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Canada’s Groupe Morneau grows reefer division with Beacon acquisition

Quebec-based Morneau Eskimo nearly doubles fleet with purchase of long-standing Toronto partner Beacon Transit Lines, strengthening coverage of food industry customers.

Groupe Morneau's reefer division, Morneau Eskimo, serves Quebec and Ontario. Photo: Groupe Morneau

Groupe Morneau’s refrigerated division has acquired Beacon Transit Lines, strengthening the Canadian carrier’s presence in Ontario and Quebec, especially in the vital Toronto-Montreal corridor.

Morneau Eskimo’s purchase of Toronto-based Beacon, announced Dec. 19, nearly doubles its fleet from 80 to 140 tractors. It will improve Morneau Eskimo’s ability to serve food industry customers throughout the two neighboring provinces.

“We can now offer a complete and continuous service, mainly to food companies, by transporting their goods from Windsor, Ontario, to Gaspé in the eastern tip of Québec,” David Morneau, Groupe Morneau’s director of development, said in a statement.

The acquisition, also effective Dec. 19, builds on a partnership between the carriers going back more than 15 years. Beacon will operate under the name Beacon Transport.


Adding a carrier in the Greater Toronto Area is also tapping into the region’s surging population growth, among the highest in North America.

The deal follows the opening of Morneau Groupe’s new terminal in Lévis, south of Quebec City.

One Comment

  1. Noble1

    Groupe Morneau has a reputation for paying drivers low wages and for moving freight for low rates . Paying drivers low wages help transportation trucking companies expand/grow at the driver’s expense . Groupe Morneau is not owned by a “foreigner” . In US currency their entry hourly rate is equivalent to $15.XX per hour and at the high end $16.XX per hour .

    On another note : GDS Express is shutting down , and on another , the OOIDA opposes the “Ohio driver shortage bill”

    In my humble opinion ……….

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Nate Tabak

Nate Tabak is a Toronto-based journalist and producer who covers cybersecurity and cross-border trucking and logistics for FreightWaves. He spent seven years reporting stories in the Balkans and Eastern Europe as a reporter, producer and editor based in Kosovo. He previously worked at newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the San Jose Mercury News. He graduated from UC Berkeley, where he studied the history of American policing. Contact Nate at ntabak@freightwaves.com.