Hamel Bulk Carriers Ltd.

After leaving the Royal Canadian Navy in 1967, where he served in the Communications Branch stationed in Inuvik and onboard both the HMCS Sussexvale and HMCS Beacon Hill, Doug Hamel, with characteristic enthusiasm, took to the highways like a fish takes to water.

For the next 20 years Doug put his good-nature and loyalty to work while driving for such Companies as Arrow Transfer, Commercial Truck, Bulk Systems, Transwestern Express, and finally Intermountain Transport, where he supervised the Pneumatic Tanker Division.

In 1991, with the help and support of his wife Kathy, Doug purchased the Pneumatic Tanker Division from Intermountain Transport and set immediately to work with the 2 Tractors, 3 Semi's, and the 1 Bee-Train aquired in the deal. Hamel Bulk Carriers Ltd. (HBC) was born.

Later the same year, having won a contract and later an "Outstanding Carrier" award from Georgia Pacific, Doug and Kathy seized the opportunity to invest in HBC and expand into servicing a wider variety and greater number of clients. Their investment included hiring more Drivers and Owner-Operators, including their son Tony whom later would become HBC's President, building a 2nd Bee-Train, and purchasing a new set of Beall Tankers designed specifically for hauling Hydrated Quicklime.

By 1993 HBC had outgrown its humble beginnings. No longer content to run their business out of the bedroom-turned-office in their Mission City home, Doug and Kathy sought a new base for operations and a place to house their growing fleet. After months of searching they began leasing property in Aldergrove B.C.. The property featured ample parking, a shop with adjoining office space, and most importantly unparalleled access to the highway. The HBC fleet was, and remains, mere metres away from the backbone of Canada's Trucking industry; Highway #1.

The move could not have come at a better time. By 1994 Doug and Kathy had as many as nine Tractors and a variety of Tankers & Trailers hauling commodities and freight for clients such as Chemical Lime Company of Canada Inc., Van Kam Freightways Ltd., Bronco Transportation Systems Inc., Prairie Warehouse Services, and Dockside. Yet despite its success the Company wasn't quite ready to stop evolving.

The mid-1990's brought a number changes to the Company. With HBC's 8-year relationship with Georgia Pacific still holding strong and an increasing number of independant Mushroom Farms popping up throughout the Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley, Doug and Kathy aquired yet another Bee-Train, this one dedicated to Georgia Pacific, and expanded the business into Dump Trucking.

By 1999 HBC was regularly hauling tonnes of lime to a small army of Mushroom Farms in the area and enjoying business relationships with a number of partners and clients throughout the coastal Provinces and States.

Yet 1999 would bring events greater than expansion and aquisition. On November 21st the Company's Founder and President, Doug Hamel, succumbed to cancer after a brief and courageous battle with the disease.

Despite the loss of their President, Husband, Father, and Friend, HBC kept on trucking. With dedication and determination Kathy kept the Company rolling while simultaneously training her son Tony, already an HBC driver, in the fine art of small business administration.

In the years since Doug's passing, Kathy and Tony together re-shaped the Company into the dedicated Lime carrier it remains today and in 2006 Kathy retired to Arizona and Tony took over management of HBC.

Much like his Father before him, Tony is a Trucking enthusiast. Being eager to invest in, expand, and streamline the Company Tony has secured a number of new contracts, including one with Neucel Specialty Cellulose Ltd. in Port Alice, further modernized the Dump Trucking aspect of the business with the aquisition of another Dump Truck; this one featuring a custom designed weather-sealed box, and has assembled a small cast of dedicated, reliable, and ultimately professional Drivers and Owner-Operators.