Walmart's SuperCube Fleet Gets The Green Light In Canada

With the Canadian government's approval to take the pilot project to the next phase, Walmart is hoping to roll out reefer Supercubes in the future.

After nearly a year of waiting, it appears that Walmart has been given the green light by the Canadian Ministry to roll out its expanded fleet of their Supercube trucks, the specially-designed truck that will haul up to 44 percent more cargo and could potentially save the company 3,000 loads per year.

“The government has modified the permit conditions to allow for different types of equipment to be run,” said Michael Buna, senior transportation manager at Walmart Canada. “What the government has done is look at the 60 foot-6 inch length of a trailer and looked at straight-decks, drop-decks, tri-axles, reefer units, and they’ve opened it up to allow for different types of equipment to be run. So the government has done the due diligence to prove there are many different types of equipment you can run in this model.”

But what could be the biggest news from the announced from Andy Ellis, Walmart Canada’s senior vice-president of supply chain and logistics, is that reefer supercubes have been added to the approved list.

“We’ve met all of the criteria the government asked of us within the pilot. We are obviously working with the government to extend the pilot and put more trucks on the road and encourage other retailers or other haulers to do the same,” said Ellis. “It would be ideal if we get a reefer, because if you look at the type of business a reefer supports, it’s fresh food. It’s all about freshness and quality and being agile and getting fresher product to the stores. So the more efficient we can be in getting product to the stores, the better for the customers. Absolutely, reefers will be where we want to go.”

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