by NRT
It has been nearly 40 years since Northern Resource Trucking (NRT) began making waves in the province of Saskatchewan. Today, those waves are rippling beyond the borders of Saskatchewan as the company evolves and expands toward a diversified future in the swiftly changing transportation industry.
NRT was established in 1986, when Trimac and Kitsaki partnered to create a company to handle their Key Lake Mining Corporation contracts. In the beginning, Kitsaki owned 51 per cent of NRT, and was heavily invested in growing opportunities for northern residents, while Trimac held 49 per cent of the company and provided management expertise.
The little startup grew quickly over the next few years. Saskatchewan had never seen anything quite like NRT’s unique model, built on the goal to provide specialized service to resource development companies while empowering Indigenous business ownership and hiring.
This unique approach has turned out to be key to the company’s evolution and expansion over the years.
In 1994, NRT expanded its base of northern ownership even further, leading to 41 per cent of the company being sold to a number of Indigenous groups, as well as the birth of a new and improved business model as NRT became Northern Resource Trucking Limited Partnership.
From the beginning, NRT has been very dependent on the uranium industry, due to the specialized nature of their contracts with Cameco and Orano. When uranium prices began to plummet around the turn of the new millennium, NRT started to feel the pinch of that dependence and first began to explore ways to diversify its services.
One of the company’s first experiments in diversification was the creation of Woodland Cree Logging during a lull in uranium mining. The company became one of Weyerhaeuser’s larger harvesting contractors north of Prince Albert until the pulp mill’s eventual closure in 2005.
Weyerhaeuser’s withdrawal from the province coincided perfectly with a rebound in uranium pricing, and NRT was ready to jump back into the fray as Cameco fired up increased operations.
The company had learned its lesson, though.
Specialization is great when the getting is good, but diversification provides a safety net against market and industry volatility.
So, from 2011 to 2017, while the uranium industry continued on a slow upswing, NRT kept an eye on ways to expand beyond the volatile market.
In 2017, using the unique NRTLP business model as a guide, the company joined Big Grassy River First Nation to form Big Grassy Logistics to provide service to the New Gold Rainy River gold mine near Emo, Ontario.
Again, the timing proved fortuitous, because 2018 brought another downturn in Cameco’s production.
While NRT did suffer considerable loss of revenue in this time, the road was already being paved for diversification away from the volatility of the mining industry.
NRTLP opened a new branch in Winnipeg for a wide range of transportation services and formed Piwapisk Hauling Limited Partnership with eight Manitoba First Nations to haul lime to Ruttan Mine for wastewater treatment.
Since then, Cameco has begun to increase production again and Orano has remained steady, but NRT continues to keep an eye on future expansions.
Since it’s humble beginnings, NRT has paid over $15 million to its original partners and has trained and hired northern Indigenous people, even financing some of them to become owner operators, creating jobs and contributing to reconciliation.
It is this Indigenous partnership model which is at the centre of NRTLP’s expansion into Manitoba and Ontario. The business opportunities for Indigenous groups, and the job creation and flow of money into Indigenous communities that are made possible by partnerships like the NRTLP model, are a key part of the company’s strategy and growth.
Just how far will this next stage in the company’s evolution take them? NRT’s next big project includes a terminal in Thunder Bay to take advantage of mining opportunities in Northwestern Ontario and a new strategic plan that will see revenue grow to $105 million by 2029!
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