CENTRAL CARRIERS (EDMONTON LTD.)
Keeping Western Canada’s Transportation Hub Rolling for 40 Years
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By Mark Kandborg
entral Carriers is an incredibly important cog in the machine of Western Canada’s expansive transportation industry. “A depot like this creates a ton of efficiency,” says terminal manager Rendel Elock. Surprisingly, outside of this city you’ll be hard pressed to find another like it. Perhaps more surprising is the fact that Edmonton has two. “It must have something to do with our get ‘er done attitude.” Forty years ago this month, that Edmonton get ‘er done attitude was put in motion in a big way. That’s when eight enterprising trucking company owners pooled their money, bought some land and built Central Carriers’ first, modest building. They also hired a forward-looking manager by the name of Jim Brodie. “Jim was the guy who pioneered the whole model, who got it going solid and also managed the company’s growth. A large part of Central Carriers success is due to Jim’s fortitude,” says Rendel. The idea was simple enough: create a single, central depot where trucks could unload their cargo, have it moved to the appropriate bays, so that items expected in Fort McMurray, for example, would be loaded into the truck of a carrier servicing that destination, while other items would be loaded into a truck bound for High Prairie. Think of it like the centrally located Denver airport. Planes
bring travellers bound for points across the map to that hub in a seemingly endless stream. If you’re lucky enough to be one of those travellers, you deplane, transfer to another aircraft (a Lufthansa flight to Berlin, for example) and you’re on your way. You may have to wait a bit, you may have to hurry, but if the people running the system have done their jobs, the planes will be full when they arrive, they’ll be full when they leave, and you’ll be drinking beer out of a stein in a pair of lederhosen in no time. The experienced and well-trained personnel at Central Carriers have the ebb and flow of their hub down to a science; with maybe a little bit of art. “The trucks that come out of here move anywhere from one-and-a-half to two-million pounds a day. That’s 163,000 pounds per door, and we have 92 doors. That’s a lot of freight,” Elock says. “The people who work here are dedicated to the industry. They realize that you’re only as good as your last performance. If we don’t do a good job, we may not have that carrier tomorrow. Everyone here knows that. No one has to crack a whip. They know it.” Elock gives a little more detail on how Central Carriers takes complicated and turns it into efficient. “We have our own drivers attached to the depot who set up in small zones within the city of Edmonton. It’s their responsibility to know all the ship-
CENTRAL CARRIERS | 40 YEARS | PAGE 1