16 drivers in four days: store deliveries across Alberta for a national retailer
One of Canada's largest retailers needed a carrier to take over the store deliveries from its Calgary distribution centre, starting within days. We sent rates the day it asked, and four days after the first email 16 drivers were pulling its loaded trailers to stores across Alberta. We ran up to 20 loads a day, day and night, for about three weeks, until its regular carrier was ready to take the lanes back.
Case study / February 2026
- Drivers on the road in 4 days
- 16Drivers on the road in 4 days
- Loads a day at the peak
- 18–20Loads a day at the peak
- Loads in about three weeks
- ~300Loads in about three weeks
- Stores across Alberta
- 38Stores across Alberta
Four days from the first email
The request came into our Calgary office from the retailer's distribution centre: rates for every store it delivers to in Alberta, by the end of the day. Its regular carrier couldn't run the lanes for a few weeks, and the retailer needed someone who could start right away.
We priced every store on the list the same day, more than 30 towns, some of them hours from Calgary. The next morning the retailer sent back the lanes it wanted us to run. It asked for 13 drivers. Four days after the first email we had 16 on the road.
The call came to us because the relationship was already there. Our Calgary crews were in and out of the retailer's distribution centres every day, and we had been set up as one of the retailer's carriers two years earlier.
How the power-only runs worked
The retailer loaded its own trailers at the distribution centre. A driver hooked up, took the trailer to the store, dropped it, picked up the empty and brought it back. Sometimes the empty came back with returns and empty pallets.
Edmonton was the long run. Alberta allows long combination vehicles, two 53-foot trailers behind one tractor, so three drivers took pairs of trailers north and covered six Edmonton stores a day.
Eleven people on one account
It took 11 people at Rolls Right to keep it running 24 hours a day.
Calgary dispatch ran the local routes, and our Alberta distribution manager ran the Edmonton runs from the field. One account manager dealt with the retailer every day, so the distribution centre always had one person to call. IT connected us to the retailer's systems, and accounting handled the EDI and the billing.
Overnight and on weekends, our after-hours team built the jobs, sent the load tenders, tracked every load and collected proof of delivery from every store.
The first four days
- 1
Rates the same day
Every store on the list had a rate by the end of the day the retailer asked.
- 2
Lanes the next morning
The retailer sent back the lanes it wanted covered, with a request for 13 drivers.
- 3
Routes planned
We lined up 16 drivers and planned the Calgary routes and the Edmonton runs.
- 4
Trucks rolling on day four
The first loads went out on day four. The trucks didn't stop for about three weeks.
Store delivery for retail chains
Most of our retail work is steadier than this: replenishment runs and new-store openings for chains with stores in malls and shopping centres. Our trucks go in and out of the major malls in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton every day, and our drivers know the docks and the delivery windows.
A short-notice job runs on the same people and the same planning. If your carrier can't cover a run, or an opening moves up, tell us the stores and the dates and we'll tell you what we can take.
Questions about store delivery at short notice
Can you take over a retailer's store deliveries on short notice?
Yes. On this job we sent rates the day the retailer asked, and four days after the first email we had 16 drivers delivering to its Alberta stores. At the peak we ran up to 20 loads a day.
What is power-only trucking?
Power only means we supply the tractor and the driver, and the trailer is yours. On this job drivers pulled the retailer's loaded trailers from its distribution centre to each store, dropped them and brought the empties back.
Do you deliver to stores across Alberta?
Yes. This job covered 38 stores from one Calgary distribution centre: Calgary-area routes plus six Edmonton stores a day on long combination vehicles. Calgary is our Alberta base, and our Edmonton terminal covers Northern Alberta.
Do you deliver to stores in malls?
Yes. Our trucks go in and out of the major malls in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton every day, including CF Pacific Centre, CF Chinook Centre and West Edmonton Mall. We plan each delivery around the mall's dock, clearance and delivery window.
Can you run store deliveries overnight and on weekends?
Yes. This job ran 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our after-hours team built the jobs, tracked every load and collected proof of delivery overnight and on weekends.
What do you need to quote store deliveries?
The store list, where the freight leaves from, how many loads a day, the delivery windows, and whether you supply the trailers. Send what you have, even if the first run is days away.
Need your stores covered on short notice?
Tell us the stores, the dates and where the freight leaves from, even if the first run is days away. We'll come back with a plan and a price.