Originally opening its doors in 1990, Canvec Inc. offers leased and rented trucks and trailers, and a mobile service truck repair operation within the provinces of Quebec and Ontario.
Canvec was conceived of by Danny Lefebvre, the founder, president, and chief executive officer of the company, and a fourth-generational part of the trucking industry.
At the recently held Truck World trade show held April 21-23, 2022, at the International Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Lefebvre explained his company started with just a single truck, a dream and a well-planned business plan.
“Canvec today remains a well-respected truck and trailer lease company, within the Quebec and Ontario provinces, but it’s our recently promoted mobile service truck business that has really taken off,” stated Lefebvre.
Headquartered in Lachine, Quebec, Lefebvre said that after growing his truck and trailer leasing business to where he has over 1,200 vehicles on the road, he decided to expand the operation and its scope after numerous customers began calling to ask for mechanical assistance.
“What started out as just making a repair to our vehicle, the customers would ask if we could also make repairs to their vehicles,” explained Lefebvre. “Although it wasn’t something we offered, we wanted to help keep our customers happy. So, about 10 years ago, my brother Stéfan began providing truck repair for customers on their site.
“By 2017, we were providing 24-hour/seven-day-a-week mobile service truck help,” he added. “What began with a single truck providing service operating solely within the Montreal area—a hub for transport truck traffic—that now we were getting requests from companies not using our leasing services.
“We fill that previously untapped market as a mobile service truck provider.”
In the five years since, Canvec now has 53 employees and 24 of its own mobile repair vehicles built to exacting standards to make the operator’s work performance as stress-free as possible.
The mobile service part of Canvec is now the bigger aspect of the company, having quadrupled its business in the past five years. “The rental/leasing part of our trucking business also grew because of our service truck business.”
Just before the pandemic engulfed the world, the company hired Joe Totera as its Regional Director, and then expanded into the Ontario market. “We sell ourselves in our marketing, as the King of the 401,” said Lefebvre. “From Quebec City to Windsor, Ontario, there’s 817 kilometers (507.6 miles)—which we know by heart—we’re there both as Canvec or there with our partners.”
Eventually, Lefebvre envisions Canvec with another facility out east, in the Maritimes. “The trucks from Toronto often do a lot of travelling to and from that area—maybe about 30 percent—so it only makes sense that—one day—we offer our truck repair services out there, too. It’s not written in stone, but it is in our plans to do so, maybe even as soon as next year.”
Added Totera: “Our customers in the Maritimes are already calling us. They get stuck out there, and while we are already helping them out as much as we can via a reliable third-party, we believe we need to have a presence there ourselves.”
Because of Covid, noted Lefebvre, there is only the single main headquarters in Lachine allowing everyone else to work from home, including the service truck operators who keep their vehicle with them—one operator per truck.
“I didn’t believe in working from home prior to Covid, but we had to change with the times,” he explained. “Now our dispatchers work from their own homes, our drivers start from theirs—it’s working, but soon enough we will open a second facility in Toronto.”
Lefebvre explained that it is not only important to manage the expectations of the customer, but also that of his service truck operators. “Each truck stays with them at their home—they own the truck, essentially—and their uniform shirt has their name (first name and the initial of the surname) on the driver-side door, and all wear a clean, practical uniform that identifies them with our company badge on it, as well as their name.
He said that while Canvec will, of course, service its own clients, the service truck operations are available to anyone that needs their help. “You don’t need to be a customer. Just give us a call, and we’ll get on the road immediately to help you get the vehicle fixed so you can make money.”
Those needing roadside assistance can call one number where Canvec’s 100-percent bilingual (French and English) dispatch operator will begin the process. Said Lefebvre: “As long as you own your truck and have a credit card, we’ll send our bilingual roadside crew and repair your truck.”
For more information on Canvec, https://www.canvec.com/, or call them at 1-514-700-4783.