The Kriska Transportation Group (KTG) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Liberty Linehaul and Liberty Linehaul West of Ayr, ON and Los Angeles, CA.
Liberty was established in 1987 as a hybrid motor carrier based in Ayr, ON. Expansion in 1997 to Southern CA has led to Liberty becoming one of Canada’s go-to carriers servicing the cross-border market between Ontario and California. Their modern fleet provides cross-border Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) and Truckload services and domestic US trucking services off the West Coast. In addition, Liberty is a recognized and awarded carrier as the winners of Deloitte’s Best Managed Company, TCA’s (Truckload Carriers Association) Best Fleets to Driver For, Top Fleet Employer from Trucking HR Canada, as well as numerous safety awards from the CTA (California Trucking Association). Liberty has been supported by the M&A consulting services of Left Lane Associates (Toronto) to help steward the transaction.
The current leadership team of Chris Gerber (Liberty) and Greg Dubuque (Liberty West) will remain in place as General Managers, supported by Gary Higgins, who will help with the seamless transition for the business and its people.
“Liberty represents extensive LTL and domestic US experience which adds to KTGs existing LTL portfolio and introduces a new opportunity for KTG to enter the US market. Both aspects of Liberty align with KTG’s strategic growth model, and we are very excited to see how we can help Liberty optimize their LTL operation and grow their US footprint,” said KTG CEO Mark Seymour. “KTG is pleased to welcome another well-run Ontario-based LTL operator to our group. We see this line of business as one we like and one that further diversifies our revenue streams”.
“We are excited about the growth opportunity of joining a group the size of KTG,” said Chris Gerber of Liberty Linehaul. “The operational synergies and large network of sister companies will allow us to extend our coverage, service offerings and shared knowledge base.”
“KTG has long-standing relationships with many of the Fortune 500 companies that we have always aspired to work with,” said Greg Dubuque. “If we can tap into some of those relationships within the US, the sky’s the limit in terms of our growth potential. It’s very exciting for our team”.
The addition of Liberty adds 72 tractors and 157 trailers to KTG’s fleet and are the eleventh and twelfth brands to join the group.