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Best Drivers Wanted > Driving for Reimer > Company Information > About Us > History
Backed by more than 26,000 transportation professionals, today’s Reimer Express Lines Ltd. continues its tradition of providing the very best in freight transportation services. With the friendly acquisition of our company by Roadway Express in 1997, Reimer Express Lines Ltd. now offers a fully integrated, seamless transportation system like no other in the world.
Reimer's wide-ranging transportation services now include Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Global transportation and logistics solutions for import and export shipments are provided in conjunction with Meridian, IQ, a subsidiary of Yellow Roadway Corporation Worldwide.
That’s a long way from humble beginnings dating back to 1952, when D.S. Reimer began this organization while he was still a teenager, with some help from his father, Frank F. Reimer.
D.S. Reimer grew up in Steinbach, Manitoba where his father and grandfather operated a general store and feed mill. Steinbach (then as now), had no railway and as a result the Reimer business operations trucked their own goods from Winnipeg to Steinbach as well as from nearby rail points, such as LaBroquerie and Ste. Anne. As D.S. Reimer was growing up he drove the trucks utilized in these operations and felt it would be good business to transport products for other people on a for-hire basis. This idea led to the inception of Reimer Express Lines.
The Company’s original route was between Winnipeg and Windsor, Ontario, with Winnipeg being the Head Office. Long distance truck transportation was just in its infancy in Canada when Reimer Express Lines began. Prior to that time virtually all East/West traffic across Canada moved by rail. The 1950 rail strike provided the impetus for truck transportation to change from providing only regional services to becoming long distance service providers as well. Reimer Express Lines grew rapidly as shippers enthusiastically embraced this new customer orientated and much faster service. Soon the Company expanded to include a Toronto terminal and then applied to provide service between Winnipeg and Northwestern Ontario (Kenora, Dryden and Thunder Bay). In the 1950's entry to the trucking industry was tightly controlled, and the Reimer application met much opposition. After lengthy hearings before the Transport Boards of Manitoba and Ontario, the Company received its operating authority and began an overnight general freight service connecting Northwestern Ontario and Winnipeg.
The next expansion was to link Montreal and the province of Quebec with Winnipeg. Next the Company turned its attention westward, and with the purchase of two other trucking organizations, it was able to expand its service to include Saskatchewan and Alberta making it possible to advertise and provide service between "the St. Lawrence and the Rockies". In 1969 the Company purchased Hunt Transport of British Columbia, pushing its service through to the Pacific.
Reimer Express Lines is known primarily as an LTL (less than truck load) carrier. This concentration on LTL business has meant a heavy investment in freight handling facilities across the system. Typically, a Reimer tractor/trailer unit will be carrying between 20 and 50 different shippers’ goods as it makes its way from an origin terminal to a destination city. A terminal in a major city will have its pick up and delivery fleet delivering freight each morning and picking up for destinations all across North America in the afternoon. This freight will then move through the terminal and be loaded into highway trailers which will be dispatched to various destinations throughout North America during the evening. On arrival at destination the trailers will be stripped and the individual shipments will be loaded into trailers or straight trucks for delivery in that city the morning after the night of arrival. "An LTL carrier," explains Dr. Reimer, "is very different from a truckload carrier which provides service for a single shipper at a time. A LTL carrier is a little bit like a cross between the post office and a TL carrier. An LTL carrier requires a major investment in freight handling terminals and equipment which are not required in the TL business. In addition, the LTL business is very much more paper intensive requiring up-to-date information technology to allow for shipment tracking, etc.
"People often wonder about the type of freight we carry. Basically, we handle anything you eat, wear, or use, or the equipment needed to produce the things you eat, wear or use," says Dr. Reimer. "Computers, coffee, clothing and cameras, as well as thousands of other similar and dissimilar products can be found moving through Reimer terminals and into Reimer trailers at anytime. Over the years, the Company has also transported a lot of rather unusual shipments, including Grey Cup Parade floats, gifts for former Prime Minister Diefenbaker, exhibits from the Sports Hall of Fame in Southern Ontario to the Calgary Stampede, and the royal Carriage used by Prince Charles and Princess Anne on their visit to Winnipeg in 1970.
Reimer Express Lines Ltd. has always placed great emphasis on quality and reliability. To ensure that it remains the leader in these areas, the Company places a great deal of emphasis on recruiting, training and retaining the right people. Each and every employee of the Company takes pride in meeting and exceeding customer requirements through continuous process improvement.
In 1989 Reimer Express was honoured to be the first transportation and service company in Canada to receive the Award for Business Excellence in Quality. The award, given by the Federal Government, acknowledges unmatched superior performance of every Reimer employee.
Since 1982, Reimer Express has set the pace for Canada’s expedited service through its direct-to-customer Fast as Flite service, which helps major manufacturers and retailers eliminate costly interim warehousing. The Company is so proud and confident of this service that it offers an On Time or Free guarantee on major westbound traffic lanes.
The Reimer Express Driver Training Institute Inc. is also a vital part of Reimer Express’s overall commitment to delivering superior freight transportation service. The school, which was created in 1970, now provides driver training to the entire trucking industry and has been so successful that it has been accredited to deliver training programs by the Canadian Trucking Human Resources Council.
Reimer Express began a service linking all points in Manitoba with all other points under the umbrella of Reimer Express Manitoba. Reimer Express Manitoba encompassed a number of experienced and reputable rural Manitoba carriers, each providing service to a specific geographical region of the province. This company was eventually sold.
It’s been a long road from Reimer’s inception in 1952 to what is now Canada’s largest common carrier. Backed by the full resources of our parent company, Roadway Express, Reimer Express Lines Ltd. offers Canadian shippers an unmatched selection of direct connections within Canada, throughout North America and around the world.
Headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Dr. D.S. Reimer remains Chairman of Reimer Express Lines Ltd. Allan N. Robison is the President & CEO of the Company. Other key Reimer Express Lines executives include Edward Nieroda, Vice President, Finance and Clayton Gording, Vice President, Operations. Frank Washburn, Vice President, Marketing and Pricing Administration and Bob Robinson, Vice President Sales work out of the Toronto office.
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