HomeMy WebLinkAboutLakeshore Advance, 2011-04-27, Page 1616 Lakeshore AdvancWednesday,2011
• Honouringthe
past: Gunther 'Rickey transport
Lynda HIllman-Repley
Lakeshore Advance
Saturday April 30 will
mark the 40 year reunion
of Guenther Tuckey 'Trans-
port being sold to Laidlaw
Motorways and truckers
from far and near will gather
in Exeter to commemorate a
huge part of Exeter's
progressive history.
Guenther 'Tuckey was a
trucking company that was in
business from 1929 until 1971.
It was June 29, 1929 and
Benson W. Tuckey jumped
behind the wheel of a little
red chevy and drove from
London to Exeter, marking
the inauguration of Tuckey
'Transport.
In 1929, B.W.'luckey, while
living in London and believ-
ing there was future in the
trucking business started a
route between Exe-
ter and London. Rickey's first
truck was a Chevy with a 6' x
9' flatbed. The truck wouldn't
even carry all his household
belongings and it took two
trips to get all his furni-
ture when he made the move
to Exeter. This was the begin-
ning of Tuckey Transport.
Benson hitch hiked to
Toronto to get his first oper-
ating license. 'lackey 'Trans-
port was one of the oldest
fleets in Ontario and his
license shows the number
A-95, indicating there were
94 others issued before he got
his in 1929. The business
operated out of a small barn
at the Tuckey residence on
Simco Street. A second truck
was added on April 1, 1931
and this launched the famous
cream and green paint
colours.
In 1932 Benson moved
the operation around the
corner to Andrew Street and
converted a barn into a
warehouse and then another
truck was added . This was
the area's first tractor and
semi trailer and it
Dublin Mercantile's
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This Thursday to Sunday
April 28th to May 1st
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59 Mill Street, Dublin, ON 519-345-9922
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dublinmerc@ezllnk.ca
1924 International owned by Earl Guenther and 1967 MACK owned by Ben Tuckey
measured a whopping 15'
in length. A new office and
warehouse located on Main
Street was opened in 1936
which later became
Tuckey Beverages, bottling
Pepsi-Cola products for the
area. During this time many
small trucking operations
were purchased by 'Tuckey
to gain their operating
license. By 1952, they had
grown to nine units.
That same year, Tuckey
bought out the trucking
business of Earl Guenther
Transport of Dashwood that
operated 21 units. With the
new purchase the business
name changed to Guenther
Tuckey 'Transports.
Guenther
Guenther Transport based
in Dashwood had a similar
start to Tuckey. In 1919 Earl
Guenther bought a Ford
truck to carry mail and pas-
sengers on the Exeter and
(rand Bend stage line. In
1922 he also purchased an
International stake truck to
operate a transport service to
London. Ile began a regular
route to Toronto in 1924, a
nine hour drive at that time
from Dashwood. Ile kept
building his business and
then began bussing students
in 1944. That became a bus
company with 21 busses and
17 routes. On October 1, 1952
he sold the trucking business
to Ben 'Tuckey. Earl contin-
ued to operate his bus com-
pany until 1968 when he sold
to Charterways.
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Help with costs of Careglving
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More high-quality, affordable child care spaces
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Permanent Tax Credit of up to $13,500 to help families
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Dave Detbw/Spectal to Lakeshore Adana
Amalgamated
And then became growth.
With contracts from the big-
ger customers, Sifto Salt and
Dominion Road Machinery
of Goderich, the firm began
to grow steadily. On January
1, 1953 a new office and
parking yard was estab-
lished in Goderich. Many
new units were purchased
to keep up to demand. 1954
saw many changes as the
headquarters were moved
to a new location at nigh -
way 4 and 83 in the north
end of Exeter.
Benson stopped driving in
1950, but still ran the show
and could be seen every
morning as he helped load
the trucks.
As Guenther 'I'ucky con-
tinued to grow a new garage
was opened in 1957. Meat
packaging and hide compa-
nies such as Burns and J.M.
Schneider in Kitchener,
Crabtree Meats and Ottawa
Beef in Ottawa, Barrett
Ilides in Barrie, Swift Meats,
Lavigne Bros. and Canada
Packers in Toronto were all
weekly deliveries. Other
food grade users were
Campbell Soup, Perth Soap
Company, Libbys in
Chatham and Hicks Pickles
in Scarborough would take
two or three loads In the
summer pickling season.
Various hospitals through-
out Ontario used salt in their
boilers.
By 1968 Guenther Tuckey
trucks covered a distance of
over two million miles on
their runs, primarily in the
area of west Toronto. This
firm did runs to Michigan,
Quebec, and Ohio. They had
seven specialized tank and
dump trailers dedicated to
Sifto hauls. They could haul
anything and had many cus-
tomers, small mon and pop
stores to large companies.
'Ibis was long before Purola-
ter and Fed Ex. Guenther
'Tuckey could handle all
deliveries.
On June 21, 1969 Benson
W. 'Tuckey marked 40 years
in business with a surprise
celebration put on by
employees. 'Ihe event began
with a parade of Tuckey
trucks down Exeter's main
street. In 1969, they had a
fleet of 103 units and 80
staff. In 1971 Tuckey sold
the business to Laidlaw
Motorways of Hamilton. The
Exeter yard closed in 1990.
On April 30th, there will
be a celebration for the 40
year reunion since the sale
of the Guenther 'Tuckey to
Laidlaw.
Benson W. Tuckey was 82
years old when he died in
1988. Ben Tuckey was Exe-
ter's first Mayor in 1951,
when Exeter was incorpo-
rated and became eligible
for a major. Earl R. Guen-
ther - 1896-1989 in his 94th
year.
If you go:
Exeter Royal
Canadian Legion
Begins at 9 a.m. with food
and coffee. Bar opens at
11 a.m.
There will be an antique
truck show of
approximately 40 vehicles
Call Dave at 519-808-5044
for details
With files from Dave Dcttnte'r
and Chris Hall