Trucking pioneer gets his due.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: NEWS - Manitoulin Transport

All of Northern Ontario's economy hinges on moving freight great distances from one place to another.

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No one knows that better than the Smith family of Manitoulin Transport.

The story of the Manitoulin Island trucking company run out of its headquarters in Gore Bay (population 900) is an amazing one.

For more than a half-century, Manitoulin Transport has been a unique and steadily expanding entity as an LTL (less-than-load) carrier that has grown into a nation-wide operation of 2,500 vehicles and 65 terminals.

In November, Doug Smith, founder and chairman of the Manitoulin Group of Companies was recognized by his industry peers as a pioneer and innovator at the Ontario Trucking Association's (OTA) annual convention presenting him with their Service to Industry award.

And the accolades keep coming for Smith this winter.

The Gore Bay trucking magnate was named as a recipient of the Order of Canada for his contributions as a business leader, philanthropist and champion of economic and community development in Northern Ontario.

The privately-held, family-run company has stayed ahead of the trucking industry's wave of consolidation by making some deft and strategic acquisitions beginning with Lakehead Freightways in 1991 and has averaged one per year since then.

"In the last 18 months, we've done five," says Manitoulin president Gord Smith, Doug's 45-year-old son, based at their Cambridge terminal.

"We probably have as good a footprint in Western Canada as anyone in the business."

Younger brother Jeff is the Sudbury-based vice-president of quality for all their affiliated companies of driver training schools, warehouses, fuel distributors and customs brokerages.

At 74, Doug, the media-shy patriarch still maintains an active role in the business, living with wife Phyllis in their home on a bluff overlooking Gore Bay.

"He's been a great sounding board for the current management team and we expect he's going to be in the business for years to come," says Gord. "He's a pretty remarkable individual."

Doug started his career in banking, in Toronto before being lured back to the island by his parents in the mid-50s to partake in the family wholesale grocery warehousing business, plus run a Ford dealership.

That's how the trucking business started, hauling produce and dry goods between Toronto and the island.

Gord says his father is an interesting mix of the pragmatic, analytical and the creative.

Doug plays clarinet in a band...