Trimac Buys Flatbed Specialist Watt & Stewart
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Trimac Transportation acquired flatbed and specialized haulage carrier Watt & Stewart for an undisclosed sum.
Calgary, Alberta-based Trimac said the deal would expand the company’s mining, forestry and heavy equipment transportation operations. Watt & Stewart operates 124 tractors and 205 trailers.
Trimac said acquiring Watt & Stewart, which has operations in Alberta, South Carolina and Texas, will allow the combined company to serve key mining and manufacturing hubs across North America.
“Watt & Stewart is a remarkable company with a proud history, and we are honored to carry forward their legacy while working together to achieve new heights,” Trimac CEO Matt Faure said.
Faure
Trimac ranks No. 67 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America, and No. 3 in the tank truck/bulk carriers sector.
Previous purchases by the company focused on the bulk segment of the market, including in 2023, when Trimac bought four carriers.
Trimac bought Transport Sylvain Lasalle, AIP Logistics, Jacknife Oilfield Services and Doyle Sims & Sons Trucking in 2023.
Transport Sylvain Lasalle specialized in hauling propane and butane gas. AIP specialized in bulk plastics, liquid chemical, food and metals transportation.
Jacknife primarily transported fluids to and from well sites. Sims & Sons, meanwhile, primarily serviced dry and liquid bulk haul customers in the southern U.S. and Midwest, focusing on commodities such as clay, sand, oils and other nonhazardous material products.
Trimac’s last purchase before the Watt & Stewart deal was the March 2024 acquisition of Feldspar Trucking, which specialized in the bulk transportation of feldspar, sand, clay and minerals crucial to the ceramics and glass industries.
Carpenter
Growing organically in the bulk haulage space is difficult, which is why Trimac is always on the lookout for deals, Dan Carpenter, who heads the company’s mergers and acquisitions team, told Transport Topics in 2023.
Larger players in the flatbed and bulk haulage arenas tend to eye what are known as “tuck-in” deals.
In November, PS Logistics’ Blair Logistics unit bought flatbed and heavy-haul carrier Fluker Transportation. The takeover of Hammond, La.-based Fluker marked the fourth acquisition in 2024 by PS Logistics.
PS Logistics ranks No. 28 on for-hire TT100 and No. 3 on the flatbed carriers sector list.
TFI International, which became the No. 1-ranked flatbed carrier with the purchase of Daseke Inc. in December 2023, is typically the busiest tuck-in buyer in North America. Montreal-based TFI inked nine deals in 2024 and 12 in 2023. It ranks No. 4 on the for-hire TT100 and No. 39 on the TT Top 100 list of the largest logistics companies.
Flatbed freight volumes will see strong growth in 2025, FTR Transportation Intelligence Vice President of Trucking Avery Vise said during a Jan. 9 webinar.
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