cardinal transportation

What cardinal transportation does

Cardinal Transportation Inc. is a family-owned freight brokerage and trucking services company headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1989 by Mac and Steve LaFrance, the company arranges less-than-truckload (LTL) and full truckload (TL) shipments across Canada and the United States by sourcing capacity from multiple third-party carriers and reselling it to shippers. Its core service proposition is multi-carrier rate comparison: the firm positions itself as a single point of contact that relieves customers from managing many trucking relationships and from negotiating competitive rates. Complementary services include scheduled LTL pickups, flatbed capacity for oversized or specialized freight, and cross-border Canadian-to-US shipping. The company is small (1-10 employees), operates a single office in Mississauga, and reaches customers through a sales-led, phone-and-web quote-request process.

The company's underlying technology is limited. Its primary operational capability is multi-carrier rate comparison, which it executes manually using carrier relationships built over three decades rather than via a disclosed automation platform. The firm has no public API, no third-party integrations, and no published digital infrastructure beyond its marketing website. A planned proprietary TMS — designed in-house specifically to undercut the cost of incumbent TMS solutions — is currently in development, but no launch date, feature set, or pricing model has been disclosed. The company monetizes by earning the spread between negotiated carrier rates and the prices it charges shippers, on a transaction-fee, pay-as-you-go basis with no public pricing schedules. Customer segments are broad and unspecified: the firm serves any business with ground freight needs across Canada and the US, with no named enterprise logos, no partnership agreements, and no formal certifications on record. Ownership remains entirely with the founding LaFrance family, with no institutional investment, no parent company, and no known M&A activity.

Name

cardinal transportation

Legal name

Cardinal Transportation Inc.

Website

https://cardinaltransportation.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Cardinal Transportation Inc. is a family-owned freight brokerage founded in 1989 in Mississauga, Ontario, arranging LTL and TL shipments across Canada and the United States via multi-carrier rate comparison for business shippers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Freight Brokerage Services

NAICS

Freight Transportation Arrangement (488510)

SIC

Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731), Transportation Services (4700)

akta.pro primary industry

Truckload (TL) Freight Brokerage (TLADAMAB)

Keywords

• Freight brokerage services
• Less than truckload shipping
• Truckload freight services
• Cross-border freight shipping
• Flatbed trucking services

Headquarters

HQ city

Mississauga

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Freight Brokerage Services: Cardinal Transportation acts as a freight broker, comparing rates across multiple trucking carriers to offer the lowest cost freight solutions to customers. They handle LTL (Less Than Truckload) and TL (Truckload) shipments across Canada and the United States, earning revenue through the margin between negotiated carrier rates and customer pricing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Cardinal Transportation Inc. is a Mississauga-based freight broker providing LTL (Less Than Truckload) and TL (Truckload) ground shipping services across Canada and the United States. The company compares customer shipments against multiple major trucking carriers to deliver cost-effective rates, and supplements its brokerage with Scheduled LTL pickup services and Flatbed shipping for oversized or specialized cargo. The company is also building a proprietary Transportation Management System (TMS) software intended for sale to transportation companies.

Product overview

Cardinal Transportation Inc. operates as a freight brokerage and trucking services company offering a unified portfolio of ground shipping services. The core offering consists of LTL (Less Than Truckload) and TL (Truckload) freight services, complemented by Scheduled LTL pickup options and Flatbed services for oversized cargo. Geographic coverage spans Canadian coast-to-coast shipping and full United States coverage. The company also plans to launch its own proprietary TMS (Transportation Management System) software, currently in development, to provide transportation management capabilities to customers who find existing TMS solutions costly.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• LTL (Less Than Truckload) Less-than-truckload freight shipping service for smaller shipments ranging from a couple of skids up to six skids. Cardinal Transportation compares customer shipments across multiple carriers to secure competitive LTL rates for businesses needing cost-effective ground shipping.
• TL (Truckload) Full truckload shipping service providing competitive TL rates by comparing customer shipments against many major carriers across the Cardinal Transportation carrier network.
• Canadian Shipping Coast-to-coast freight coverage across Canada, offering LTL from east to west coast with options for flatbed, VAN, and specialized equipment for businesses needing nationwide Canadian ground shipping.
• United States Shipping Full ground freight coverage across the entire United States from east to west and north to south, handling all shipment types through Cardinal Transportation's carrier network.
• Scheduled LTL Scheduled LTL pickup service that allows customers to arrange freight collection for specific dates and times, days or weeks in advance, so shipments are picked up on the customer's schedule.
• Flatbed Flatbed trucking service for oversized or specialized shipments, with options for different truck types, tarps, and specialized equipment arranged per customer request.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Emerging players

• Loadsmart: Technology-driven freight broker and logistics platform applying automation to truckload quoting and booking. Comparable target market (shippers needing TL capacity) and overlapping value proposition on speed and rate optimization.
• Uber Freight: Digital freight marketplace and brokerage offering instant quoting, capacity matching, and managed transportation. Represents a digitally-native, automation-led entrant whose model directly challenges Cardinal's phone-driven, manual brokerage approach.

Direct peers

• NFI Industries: N American transportation and logistics provider with dedicated trucking, brokerage, warehousing, and intermodal services. Highly comparable to Cardinal's freight brokerage focus, including Canadian-US cross-border capability.
• C.H. Robinson Worldwide: One of the largest North American freight brokerages arranging TL, LTL, and intermodal shipments across the US and Canada. Cardinal is a much smaller analog competing for similar shipper business with the same non-asset-based brokerage model.
• Day & Ross: Canadian LTL and TL freight carrier and broker with full coverage across Canada and into the US. Comparable as a Canadian-headquartered freight broker offering coast-to-coast Canada and US shipping, overlapping Cardinal's core geographies.
• Coyote Logistics: Major US-based truckload freight brokerage arranging shipments across North America for shippers via a vast carrier network. Operates the same multi-carrier comparison and asset-light model that Cardinal uses at a vastly larger scale.
• TForce Freight: LTL freight carrier and broker in Canada and the US formed from the former XPO Freight spinoff. Directly comparable to Cardinal's LTL-focused brokerage, particularly on Canadian-US cross-border lanes.

Broad incumbents

• J.B. Hunt Transport Services: Major North American surface transportation, intermodal, and dedicated freight services company with a sizable brokerage arm. Significantly larger incumbent operating across many freight categories that Cardinal targets at the smaller end.
• XPO Logistics: Large North American transportation and logistics provider offering LTL, brokerage, last mile, and managed transportation. Operates broadly in the same freight segment as Cardinal but at enormous scale and across many service lines.
• Knight-Swift Transportation: Large North American truckload carrier and freight brokerage operator serving the US, Canada, and Mexico. Overlaps with Cardinal on TL brokerage but combines asset-based and non-asset services at enterprise scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cardinal-transportation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about cardinal transportation