TForce Logistics is expanding its dedicated last-mile delivery capacity in Toronto, opening a fourth facility in the region to handle e-commerce customers.
The 8,140-square-foot Hamilton distribution center is located in Stoney Creek and will provide next-day service from the Highway 401 corridor from Hamilton down to Niagara Falls.
“This expansion is an important step forward to better service our customers and their customers,” said Luke Henshaw, vice president of operations for TForce Logistics Canada. “Even as restrictions ease from the global pandemic, the trend in online shopping continues and the expansion into Hamilton will provide TForce Logistics’ customers with a cost-effective and fast shipping option to keep up with this trend.”
TForce Logistics is an operating company of TFI International (NYSE:TFII).
Henshaw said the new Hamilton facility along with the opening of its Kitchener facility last year allows TForce Logistics “to stretch further out to the population while reducing costs and giving our fleet more hours to be on the road making deliveries.”
The push is in line with TFI’s companywide goal of reducing the miles driven while increasing the amount of freight drivers pick up. In TFI’s Q4 February earnings call, CEO Alain Bédard said the company’s Canadian LTL operation had an operating ratio below 80% in the last quarter.
“So our intention is to improve the efficiency of our network by picking up more freight and driving less miles,” he said. “And this is what we do in Canada. Why are we so efficient? It’s not because we’re a bunch of magicians. No, I mean we do more with less.”
In the fourth quarter, for instance, the Canadian LTL operation had an average shipment weight of just over 2,000 pounds with an average length of haul in Canada of 791 miles.
Watch: Last-mile delivery networks evolve
“We continue to examine the landscape and to look at opportunities to improve both the delivery experience for our fleet and the service we provide to our customers,” Henshaw noted.
The Hamilton center supports the full complement of e-commerce customers currently serviced by TForce Logistics with order fulfillment, final-mile delivery and returns management. Business and manufacturer deliveries include parts, components and supplies. For e-commerce-generated consumer orders, TForce Logistics provides home delivery of goods, including nonperishable foods, furniture, home accessories, appliances, home electronics and other consumer staples.
TForce Logistics’ current footprint in the greater Toronto metropolitan area includes a 21,500-square-foot distribution and fulfillment center in Brampton, a 21,000-square-foot facility in Toronto (Etobicoke) and a 5,000-square-foot facility in Markham. TForce’s final-mile operations make approximately 3.5 million deliveries annually in the Toronto area.
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