Day and Ross’ Doucet advances company far beyond its roots as hauler of potatoes

From its tuberous transportation roots in Eastern Canada to its expansion into a coast-to-coast, multicommodity trucking empire, The Day & Ross Transportation Group is anything but small potatoes, and John Doucet, who has led that growth for more than two decades, sees it as a natural progression in the Canadian marketplace. Doucet, who joined Day & Ross Inc. as president in 1992 and been president and chief executive officer of The Day & Ross Transportation Group since 1998, is dedicated to tenets of fairness and safety in spearheading a firm that now boasts annual revenues of $900 million, with more than 5,500 employees and owner-operators.

While Hartland, New Brunswick-based Day & Ross is a wholly owned subsidiary of McCain Foods Ltd., the world’s largest producer of french fries, potatoes now account for only about one-twelfth of the company’s total freight. Doucet shares his insights in a far-from-starchy, truly meaty interview with the American Journal of Transportation. While having expanded since its 1950 founding to include divisions offering a full spectrum of transportation and logistics services, Day & Ross has its roots in transporting potatoes and since 1966 has been a subsidiary of McCain Foods Ltd. How has Day & Ross maintained its leading role in the climate-controlled sector while growing in so many additional directions? This company started with its roots hauling potatoes – actual potatoes, not frozen potatoes – around the Maritimes [Maritime Provinces of Canada], and then it got to a point where they were hauling frozen french fries for McCain’s. But, in Canada, 90 percent of the population lives on a straight line all along the border of the U.S., along the Trans-Canada Highway. A carrier in the U.S. can balance LTL [less-than-truckload] with LTL, dry with dry, truckload with truckload, and so on. In Canada there just isn’t enough volume, so a carrier that is hauling reefer [refrigerated cargo] in one direction is likely going to haul 80 percent of its backhaul with dry freight. Hauling LTL from Central Canada to Western Canada, for example, would need to be balanced with truckload, which is very different from what you would see in the U.S. Naturally, you move yourself to not only doing refrigerated but to doing dry, or to balancing LTL with truckload. The industry moves you there to a great degree. So, at this point in time, about what percentage of freight moved by Day & Ross actually consists of potatoes in some fresh or frozen form? Currently, potatoes shipments represent 8 percent of our total freight. One of the things that has happened over the past decade or so is the geographic growth of Day & Ross, far beyond Eastern Canada. What challenges have come with covering this broader geographic scope, and how has Day & Ross responded? Day & Ross started in Atlantic Canada, with local products and customers. Because Atlantic Canada was a small market, both customers and carriers pursued growth into other regions. As our customers expanded into Central and Western Canada and the U.S., we have strengthened out network, including an exclusive interline relationship with R+L Carriers. We started small by using agents and renting doors, and then we eventually built our own terminals in Western Canada. So today it would be fair to say that, when we expanded into Central Canada, that was the largest market, but today I would say that the West is where you want to be, because of massive energy sector investments and strong population growth that continue to drive economic expansion. Can you please share a bit about specific Day & Ross expansion endeavors, particularly in Western Canada? Our expansion strategy includes both potential acquisitions and building the infrastructure ourselves. As a partner since 2009 in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay Transport Partnership, Day & Ross is obviously focused upon a green supply chain. What are some of the things your company is doing on the sustainability front? Originally launched by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 2004, SmartWay has been administered in Canada by Natural Resources Canada since 2012. Every year, we must submit a renewal application that gets reviewed by NRCan. As a SmartWay Transport partner in good standing since 2009, we continually work to enhance the quality of our products and services, and preserving the quality of the environment wherever we operate – chiefly by minimizing the impact on the land, water and air that we use. We regard compliance with the law as a minimum standard to be achieved. Our aim is to continuously improve our environmental performance by finding effective ways to reduce the adverse impacts of our business. We also continue to make significant improvements with our “green” footprint by increasing the use of long combination vehicles. The use of LCVs has reduced fuel consumption, improved service for our customers, improved our overall competitive advantage and most importantly is contributing to the decrease of greenhouse gases. Some of the highlights of our initiative include road trains – hauling two trailers with one tractor. Every mile run with a road train eliminates a mile that would have been run previously with a second tractor. In fiscal 2013, we ran 4.5 million miles with road trains; in fiscal 2014 we ran 11 million; and our fiscal 2015 target is 16 million. Another highlight is fleet mpg [miles per gallon]. The average in fiscal 2013 was 6.3 mpg, while in fiscal 2014 it was 6.65 mpg. What moves the average down is the increased road miles, although we are removing one unit for 11 million miles, the unit running those miles averages 5.6 mpg because they are moving two trailers at a time. The internal slogan of Day & Ross is “People driven, growing together.” What exactly does this mean, and how do you apply it on a daily basis? It’s about allowing our people the opportunity to grow their careers. It’s about our being fair, and fairly compensating them for their hard work. It’s our responsibility to make our people feel that they are an integral part of our success, that they are key to what we’re trying to accomplish. People are driving this, and we’re all growing together, whether it be in the West or wherever, and everybody is benefiting from that growth. We’re not here to compromise at the expense of our people to haul freight. We’re in the business of being competitive in order to provide value to customers. Certainly one of the big challenges for trucking firms is getting and retaining qualified drivers. How is Day & Ross succeeding in this regard? Our business model gives us flexibility because 98 percent of our drivers are owner-operators. However, we have high expectations aligned with our safety requirements, which include governed trucks and e-logs [electronic logs]. We will always work with customers to help them meet their business priorities while we maintain our safety standards. You have served on the boards of a number of Canadian trucking associations. What role do such associations play in addressing key industry issues in Canada? They play a key role in trying to decipher the difference between a personal subject matter that Day & Ross would like to do versus an industry matter. For example, I may say I don’t agree with quads [four-axle combinations], but I’m not in the quad business. I think we have an excellent leadership team in all of these associations, including promoting safety standards and encouraging carriers to stay grounded in reality when they make tough business decisions. When you’re not busy at work, what kinds of things do you enjoy doing? I thoroughly enjoy fishing. I enjoy traveling. I’m a big reader and enjoy spending time with a son and a daughter and three granddaughters. I like socializing with friends. When you get out with friends who are not necessarily business associates, it allows you to take some downtime and relax and get your priorities straight. I tend not to have as many friends from work as I do from other types of environments, so that I can download. Who would you say is your personal hero, and why? Other than my dad, I don’t really look at people in terms of heroes, but I have had a number of mentors, whose qualities and values I’ve admired. Over the years, your mentor can change. You get to a certain level and you grasp that, so I’ve had a number of those, whether they be [McCain Foods co-founders] Harrison McCain and Wallace McCain and the [Newfoundland Capital Corp. Ltd. founder] Harry Steeles of the world and people you just read about in books, so I haven’t had a lot of real heroes but a lot of great mentors.