Transplace acquires Torus Freight Systems, expands Canadian presence

In an effort to expand into Canada, non asset-based third-party logistics (3PL) services provider Transplace said this week it has acquired Torus Freight Systems, a Richmond Hill, Ontario-based logistics services provider specializing in Canadian cross-border and intra-Canada freight.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Torus will be renamed as Transplace Canada.

This deal is the latest example of Transplace growing and expanding on both a service level and a geographic level. In April 2011, it acquired Philadelphia-based SCO Logistics, a 3PL serving the chemical industry. And in October 2011 it joined forces with Chicago-based intermodal marketing company (IMC) Celtic International to form what it described at the time as a leading North American logistics provider.

In an interview with LM, Transplace CEO Tom Sanderson said there were various drives for Transplace to make this move.

“Transplace has had a strong presence and growing business in Mexico for six years, and we’ve seen the value of an experienced team geographically located in areas where our customers need transportation management,” he said. “As a North American-focused 3PL, Transplace has been actively looking for a company in Canada for a while; but we took the time to make sure it was the right company for our customers and for Transplace.”

Sanderson added that former Torus President and CEO Angelo LaMantia has joined Transplace as President of Transplace Canada, and will focusing on growth and execution for the Canadian business of Transplace. Adding the experience of Torus in Canada to Transplace’s current geographic presence gives Transplace a significant opportunity to service a new set of customers, as well as further servicing current customers, explained Sanderson.

What’s more, as Transplace has demonstrated for the last four years, in spite of a troubled economy, the company has consistently achieved significant growth, Sanderson pointed out.

Prior to this deal Transplace has been actively serving the Canadian marketplace, and Sanderson said this acquisition expands the company’s capabilities scope and scale in Canada which will offer even more strategic value to its customers.

In terms of service offerings that the new Transplace Canada brings into the fold, the Transplace CEO said that similar to Transplace in the U.S. and Mexico, the new unit has a dedicated team of experienced customer service professionals providing cost effective transportation solutions. And along with their certified freight broker personnel, they also offer on-line booking and load tracking. Complimenting Transplace’s current business, Transplace Canada services all points in the United States and delivers directly to all Canadian destinations.

He said that they partner with truckload and LTL carriers that are compliant with border security regulations to provide multi-modal cross-border and intra-Canada freight management services including air freight, parcel, LTL, truckload (van, reefer, flat, and tank),  intermodal, and rail carload to a wide variety of industry verticals.

“We have a very strong network to meet our customers’ predominantly northbound requirements from all points in the USA to Canada. We also provide southbound service to the USA and domestic service within Canada,” said LaMantia in a statement. “Joining Transplace allows us to give our current customers further reach and scale into all of North America, including Mexico, along with the advantage of Transplace’s vertical and mode experience. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to work with logistics leaders such as Tom Sanderson, George Abernathy and Rich Hyland as they grow into additional North American geographical areas.”