SAINT JOHN - While accepting a medal of merit, Wes Armour recalled the early days of the shipping business, the days when containers just arrived and his father shook his head and predicted that "containers will never last."
Still, his father agreed to ship a few and today the family business, Armour Transportation Systems, a privately owned transportation and logistics management service headquartered in Moncton, consistently ranks among the top 50 best managed companies in Atlantic Canada.
But that's not the only reason that Armour, president and chief executive officer of the business, was awarded the highest honour awarded by the Association of Canadian Port Authorities on the final day of a four-day conference.
Almost 100 leaders in the transport industry gathered at the Trade and Convention Centre for the 50th annual general meeting of the Association of Canadian Port Authorities.
As lunch came to a close Wednesday, Al Soppitt, president and chief executive officer of the Saint John Port Authority, announced Armour had been chosen to receive the annual honour.
"Each year the board takes great pains to ensure we select a candidate who is deserving of the honour," said Soppitt.
Awarded in recognition of "outstanding works and service, preferably of national impact, by an individual, institution or organization in the port, shipping and maritime transportation fields," Soppitt said the nomination was put forward by the Atlantic caucus of the port authority association.
Soppitt called to mind Armour's roots, growing up on the family farm in Taylor Village, a small farming community 30 kilometres southesast of Moncton.
After graduating from college in 1966, Wes joined his father full-time in the family trucking business. At this time, the business included a fleet of 10 straight trucks and 11 employees. Only two years later, Wes' father retired, leaving the company to the 22-year-old Wes.
Today, Armour Transportation has more than 3,300 pieces of equipment, more than 1,600 employees and 23 freight terminals. The company focuses on truckload and less-than-truckload services, ocean, intermodal and warehousing.
Soppitt related the comments of Karen Oldfield, president and chief executive officer of Halifax Port Authority, about Armour. She described Armour as a "great ambassador for business in Atlantic Canada" who "gives generously of his time, expertise and knowledge to raising the bar when it comes to doing transportation in newer and better ways".
Oldfield said Armour is dedicated to delivering what the customer wants.
"He has given back immensely to the development of our gateway ambitions, our value-added service offerings and knowledge of delivering a more sophisticated, customer-oriented gateway," she said.
In accepting the award, Armour spoke about the $15-million warehousing complex the company is building at the port of Halifax, to be occupied by Christmas.
"As the world becomes smaller, I look forward to the new challenges," he said.
Past recipients have included Madeleine Paquin, CEO of Logistec Corporation, the Hon. David Collenette, former Minister of Transport, Michel Pouliot, president of the Canadian Marine Pilots Association, Jack Leitch, chair of the Upper Lakes Group, Lawrence Pathy of Fednav and Dominic Taddeo, the former CEO of the Port of Montreal.
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