MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
DARIN DOWNEY
As we reflect on 2022, Gardewine has seen many changes and opportunities that have been accompanied with some struggles and triumphs. To say everything ran without a hitch would be a myth for any businesses, not excluding us.
Since the acquisition of Harris Transport, we have strengthened Gardewine’s already diverse services through additional flat-deck hauling capacity and multimodal transload capabilities. In addition, Harris brought us over 200,000 square feet of additional indoor warehouse capacity. It has been very exciting to have Harris under our umbrella, and we look forward to continuing working with the Harris team as we grow our business together.
In November, we announced the addition of seven electric Ford Transit vans and one International electric MV series truck to our existing fleet of vehicles. This is an exciting time for Gardewine as we bring our fleet to the next level of innovation following through with our commitment to reducing emissions by having a sustainable solution we believe in. The new Ford E-Transit courier vans run on an all-electric platform with no gas usage or oil changes; these units are true zeroemission vehicles. As the world around us changes, Gardewine recognizes the need to make ongoing commitments to make the world a better place while maintaining the world-class level of services our customers deserve and have come to expect.
As we move into 2023, the safety of all Gardewine employees remains one of the most important duties we all share. The definition of safety is “the condition of being protected from or unlikely to cause danger, risk, or injury.”
While COVID-19 is still very much a part of the “new normal”, we at Gardewine definitely pulled together through the worst of it. Even though most restrictions have become a thing of the past, Gardewine is still diligent in maintaining the safety of every employee. On October 28, 2022, we held a vaccine clinic at the Head Office in Winnipeg that offered the regular flu shot along with the bivalent COVID booster shot. We had a total of 53 employees participate.
Continuing on safety but going in a different direction: to say the winter weather we experienced at the beginning of 2022 was difficult would be an understatement. We had major highway closures, business closures, cancelled deliveries, and so many other incidents that affected our operations at all levels due to the horrendous weather. I am thankful we were able to rise up and power through the winter season. I have no doubt all staff at Gardewine will continue to be resilient no matter what havoc this winter will wreak upon us.
Safety is the responsibility of every employee, and we must all do our part to remain diligent and pro-active when it comes to safe practices in our workplace and in our everyday lives.
