Canadian Carrier Consolidated Fastfrate Begins Cross-Border US Service
Consolidated Fastfrate, a less-than-truckload company headquartered in Ontario, is offering cross-border service into the United States through partnerships with other carriers, the company announced Dec. 6.
The interchange agreements allow Fastfrate to haul freight from locations in Montreal and Calgary, Alberta, to Chicago, Boston, Seattle and Montana, then exchange loads with a U.S. carrier, the company said.
Among the partners are AAA Cooper Transportation Inc., Sutton Transport Inc. and AMA Transportation Co.
“So let’s say we have a freight in Montreal destined for Dallas. We’d run that freight into Chicago, and AAA would run their Canadian-bound Dallas freight into Chicago, then we would shake hands and exchange the freight,” Fastfrate CEO Ron Tepper told Transport Topics. “There’s going to be approximately 12 to 14 transfer points once it’s up and running fully, which is going to take us six months.”
The payment structure would depend on the individual arrangement with the shipper, third-party logistics company, freight forwarder or freight broker. But, in general, the originating trucking company would bill the consignee for the entire haul, then compensate the other carrier for its services.
“We’ve never had taken our freight into the United States before because I’ve seen too many private Canadian companies go into the states to compete and get their heads handed to them,” Tepper said. “But we had been approached by U.S. companies because once we get our hands on the freight, we can deliver it to any point in Canada in 95% of the cases without handing it off to a third party.”
AAA Cooper Transportation, based-in Dothan, Alabama, ranks No. 50 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers. Fastrate Group ranks No. 100.
