Company History

Company History

Alphy Charron
Founder of Charron Transport

A third generation family run business with 75 years of experience in transportation and warehousing demonstrating "We’ve Got the Drive.”

A Charron left home to work for a farmer for 7 years. He later purchased his own farm in the small village of Arner and worked 10 acres of tobacco and 10 acres of potatoes. A young man with a young family needed to transport his potatoes to the Windsor market. Alphy bought a 1929 Chevrolet stake truck, the year of the historical stock market crash and the completion of the Ambassador Bridge. He started hauling his own potatoes over to the Detroit market.

He later moved to Highgate buying a 57 acre farm for $3200.00. The taxes were a mere $35.00 per year. During this time Alphy purchased a garage in Ridgetown. Charron Transport was operating out of the 2 locations. In 1943 during WWII, Alphy moved to Ridgetown with his family, leaving his oldest son and daughter on the farm. By this time Alphy was operating with 3 trucks, a 1937 Maple Leaf stake, a 1942 GMC stake and a 1943 Maple Leaf tractor.

In 1949 Alphy decided to expand and purchase the property located on the Corner of Sandys St. and McNaughton Ave. in Chatham. The property was owned by Alphy’s brother Raymond Charron. They negotiated a deal: Alphy agreed to trade his 57-acre farm in Highgate for the southeast corner property. At that time this was Chatham’s city limits. A short time later he purchased the southwest corner property. Alphy was now operating with 21 units.

In the early 1950’s Charron Warehousing Inc. was born. First an 18,000 sq. ft warehouse was built and eventually 2 others were added at the same location for a total space of 30,000 sq ft. Libby’s was their largest customer utilizing most of the warehouse space and Lloyd Bag Company was another. All loads were manually loaded and unloaded into the warehouse. Cases of canned goods were piled from floor to roof.

In the early days trucks were capable of hauling 300 cases of Libby’s tomato juice. A load of Libby’s canned product going to Toronto would take 6 hours from Chatham to Toronto without stopping. The driver would off load by hand and reload at Master Feed by hand to return to Chatham.

Our trucks would haul loads all week to a Windsor shipyard’s warehouse. When the ship arrived into port it would take all day for the men to load for destination to Thunder Bay. The product would be transferred from ship to rail for its final destination to the West Coast.

In 1976 Alphy died leaving the business to carry on by 4 of his 7 children who were actively involved in the company. The business grew, as did the residential area around them. The neighbours were accustomed to transport trucks travelling day and night through their streets. It was not unusual for traffic to be blocked by a transport backing into the loading dock. In the late 1970’s Charron’s was advised by the city planning department that a new bridge had been approved, joining Sandys St. and Lacroix St. This would create horrific traffic problems for Charron’s.

The second generation had to decide on the company’s future. The business was barely holding its own and the next move would be critical. They decided to relocate. The property was sold to a developer who transformed the 274 Sandys St. location into a retail mini plaza.

In the spring of 1980, Charron’s built a 54,000 sq. ft. warehouse on 390 Colborne Street. The garage and office were built one year later. Buy this time the 3rd generation were contributing. Economically it was one of the worst periods in history for the family business. Interest rates were averaging around 18% and people were losing their homes. Times were tough on the 4 family owners but together they sacrificed and laboured through and made it survive; each one contributing their part. Their common ground was pride and heart for the family business to continue what their father had started.

In 1985 when Libby’s announced that the food processing plant would be closing, Charron’s warehousing and transportation business was greatly affected. Charron’s had serviced Libby’s since the late 1940’s. The management team at Charron’s were aware of Libby’s huge 300,000 sq ft warehouse that was now on the open market. They made an offer to purchase the Libby’s property and expand their warehousing and distribution services or risk a competitor. Charron’s purchased the entire Libby factory in 1987 and later divided the property utilizing only the warehouse now located at 123 Byng Avenue. Charron Transport was still located on 390 Colborne Street. Charron Warehousing was now operating out of 2 locations, 123 Byng Avenue and 390 Colborne Street.

In 1993 after the Campbell Soup Company had announced their plant closure, both the warehouse and transport division had been hit hard. Campbell Soup was 90% of the warehouse’s business and 25% of the transportation’s business. Charron's had decided to combine their 2 locations to 123 Byng Avenue and sell the Colborne Street property.

Since Charron’s purchase of the Libby factory, we have established an impeccable warehouse standard that others have emulated at their facilities. Our history of efficiency and customer service have gained a reputation like no other in the field. Our impressive labour force’s skill and experience are what set us apart. The warehousing division continues to grow and succeed. We are proud to say that we have had 3 additions to our warehousing facility.

       In 1997 38,000 sq ft
       In 1999 15,000 sq ft
       In 2004 50,000 sq ft

Charron Transport Limited is celebrating 75 years on the road in 2004 and continues to battle with competition and high operating costs. Still striving to keep the family company operating.

........still a family business at heart!

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