TFI International

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.[16]

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.[20]

In 2008, as part of a corporate restructuring, TransForce Income Fund changed its name back to TransForce Inc.,[21] the name it had used from 1999 to 2002.[16]

In November 2009, TransForce acquired the Retail Solutions Division of ATS Andlauer Transportation Services (ATS). The division focuses on the retail and supply chain sectors and was renamed TForce Integrated Solutions on January 1, 2014.[22]

TransForce expanded its energy services portfolio in 2010 when it acquired Speedy Heavy Hauling for US$32 million and a 19% equity interest in Speedy's parent, Calgary-based EnQuest Energy Services. Speedy focused on the US market and was merged with TransForce's prior US-based energy services acquisition, Hemphill Trucking, to form Hemphill-Speedy.[23]

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[28] completed successfully on January 15, 2015.[29][30] Contrans comprised 12 trucking companies primarily in the truckload and specialty truckload markets. Earlier in the year, Contrans as a whole was reported to have operated 1,493 tractors, 2,541 trailers, and 39 straight trucks. The same report showed TransForce with 3,774 tractors, 12,486 trailers, and 3,288 straight trucks across all divisions.[28] Most Contrans subsidiaries continued to operate as TransForce subsidiaries following acquisition.

By 2016, TransForce already had a large LTL presence in the US via a variety of acquisitions but their truckload market share increased significantly with the October purchase of XPO Logistics Truckload, the truckload division of US freight carrier and broker XPO Logistics. The purchase price was reported to be US$558 million. XPO had purchased US carrier Con-Way the previous year but didn't find its truckload division, Con-Way Truckload, to be a good fit for XPO's strategic direction.[31]

TransForce renamed the division CFI, the original name of the company acquired by Con-Way which had been rebranded Con-Way Truckload.[32][33]

In December 2016 the company changed its name to TFI International in a move it said "better reflects the increased geographic scope of its operations."[34][13][35] This "increased geographic scope" was illustrated by the company's 2016 reports which showed 53% of its business was in Canada and 47% was in the US.[36]

TFI acquired third-party-logistics provider DLS Worldwide from U.S. company, R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company for US$225 million in November 2020.[37] DLS was renamed TForce Worldwide (later renamed again TFWW) and continued to operate from the former DLS headquarters in Bolingbrook, Illinois.[38] In September 2023, TFI International acquired British Columbia-based Vedder Transportation Group.[39]

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] However, for UPS the expected synergies did not materialize to the extent expected and the company decided to sell off its freight business and refocus on small package services.[44][45]

The TFI acquisition of UPS Freight was completed in April 2021 and nearly doubled TFI's size to US$6.5 billion in annual revenue.[46] The division's core LTL services were rebranded TForce Freight and would continue to operate out of the carrier's Richmond, Virginia headquarters. The smaller truckload business, representing about 10% of revenues, would be transferred to TFI's other US truckload companies.[44][47] TFI announced plans to invest US$50 million to US$75 million into the new division for fleet upgrades including replacing about 1,000 trucks as well as price renegotiations with customers.[41]

TFI sold CFI to US trucking company Heartland Express for US$525 million in August 2022. The sale included CFI's US truckload unit and Mexican logistics unit, CFI Logistica.[48] TFI retained CFI's dedicated truckload business, CFI Dedicated (formerly Transport America), and US brokerage operation, CFI Logistics.[49]

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]

Financial performance

Corporate Management

Since the late 1990s, TFI has been led by chairman, president, & CEO Alain Bédard. Notable members of the TFI board include former president, CEO, and chairman of the National Bank of Canada André Bérard, former founder and president of CF Montréal Joey Saputo, and former journalist and National Assembly of Quebec member Richard Guay.[59] From 2007 to August 2021 Lucien Bouchard was a member of TFI's board. Bouchard had held a number of senior political positions in Canada including Secretary of State, Premier of Quebec, and Ambassador to France.[60]

Business segments

TFI organizes its divisions and subsidiaries into four business segments.

Package and courier

The company owns four subsidiaries which together form its package and courier segment. These are:[61]

ICS Courier

Loomis Express

TForce Integrated Solutions

• Canpar Express

Less-than-truckload

There are several divisions/subsidiaries in TFI's less-than-truckload (LTL) segment. These are a mix of road and intermodal providers. Notable subsidiaries include:[62]

Intermodal:

Clarke Transport

National Fast Freight

Vitran

Saint-Michel Transportation

Axsun Group

Road freight:

Cavalier

TForce Freight

TST-CF Express

Truckload

The Truckload segment consists of 43 divisions/subsidiaries providing truckload shipping services. In addition to standard dry van services, subsidiaries also provide specialized truckload services such as flatbed, tank, and intermodal transportation. Notable subsidiaries in this segment include:[63]

Specialized:

BTC

Contrans

Fleetway

Kingsway Bulk

Conventional:

CFI Dedicated (formerly Transport America)

SGT (formerly SGT 2000)(SGT no longer in operation as of July 2024)

• East

• West

• Flatbed Group

• Tank Group

• Vrac

Logistics

TFI's Logistics segment is composed of 21 divisions/subsidiaries which provide logistics and transportation management services. Most divisions and subsidiaries primarily handle general freight but some are specialized around certain industries such as chemical transportation and medical logistics. Notable subsidiaries in this segment include:[64] CFI Logistics

Craler

DSN Chemical Transportation

Cornerstone Logistics

FreightLine

Guardian Medical Logistics

Stream Logistics

TForce Logistics

Acquisitions

Since 1997,[13] TFI's primary growth strategy has been through acquisitions having acquired over 180 companies between 1996 and 2020.[8] These include a number of major transportation-related investments and dozens of "tuck-in" acquisitions intended to complement existing operations.[65] TFI gives most subsidiaries (which are largely former independent companies) a certain level of autonomy. That allows each subsidiary to continue to cater to different regional markets and segments as a specialized interest. TFI International then uses its influence and cash flow to help increase the capacity of each subsidiary (like it did in 2010 when its purchase of a 52-door cross dock terminal in Calgary tripled the capacity of TST Overland and expanded its shipping network).[66]