Forty years for Fox’s

This year is special for Jerry and Diana Walker, who are the owners of Fox’s Transport Ltd. in Cranbrook, as it marks their company’s 40th anniversary. The Walkers are third-generation owners—they purchased Fox’s Transport Ltd. from Jerry’s mother, Alva Soppit, and Alva inherited the company from her father, Ken Fox.

Ken got into the trucking business in 1972 when he bought a truck and the transport authority that came with it from Wasa resident Betty Busch. His son, Keith Fox, bought a truck as well and together they formed K and K Trucking. Eventually, Ken’s other sons, Larry, Tim and Dale Fox—along with a family friend named Ernie Brown—joined the business. For several years, they hauled livestock, grain and hay throughout the Kootenays and into Alberta. Ken’s wife, Wilma, and their daughter, Alva Soppit, took care of the accounts for the business and ran the family’s farm in Fort Steele while the men were trucking.

In the early '80s, Ken and Wilma moved their base of operations from the farm to an office above the Kootenay Advertiser in Cranbrook and broke into the lumber industry. They also started hauling lumber in the U.S.

A shift in management

Ken passed away in 2001 and Alva became the manager of Fox’s Transport Ltd. In 2002, Jerry and Diana joined the company and then they bought it from Alva three years later. At that time, Fox’s Transport Ltd. was running mostly B-train and super-B configurations but Jerry saw more potential in running single-trailer, flatbed units so he phased out the super-Bs. That’s when the company really started to grow.

“When I started, my trucks were making less money than the super-Bs but once I figured it out—it took about a year and a half—they started to surpass what the super-Bs were making for wages,” said Jerry.

Jerry also secured more contracts in the U.S. and started servicing the oil and gas industry.

“The first state to break into—outside of (where) we were already currently licensed—was California,” said Jerry, “which is one of the worst ones to go into because it is one of the least populated areas of the country. But I didn’t know that.”

Jerry drove a forklift at a pulp mill before he started working at Fox’s Transport Ltd. and he said it took him a few years to learn the ins and outs of the trucking business. His hard work and perseverance paid off though.

Moving forward

In 2006, Jerry and Diana built a new office for Fox’s Transport Ltd. on three acres in Cranbrook’s industrial section, and this year they expanded the building and completely renovated the interior. They have nearly 50 full-time employees and own 20 tractor-trailer units—with more on the way. Trucks with the Fox’s Transport logo emblazoned on the side haul freight from Alberta to Texas and California.

According to Jerry, Fox’s Transport Ltd. will always be based in Cranbrook but they will continue to expand. Within the next year, Jerry said, they may open an office in either Texas or Edmonton, Alberta. When asked about the future of Fox’s Transport Ltd., Jerry said that the sky is the limit.

Keys to success

Jerry believes Fox’s Transport Ltd. has a solid reputation and attributes the success of the business to hard work as well as his family’s commitment to honouring the company's core values.

“I always emphasize you are always held accountable,” said Jerry. “You always do what you say you are going to do—at whatever cost—and when you make decisions you stand behind those decisions, whatever it takes.”

Watching the company grow over the last 40 years has been rewarding for Alva as well.

“I know my dad—he never ever thought it would get this big off the farm table,” said Alva, later adding, “I’m proud of (Jerry and Diana). They carried on what my father believed in.”