Canadian Carrier Buys Refrigerated Business

March 9, 1999 1:35 PM, EST

H&R Transport Limited, a Canadian carrier looking to expand its refrigerated freight business, acquired C.H. Dredge & Co. of Salt Lake City.

The combined business, known as H&R/Dredge, will operate approximately 530 tractors and 700 trailers throughout the United States and Canada.

“Our strategy over the last two years has been to focus on national accounts in the area of refrigerated foodstuffs,” said Darcy Foder, senior vice president of H&R Transport. “There has been a lot of consolidation in brands and merging of responsibility for traffic at food companies.

“It’s also driven by the North American Free Trade Agreement. We wanted to position ourselves to be fluent in both countries.”

Much of Dredge’s business was concentrated in the intermountain region and from California to Chicago and points in Texas.

With a larger fleet, Foder said the company expects to lower the cost of equipment and fuel and operate more efficiently by reducing the number of empty backhauls.

For the full story, see the March 8 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.