Scott Paddock
Co-President
When Scott Paddock was a kid, father-son time always involved a truck.
Luckily, Scott was hooked on his family’s business from an early age, eager to ride around with drivers, transfer freight and, when he was older, repair tires and run to Toronto for parts. “It was a colourful childhood with too many stories to tell,” Scott says. “My poor mother would just roll her eyes.”
Scott got his commercial driver’s license at 18 and drove for Paddock until his late 20s. He remembers the old days, when truck drivers had nothing more than the money in their pocket and the smarts between their ears to deal with situations 2,000 miles from home. “Back then it was the wild west,” Scott recalls. “Today, technology keeps everyone in the loop.”
When his dad became sick, Scott and his younger brother Mac moved into dispatch. A bit of a night owl, Scott worked nights while Mac took the day shift. “When my dad and uncle both died in ’92, it was sink or swim. We weren’t looking to be co-presidents but we knew the business inside out and responsibility was something we’d had since we were very young.”
Today, there’s a lot of overlap between their roles, but Scott oversees maintenance, purchasing and research and development for specialized equipment to be used for moving out-of-gauge or oversized goods, while Mac focuses more on the sales side of the business.
Asked what he’s most proud of, Scott is quick to reply. “We’ve done this long enough and well enough that we’ve earned a lot of respect in the industry. We do what we say we’re going to do. And it takes a very dedicated group of people—you can’t even imagine some of the hurdles we run into on a daily basis.”
It’s precisely those challenges that have made Paddock Transportation Scott’s first—and only—choice of workplace. “It becomes addictive,” he admits. “Every day is a new ball game. You have to be able to think on your feet and solve problems.”
Scott has been told more than once that he’s like his dad. “He was a great role model. To more than just his own family. He had a knack for bringing out the best in people and I think we strive to do that today as well.”
Mac Paddock
Co-President
Mac Paddock was born into the transportation business.
The second youngest of five children, his memories of the early days are of Kenworths and late night road trips with his dad, Earl. He drove for the first time at age five, standing up and steering the truck while his dad lit a cigar. And just like his older brothers, from a young age he was always at the yard, washing and fuelling trucks or moving trailer loads of steel to help get things ready for the long haul drivers. “There was always a job to do,” Mac recalls. “Playing with friends came second.”
By the time Mac was 18, he was hauling loads both locally and throughout the U.S. “Driving truck is a great job when you’re young,” Mac says. “I learned a lot about managing relationships and what drives customer satisfaction. Being a professional truck driver requires patience, collaboration and great problem solving skills.” After all, those were the days before the Internet, satellite tracking and smart phones.
Early on in his career, Mac moved into operations and dispatch, where he spent 20-plus years. After his uncle and father passed away in 1992, the role of president was jointly inherited by Mac and his brother Scott.
Today, his favourite aspect of the job is the strategic planning for the end-to-end operations, including warehousing, logistics and specialized haulage. A lifetime of experience in the business allows him to recognize what works, what doesn’t and then put together the necessary pieces.
The result is a strong vision for the company.
“As co-presidents, it’s our job to understand customer needs and anticipate trends. Our intention has always been to become more diversified. We are capable of offering almost anything a customer requires. As a small- to mid-sized company, we can move pretty quickly and adapt to their needs.”
Asked what it means to work for his family’s business, Mac pauses briefly. “We’re definitely carrying on my dad’s vision. We have been able to do that in both good times and bad and those are the experiences that build a business with character.”
Ileas (Louie) Giankos
Logistics Manager
Some days Louie Giankos feels like an air traffic controller.
Luckily he thrives on the stress, quick decision-making and reward that comes from meeting a client’s needs. “Every day is an adventure,” he says. “The best part is putting a smile on the customer’s face when you’ve done what they asked. They know they can pick up the phone and we’ll do the job, worry free.”
Louie, who was born in the same year Earl Paddock Transportation was founded, moved to the Hamilton area in 1971 and spent his early career in a distribution centre at ED Smith, eventually working his way up to dispatch. Later, he worked for 12 years as a distribution manager in Mississauga and another eight years at a brokerage firm in Stoney Creek.
He found his home at Earl Paddock in 2005.
Louie’s niche is brokerage logistics—moving material from A to B by land, sea, air and rail, using Paddock’s fleet, a specialized third party carrier or a combination of the two. He’s a keen negotiator, tireless problem solver, patient teacher and a walking calculator.
His most challenging job was his first overseas shipment to Nigeria—a two-month long project that required Paddock to get its own certificate to export the product because the customer didn’t have the necessary paperwork. “When they emailed me to say it was received I did a little dance beside my desk,” Louie recalls. “Then it was on to the next job.”
Working for a long-standing family business means a lot to Louie. “It encourages you to do your best so they can have another 50 years of success,” he says. “I’ve been at the mall and people will see me wearing my Paddock jacket, recognize the logo and say, ‘Oh, you work for them? They’re a good company.’ It makes you feel proud.”
David Steele
Warehouse Manager
You could say David Steele’s name is his calling.
A Hamilton boy, he started his career at Parkdale International, a steel distributor in the east end of the city. Paddock Transportation was Parkdale’s sole carrier, trucking the coils of grey gold across the border, and David remembers Paddock founders Earl and Lorne fondly.
After 15 years in operations management at Parkdale, David decided to try his hand outside the industrial sector, managing everything from a courier company to a sports photography biz. He was ready to spring from a job at a mattress company when Paddock came knocking.
It was 2010.
“Scott and Mac had bought a property that had a massive warehouse,” recalls Dave. “Naturally they needed a warehouse manager.”
And that’s how Dave came home. To warehousing. And steel.
He loves the family atmosphere at Paddock. “It’s a lot different from the corporate world where there’s a lot of red tape that gets in your way,” he admits. Always an early bird, Dave is in the office every day by 5 or 5:30 a.m. (No one minds at Paddock. But Dave admits he’s a bit of a liability at a campground.) “I’m extremely hands-on,” he says. “It’s not unusual for me to operate a forklift or a crane myself to get things done right. That’s the way we all are.”
The diversity of the job is a big plus. “We’re always doing something new and it all has to be done yesterday. Like the first time we stored large aircraft parts—they’re big and cumbersome and we’re moving them around with forklifts and all I could think of was the money involved.”
Ask him what he’s most proud of and he’ll tell you it’s Paddock’s reputation with customers. “Carriers love coming here to be loaded or unloaded. Truckers have a million stories and they’re often treated poorly at other facilities. We’re friendly and fast. When they find out they’re going into EP Terminals, they’re happy.”