History
Kleysen has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1935. Family values and a commitment to their people sustained the company’s growth through decades of change. Founded by Harry and Marguerite Kleysen, the company started as a Cartage Company hauling feed for the horses of the Toronto Police force. After relocating to Winnipeg, founder Harry Kleysen, who had experience in construction, grew his business through the transportation of construction materials.
With over eight decades in transportation, Kleysen Group is an integral part of western Canada’s distribution chain. The name Kleysen is well known in the bulk, deck, intermodal, and distribution services sectors, acting as a logistics arm for its customers through its experience in trucking, rail, logistics and commodity-handling.
Founded in 1928 under the name Metropolitan Feed and later Kleysen in 1935, Kleysen Group was a family-oriented company at its core, with its customers as an extension of that family. A niche market player, Kleysen focuses on providing exceptional, cost-efficient distribution system solutions for its selected clientele. It was a similar corporate culture that attracted the Mullen Group to purchase Kleysen in 2006 as a strategic augmentation of the group’s trucking and logistic segment.
Bulk Transport (1945)
Materials such as cement, gravel, aggregate, scrap steel, fly ash, grains, and fertilizers are stored, handled and transported in End-dump containers, Side dumps and Pneumatic Tanks throughout Kleysen’s facilities, all strategically connected to North America’s major railways. Kleysen offers inventory management, seamless railway management and cost-effective solutions for clients in Canada and the U.S.
Industrial Products (1969)
An innovative division for Kleysen is its industrial products arm. A seemingly recession-proof business, Kleysen has been providing road de-icer to customers in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Northern U.S., helping municipalities keep roads safe for over four decades. Kleysen products meet all government specifications for medium and coarse salt.
Kleysen now fully operates the tailings portion of a potash plant in Saskatchewan. This plant produces the salt for distribution across western Canada and into the Northern States by using its existing distribution centers and strategically located storage facilities to ensure a steady and reliable supply of product to the customer.
Intermodal Express (1988)
With a shrinking driver force and a growing need to operate in a sustainable and environmentally responsible business mode, the future of Intermodal looks promising. Seen as a growth opportunity, Intermodal is a transportation solution combining local trucking with rail for the long-distance movement of goods.
The Intermodal business unit of Kleysen concentrates on the secure movement of goods both domestically and into the U.S. Kleysen employs a combination of dry and heated containers as well as 20 or 40-foot containers that are satellite tracked from point of pick up to final delivery.
Distribution Services (2000)
The Distribution Services arm has strong ties to western Canada’s energy and construction markets. With facilities in Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg, Kleysen is able to transport product from rail to its yards for storage and then on to deck for delivery to the customer. The Kleysen in-house I.T. platform tracks goods from origin to transload to storage to final destination by tracking individual item numbers as provided by the customer. This ‘Goods Management Process’ is unique to their industry.
Kleysen Group is a part of the Canadian transportation fabric. Its strategic diversification and prioritization of niche markets has positioned the company on a strong foothold in its sector. The Kleysen team has always adapted to changes in its industry, and of its customers’ industries to procure the most efficient transport solutions possible.