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"Multiline Transport is a well run family business"
We continue to inform our readers about wide range of Canadian trucking companies. This time we introduce you to Multiline Transport Ltd. We were talking to co-owners of the company Stan Borawski, Anna Golygowska and Peter Borawski.
DorogaRoad: Tell me please when you started the company?
Stan Borawski: We started our company at the end of March 2000.
Anna Golygowska: Better say, on April 1, for the April Fools Day (laughs).
DorogaRoad: How did you come up with the idea to launch your own company, a trucking company? Did you drive before?
Stan Borawski: Yes, I drove all my life, even before you were born.
DorogaRoad: In Poland?
Stan Borawski: In Poland, in Russia too. I was everywhere. Well, not exactly everywhere but I travel a lot. I have been in Leningrad, Moscow, Kiev, Lutsk, Kharkov. You name it.
DorogaRoad: Was it a Polish Government Company?
Stan Borawski: Yes, there was no other type of companies in Poland at that time.
DorogaRoad: What was the company name?
Stan Borawski: I believe, it was “TransBud”.
DorogaRoad: How many people are working today in your company, Multiline Transport?
Anna Golygowska: About sixty-five.
DorogaRoad: Would you like to mention some names, those who maybe contributed most to the company’s success?
Stan Borawski: My wife, Anna (laughs). She did the most of the work.
Anna Golygowska: Peter.
Stan Borawski: Peter, obviously.
DorogaRoad: It is clear that Multiline Transport is a family business. Most of the business decisions are probably made by the two or three of you together. However, who is the big boss here?
Stan Borawski: She! (Pointing at Anna)
Anna Golygowska: Him! (Pointing at Stan)
Peter Borawski: I can add something about decision making. If you’re going to spend money, talk to him, if you’re going to get money, talk to her. He spends the money, she makes them. (Everybody laughing)
Stan Borawski: I guess, we are all working as one, as a whole, share our rights and responsibilities.
DorogaRoad: There are tough times for truckers today. Everybody knows this. Some companies filed bankruptcy and go out of business. But you just bought ten new trucks.
Stan Borawski: Yes, I did. And there’s 15 more coming.
DorogaRoad: What is the secret behind this?
Stan Borawski: Pure hard work. 24-hour operation runs by two people, Anna and me. And Peter, of course. He is our kid, but now he is an adult. Middle of the night, two o’clock in the morning each or all of us could come here. Basically, I can’t say I can do it without Anna or she can do without me, we don’t do this. We strictly work all together.
Anna Golygowska: We are family. We work together and live together.
Stan Borawski: Middle of the night we can get a phone call and I say: “Ok, I will go”. I, or Peter, or both of us can jump into car and come here, to our office and warehouse to do whatever has to be done.
DorogaRoad: Something in operations?
Stan Borawski: Anything that has to be done. We do everything, except my wife. She does one third of the job (joke).
Peter Borawski: But her job is more specific then ours (financial), we do everything we can. For instance, if the trailer has to be loaded in a specific way or urgently, then we are going to do it. Personally, even though we have warehouse workers who do this job. Most important: it has to be done and has to be done in time.
Stan Borawski: Yes, if it has to be done we stay. How many times we stayed up to 1 am helping out with the loading.
Peter Borawski: Or we leave the Christmas dinner and come here to load the trailers.
Stan Borawski: Yes, there were times when we came in here to load a trailer because a guy was waiting. You know, you do what you have to do. I think the secret is because we look after.
Employees are working from seven or eight am to five pm. That is it. We, owners, we do not have working time limitation; none of us. That is the reason behind our success.
Peter Borawski: We do not have such luxury as work from eight to five.
Stan Borawski: I’ll tell you a big secret. The big secret is that Anna knows how to hold the money. I know how to make the money because I run the company, load trucks and so on. But she is responsible for the money. She knows that if I am going to disturb her process, anything can happen (laughs).
Did you see the guy who just came in? He is part of our crew. Now we have to unload him and reload him, so he can make a little bit of money, we can make a little bit of money. But if you take it altogether, that is why we stay in this business.
