In 2001, BJ Zoobkoff started in the transport industry entirely by accident, and she never looked back. “During the Calgary Transport Strike, I started as a temporary worker with the Calgary Catholic School Board, and then I was approached to do a one-year contract at a local warehouse.

I had never done any kind of office work before, nor had I thought about this industry. Once in the door at this warehouse, I was hooked!” BJ loved the fast-paced and ever-changing landscape of the industry, loved meeting new people, and, most of all, loved being part of something bigger; “I learned how important this industry is to keeping us humans alive, and I knew this was my forever industry.”

In 2016, BJ started at XTL Transport as a planner, then moved into human resources and office administration. Until this past year, she was the HR and safety manager before moving into her current position as safety manager. “Promotions within the company and the amazing guidance from all my XTL family is why I am where I am today. Being a safety manager means knowing that I help ensure that not only our drivers are safe on the road but others as well. There is nothing more important than a human life on the road.”

During the pandemic, BJ notes that the safety of workers was and continues to be the number one priority. “We were able to keep everyone safe during COVID-19 by implementing some simple, yet effective measures. We provided personal protective equipment to our staff, established sanitation stations, increased cleaning schedules of the offices and the tractors, reworked floor plans to ensure adequate social distancing between work areas, installed plexiglass shields between desks, chose video calls over face-to-face meetings, and performed contact tracing.”

All of this had to be done while ensuring that the essential service of transporting goods across Canada was not interrupted. “One of our main focuses was to keep goods moving safely and with as little service disruption as possible, and we found that the single most important factor for success was clear and consistent communication,” BJ says. “This was evident as we worked with our partners through the transition to work-from-home/hybrid models while simultaneously managing the complexities of increased demand amid supply shortages that delayed production schedules. Open communication lines helped strengthen trust with our partners, including long-standing carrier relationships that were integral in supporting the demand. We also reworked our operations in Western Canada during natural disasters to divert shipments or transload onto different modes of transportation to ensure the communities we serve were not cut off from their supplies.”

The provincial trucking associations were essential during the last two years, and BJ has a special place in her heart for the Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA). “The more people involved in provincial trucking associations, the more it gives the industry a stronger voice, and without a voice, we cannot drive change. AMTA events bring people together from all over the industry to network, meet new people, and serve as the best advocates for what not only drivers need, but carriers as well. I cannot even begin to describe the amazing AMTA employees I have had the pleasure of getting to know and have eventually become friends with. They are just like XTL: I can call any of my contacts, and they are always eager to assist in whatever we need.”

XTL has had a busy past year, expanding its operations in Canada to include a seventh distribution centre in Calgary. This means that all three branches of operations (transport, logistics, and distribution) are in the four major Canadian hubs (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary). “A key objective of our western expansion has been to provide the best equipment for our drivers, eliminate downtime, and increase operational efficiencies in the safest manner possible,” says BJ. As of 2021, XTL is also running its own fleet to the US out of its Airdrie terminal, similarly supporting the expansion of its refrigerated division by adding new reefer trailers to the fleet. “It has been a busy year for XTL, and we are not slowing down!”

With open communication across all lines, BJ credits XTL’s successes to its team dynamics; “We have amazing people across the entire organization. At XTL, it does not matter what terminal or department you are in, you can call anyone on our staff list, and they will take the time to help you by any means necessary. If they can’t, they will help you find someone who can. We are not just a company: we are a family with an open-door policy for all employees.”