There’s a story that gets told around Verduyn Tarps — one that anyone who has spent time with Lloyd Verduyn has probably heard at least once. It’s about a man in a vehicle, driving the streets of Hamilton, Ontario, knocking on doors and asking if anyone needed their tarps repaired for months on end, before a single person said yes.
That story matters — not as a feel-good origin tale, but because it is, quite literally, the blueprint for everything Verduyn Tarps has become. Forty years later, on May 1, 2026, that same determination has built one of Canada’s most trusted names in flatbed tarping and trucking equipment, with four locations across two countries and a product line that didn’t exist when Lloyd first started driving those Hamilton streets.
Where It Started
Lloyd Verduyn founded Verduyn Tarps in 1986 on three principles: quality, honesty, and service. At the time, the business was a one-man tarp repair operation with no shop, no staff, and no guaranteed income. What it had was a founder who simply refused to stop showing up.
The early years were defined by that persistence. Lloyd worked out of a single-bay shop, building a reputation one repaired tarp at a time. His small son Zak rode along on those early calls — too young to understand the business but quietly absorbing something more fundamental: what it looks like to build something from nothing.
When the one-bay shop couldn’t contain the growth anymore, Lloyd made his first big move — to a 3-bay facility at 398 Kenora Ave in Hamilton. He tells the story of driving his truck through the empty shop after the purchase, genuinely puzzled by how he’d ever fill the space. Today, that same shop runs at full capacity with a yard that regularly overflows, staffed by a team of more than fifty people proud to call it home.
Growing Across Borders
By 2005, Verduyn Tarps had outgrown the idea of staying local. That summer, Lloyd crossed the border and purchased a shop in Detroit, Michigan — a natural move for a company rooted in the steel-and-freight corridor that connects Ontario to the American Midwest. The Detroit location opened for business in January 2006, and what followed was nearly two decades of steady growth in the US market, culminating in a recent upgrade to a 109,881 square foot facility directly off the I-75.
The second American location came next in 2015, this time in Gary, Indiana — at the other end of the busy steel corridor along the I-94. That location carries a particular significance: Lloyd opened it alongside Zak, marking the first time father and son stood together at the door of something they were building together.
Back in Canada, the company’s fourth location came to life in January 2020 — a custom-built, state-of-the-art 14-bay facility in Woodstock, Ontario, positioned at the intersection of the 401 and 403. It was a vision Lloyd had held for years and building it from the ground up was a fitting symbol of how far his Hamilton tarp repair operation had travelled.
Built for the Industry That Built Us
None of this growth happened in isolation. Verduyn Tarps grew because the Canadian and North American trucking industry grew with it — and because the company made a habit of listening to the people running the loads.
From large fleet managers coordinating operations across the country, to the owner-operators betting everything on every run, Verduyn Tarps has spent four decades trying to understand what flatbed trucking needs — and then building it. That relationship between the shop and the cab is what led to the development of the Eagle Tarp System, Verduyn’s own retractable tarping technology, now closing in on 1,000 units produced per year. A long way from a one-bay shop in Hamilton.
The trucking industry is the backbone of the Canadian economy, and it has been the backbone of ours. The carriers, dispatchers, fleet maintenance crews, and independent drivers who have trusted Verduyn Tarps over the years aren’t just customers — they are the reason this company exists, and the reason it has stayed relevant through four decades of change.
The People Behind the Name
If the trucking industry is the backbone of Verduyn Tarps, the people who have worked here are its heart.
As Verduyn Tarps celebrates 40 years in business, this milestone belongs to every employee who has been part of the journey — past, present, and future. From Hamilton and Woodstock to Detroit and Gary, the craftsmanship, care, and commitment to doing the job right have shaped who we are as a company. Those values were never built from a policy manual alone; they were built by hardworking people who took pride in their work and passed those standards on to the next generation. Along the way, Verduyn Tarps has also believed in investing not just in the worker, but in the individual — supporting personal growth, development, and success both inside and outside the workplace. That legacy continues today, and it remains at the heart of everything Verduyn Tarps stands for.
To the communities of Hamilton and Woodstock — thank you. These cities gave Lloyd his start and have supported this company through every stage of its growth. Verduyn Tarps is part of the fabric of these communities, and we don’t take that lightly.
The Road Ahead
Forty years is a milestone worth celebrating. It’s also a moment to look forward.
Lloyd Verduyn built this company to last — and as Verduyn Tarps steps into its next chapter, it does so with Zak Verduyn taking the wheel. The boy who rode along on those early Hamilton calls, who stood beside his father at the door of the Gary location, has grown into a leader ready to carry this company into its next forty years. The foundation is solid. The direction is clear. And the work ethic that built this place isn’t going anywhere.
Here’s to the next forty.
Verduyn Tarps has locations in Hamilton, ON and Woodstock, ON, serving the Canadian flatbed trucking industry since 1986. Learn more at verduyntarps.ca
