Sales & Marketing. “With retailers and grocers facing incredible demands, especially during the pandemic, we knew we needed to find a solution that allowed those companies to focus on their business while we focused on managing and maintaining their fleet. The TrailerCare program was officially launched in 2021, and in less than a year, we’re maintaining thousands of customer owned trailers across the country.”
To cater to customers requiring temperature-controlled equipment, Trailcon implemented its reefer Everfresh program.
“We are inspecting units that have reached a point in their lifecycle where major components would historically start to fail,” says Jamie Hillier, Vice President, Maintenance and Operations. “Once we have identified these units, we then look at the customer application and ask, what can we change now to mitigate a major component failure in the future?”
Hillier explains that Trailcon replaces/rebuilds those components to ensure customers’ loads are secure and will not spoil due to a typical breakdown. Another preventative maintenance schedule might be added to the existing one to capture a potential failure. “We have partnered with some suppliers in the industry to assist us with parts and other products to support us with this initiative,” Hillier notes. “The goal is to get us through a time where cost uncertainty will not have a devastating impact on customers and halt their business.”
A focus on TrailerCare places heavy responsibility on Trailcon to fulfill customers like Walmart, Loblaw, and Canadian Tire, for example, along with other grocery, retail, and pharma companies that cannot risk losing a load of product, particularly in light of current pandemic-related challenges.
Adding to the difficulty is a lack of inventory as ongoing supply chain disruptions have made new units nearly impossible to acquire. Trucks are at a premium due primarily to global parts and equipment shortages, while trailer production is suffering from a shortage of parts and labour. Businesses are instead focusing on maintaining and upgrading their current fleets, relying on programs like TrailerCare and Everfresh to keep their products moving. For Trailcon, it’s all about helping customers deliver the goods when and where they’re needed.
“As my wife Wendy often says, ‘it’s been quite a ride,’ and she is correct,” says Boughton. “What the Trailcon team has built is truly amazing and as long as we maintain the original guiding principles, the future will be extremely bright for the company for many years.”
