Few companies manage to go from zero to hero in two generations and maintain momentum. Joseph Group in Hamilton, Ontario, spent the past 50 years carving a name for itself across the North American landscape, proving that sincerity and a genuine commitment to people win the race. Today, it is trusted by Fortune 50 and Fortune 100 firms as well as the Government of Canada for its consistency in quality transportation.
Moreover, this dynamic company has become a powerful, innovation-driven partner that embodies excellence beyond the transportation industry.
With seven vertically integrated divisions all supporting one another, answering complex customer needs in multiple ways has become Joseph Group’s signature style. Customers are delighted to find that this team is the only point of contact they need to handle services as diverse as demolition, recycling haulage, and concrete pumping.
With his strong belief in visionary development through expert guidance and leveraging economies of scale for growth, Geoff Joseph joined the company in 2007. Enabling his parents to retire and spend some quality time together, Geoff took the company over from his father, Joseph K. Joseph, who founded the firm in 1975 with his first purchase of a dump truck. The company ran as a small home-based operation for over 30 years. At this time, Geoff Joseph moved the company and its seven trucks into official premises, complete with its first employee and branding. As a result, the company’s longest-standing employee has been with the company for 17 years.
Geoff Joseph embodies hospitality as he shares the company’s story with us. “As we were blitz-scaling our business [in 2007], we didn’t have the power of the internet as it is today. We didn’t have job descriptions. It was way different back then,” he says, describing early staff’s job descriptions as “everything.” The team forged ahead, making strategic adjustments to bring order and organization to its operations. Now, Joseph Group’s Joseph Haulage division is proud to be recognized as one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies, based on criteria like Strategy, Culture and Commitment, Capabilities and Innovation, and Governance and Financials.
Not one to be swept away by the glamour of such an award, Joseph remains grounded in pragmatism. “When you say you’re the best it’s [as if] you have no room for improvement. We’re on our way to being the best,” he tells me with characteristic humility, pointing out that, for him, remaining relevant determines longevity. Based on that idea, continuously reflecting on performance while embedding sustainability and innovation into everything it does keeps this company at the forefront of industry trends in Canada and beyond.
Known for its commitment to remaining at the forefront of technology in the transportation industry, Joseph Group ensures it has all the latest equipment its fleets need to perform optimally in this space. To this end, the company recently employed a software engineer and, in the process, developed an in-transit heat sensing system that monitors tank performance alongside customer-facing, real-time cargo updates based on a sophisticated international shipper’s model.
Joseph Group also harnesses AI to attend to its customer care division outside of office hours—and for faster, accurate quoting. As a staunch supporter of frictionless transacting, the company is hard at work simplifying and streamlining its other systems—like creating paperless offices and keeping its website integrated and current. Moreover, the company is in the process of expanding its executive management team while also establishing a fully-fledged advisory board to ensure sound decision-making through expert guidance.
While Joseph Group has been hard at work refining and expanding its asset-based transportation division by acquiring three new outfits in recent years, its fleet is now 350 trucks strong including the vehicles of its owner-operator partners. Because it approaches business with a service delivery mindset, the company has been in an exciting metamorphosis over the past few years—a process that is making it stronger, more flexible, and increasingly more aligned with its customers’ needs.
In the process, the company has significantly invested in diversifying its asset portfolio, with vertical integration as its main aim. Growing ever further toward becoming a complete solutions provider, another of its divisions is establishing itself in excavation, demolition, and concrete pumping with a focus on specialist foundations. Joseph Group has also acquired a few new businesses that are now part of its growing operations. One of these includes a fire suppression company that focuses on water sprinkler installations in healthcare facilities and other types of buildings.
The vision does not end here, however. Joseph Group intends to cement its stake deeper in the construction industry as it looks to grow its market share through general contracting. Currently aiming at housing developments, warehousing, and other large projects, the company is acutely aware of its country’s needs now and in the years to come.
To celebrate half a century in business, Joseph Group has some fun and exciting events lined up. One of these is a traditional Show and Shine on August 16. Here, staff and customers will be treated to a dedicated truck show that promises to impress with a yet-to-be-revealed showstopper exhibit. As a company that knows how to play together, Joseph Group staff know how to work hard together, too, and enjoy doing so.
And this culture is by no means new. Going into the many shifts of recent years as a team that plays and wins together, the company’s bonds were strong enough to withstand the pressures of the global economic and social storm. “I’ve always maintained that if this place doesn’t feel like Disney World—minus the high-priced admission—then we’re not doing something right,” Joseph adds, underscoring that the company wants its team to genuinely feel appreciated and happy to be a part of something bigger.
To further secure its capabilities and optimally develop its employees’ skill sets, the company founded Joseph U, short for Joseph University. Established in collaboration with local professors and lecturers, the team now benefits from robust academic resources, with topics covering everything from negotiation to software training. Everyone in the company is expected to complete a course in negotiation as, in this CEO’s view, life is a rolling sequence of daily deliberations.
As such, Joseph is clear on the fact that his personal evolution as a leader is also imperative to the future health of the company. For this reason, he approaches his role with an open mind and steps up in every way possible to ensure that the company moves forward intelligently and in keeping with the times. His message to the team is one of care: “Don’t be so busy making a living that you [don’t have time] to make a life,” he says, pointing out that a work-home-life balance is essential to maintain when technology has invaded people’s private spaces.
Paying as much attention to community well-being as it does to staff morale, the company supports various not-for-profit sports teams, sporting events, and organizations like Salvation Army, CityKidz, Good Shepherd, Ronald McDonald House, and more. With its firm belief in the value of sports training in creating adults who understand team performance and function well within teams, the company especially loves supporting the children of families for whom such an extra expense is a stretch. As Joseph says, “[We should not] deprive younger kids of the ability to be on a team and have so many memorable experiences meeting new people and working together as a team.”
Looking at how the company has achieved its current success, he highlights that it was not a matter of “having it all figured out from the beginning.” Instead, his and his team’s journey was one of incremental growth and evolving with the company. “We’re an old new company,” he laughs.
As Joseph Group expands its transportation division through new projects driven by large national names like Canadian Tire and others impressed with its high safety standards and work ethic, its ownership’s 2035 plan is to become one of North America’s leading companies. That includes reaching its goal of 1 billion dollars in topline revenue, establishing more physical facilities throughout Canada and the United States, and offering warehousing and diversified transportation services that include rail, air, and shipping.
The company’s future is reflected in its visionary leader’s commitment to excellence: “This is my life… We’re in it for the long haul,” he says. “We’re excited about what the future holds.”
Geared for expansion, new headquarters are planned for a 13-acre footprint in Stoney Creek, Ontario, breaking ground this year. And, with more new facilities in Quebec and Western Ontario bringing Joseph Group ever closer to its customers in the foreseeable future, the company’s drive to do better through personal, professional, and technological advancement remains key to its success.