DorogaRoad: You are originally from Poland. You probably maintain close ties with the Polish community here.
Stan Borawski: We help them sometimes, acting like a sponsor.
DorogaRoad: Continue on a subject. I see that you employ people with diverse ethnic background: Poles, Russians, Ukrainians, Jews, Indians. All sorts of people. Your company probably benefits from this.
Stan Borawski: Yes. Whoever wants to work and to make money. Those people make money because we pay them good, and we treat them right. If I am making money – you are going to make money. If I don’t make money – you don’t make money. That is the way it is.
Anna Golygowska: (To DorogaRoad) Even you’re making some money here!
DorogaRoad: That’s true.
Stan Borawski: If you want to be a millionaire one day, maybe you can win it but if not you have to go step by step.
DorogaRoad: Now, will you hire a driver without much experience? Let’s say, right after driving school?
Stan Borawski: No.
DorogaRoad: What are the requirements for a driver to be hired here?
Stan Borawski: Clean record, responsibility, and some experience. That is what I can say for now (see company ad on page3). I will not hire a driver without experience.
DorogaRoad: We know that in this industry turnover is pretty high; people come and go all the time.
Stan Borawski: Not with us. No high turnover here.
Peter Borawski: Some stay with us for years.
DorogaRoad: What do you think, Peter, why is it that in this industry turnover is much higher that in others?
Peter Borawski: There is a lot of stress in this industry that is why. People just try to avoid it by going from one company to another. But truly, those people that want to work, they end up staying here the longest; those who do not want to work are the ones that don’t stay.
DorogaRoad: Can you tell me any funny story from your experience?
Stan Borawski: We had a driver. He was on a trip and called us saying that he couldn’t make to the destination because they just started to build the road there. So, he said he had to wait till that road will be completed and open for traffic (laughs). That was really funny.
The same driver called once and said he has a problem. When I asked what was the problem, he said he did not have enough money to pay for the bridge toll.
- How much do you have then, I asked.
- Fifteen, - he answered.
- How much do you need?
- Thirteen, - was the answer.
- ???
Another guy had an accident but he claimed: “It was not my fault, because she was on the right lane, I didn’t see her” (laughs). He meant a lady driving in the right lane.
DorogaRoad: Is that funny guy still with you?
Stan Borawski: No, he was with us for a short time.
Anna Golygowska: But it was very funny to work with him. I think it was the funniest person working for our company.
DorogaRoad: Stan, you just mentioned that you bought ten trucks and fifteen are coming. All of them Volvo, aren’t they?
Stan Borawski: Yes, they are.
DorogaRoad: Why are you buying Volvo, not other brands?
Stan Borawski: Because the owner of one of “Kenworth” dealerships screwed me up for seven thousands dollars. Now he is never going to get my business. “Freightliner”, they just can’t work with the people. I was thinking to buy a few Freightliners, but… The story was simple. I called them today, I said: “I need some parts. My son is gong to stop by. He will take all ordered parts in his truck”. The parts guy said:”No, he is not allowed”. We had a hot-talk with him and at that he finally he said, - If you do not like it, then talk to my supervisor. I knew that supervisor for years; I talked to him, cancelled the parts order and asked him to tell the dealership owner that I am not going to buy trucks from them. As long as they have such people in their parts department, they will not get my business. He apologised, said the guy is usually a nice one, but I do not care about that. He said he was going to look after it.
Volvo is OK; it is more the type of people I like. You want to work with the people you enjoy working with, right?
DorogaRoad: I agree. Do you have a garage for your trucks?
Stan Borawski: Yes, indeed we do. A lot of companies do not have a garage, but we do. An 18 000 sq. feet of garage and warehouse.
Peter Borawski: I think the fact that we have a garage is our big advantage. Once something gets broken, we can fix it right away. It is allowing us to do proper maintenance as well; the owners can use the warehouse.
DorogaRoad: Is there anything you like to say as a conclusion to our readers?
Stan Borawski: We welcome everybody who wants to make money…
Peter Borawski: And to work hard.
DorogaRoad: Thank you for your time.
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