It All Started with A Dream…
This summer Verduyn Tarps celebrated its 38th anniversary of business. What started as a one-man operation has grown into a multi-national, multi-bay enterprise with almost 150 employees across four locations! Lloyd Verduyn opened his first 2,000 sq. foot shop in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on May 1, 1986, with his family’s support and encouragement. A natural-born hustler and DIY’er, Lloyd has proved over the years that being persistent, determined, and versatile helps to establish a lasting reputation. Verduyn Tarps was founded on the principles of quality, honesty, and service, and to this day, we are dedicated to delivering the highest quality products for an honest price while providing outstanding customer service. As Lloyd once said in those early days, “We give good service, and we make a good product.”
Our “Family”
In May, we featured several of our staff from all four of our locations who shared their own stories and experiences about Verduyn Tarps in front of the camera. We have since compiled all this footage into one full-length celebratory video, now available on our YouTube Channel, here. During the making of this video and while interviewing each staff member individually, we learned so much about how our brand has grown over the years – both professionally and personally. We sincerely thank everyone who was willing to go on record and share their thoughts with us. While not everyone shares the ‘Verduyn’ last name, there is a true sense of family felt by those who have spent decades with us and by those who have just started out. We could not have made it this far without our incredibly hard-working staff. Our staff are our biggest investment, and we have certainly seen our fair share of faces come, grow, and go over the years, with each one leaving their mark on our legacy.
The Next Chapter
In 2023, we welcomed Zak Verduyn (Lloyd’s son) as our new C.O.O. We know the future is bright with the next generation behind the wheel and we welcome Zak into the “family” (well, technically it is the other way around). Fun fact: Zak was actually the camera operator behind all the individual staff videos, travelling from location to location to interview each willing participant and getting to know the faces of Verduyn Tarps a bit better himself. Over the past year, Zak has shown us all that his commitment to continuous improvement and development of our products and services which has made Verduyn Tarps a forerunner in tarping system technologies, is genetic. His passion to see his father’s dream continue to evolve and hit milestones is admirable. We are all incredibly lucky to have such a great natural leader confidently take hold of the reigns during this important transition period in the company’s history.
A Thank You to Our Loyal Customers
Lastly, we could not have made it this far without our incredible customers that have helped us grow to where we are now! Across our four locations, we are grateful to have seen so many faces come through our doors and leave our bays. In an industry where reputation travels fast, Verduyn Tarps has been fortunate to benefit from positive word-of-mouth. Majority of our customers have been with us for years, some even generations! We want to take this opportunity to thank each customer that has made a purchase with us over the last 38 years. Every dollar spent by our customers since Day 1 went towards investing into a dream. This dream has been realized four times overs now with the addition of each new location. Not a lot of businesses have reached the level of success we have, and for that we are extremely grateful. To be in business for nearly four decades and continuing to see growth has been beyond anyone’s expectations. So again, let us thank the trucking community for believing in us and relying on us to help get them road-ready, always.
Want to watch the full-length video celebrating our 38th anniversary? Head on over to our YouTube page and check it out… along with all our other videos from over the years. There will also be some fresh content added before the end of 2023 that you definitely do not want to miss! Be sure to “Like” & “Subscribe” to our YouTube channel to stay up to date on the latest videos featuring top-selling products, customer testimonials, and our Eagle Tarp System. Safe travels!