Kattz Logistics
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Based on Vancouver Island · Freight across Canada and into the U.S.

Logistics
that works
around you.

Port drayage, rail-ramp pickups, Vancouver Island freight and flexible logistics across Canada, built around how you need to receive your shipment.

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A white day-cab tractor with an orange shipping container on a sand track among tall firs, under a blue sky streaked with cirrus
A container reaches a forest lot.
  1. 01Port
  2. 02Crossing
  3. 03Island-side tractor
  4. 04Receiver
  5. We coordinate what happens in between.
years of knowing what to do when the plan changes
45
years with our longest-standing customers
17+
based in Nanaimo, serving Canada and North America
Vancouver Island

Trusted by the people who move freight for a living.

9 companies across forwarding, terminals, customs brokerage and retail.

Read what they say
  • King Bros. Limited

Start here

What do you need moved?

You don't need to know the logistics terms. Pick the one that sounds like your shipment and we take it from there.

A white day-cab tractor and van trailer parked beside a timber-frame building under construction in early morning light
On site.
Schematic map of the Pacific Northwest showing freight routes converging on Vancouver and crossing to Vancouver Island

01 · The network

One point of contact across ports, roads and the Strait

A shipment to Vancouver Island passes through a container terminal, a chassis, a highway, a barge terminal, a crossing of the Strait of Georgia and an Island-side tractor before it reaches a receiver. Kattz Logistics coordinates every one of those handoffs from Nanaimo, and works with ports and rail ramps across Canada, so the customer manages none of them.

A cargo aircraft crossing a cold dawn sky above the British Columbia coast

02 · Global in

Freight starts a long way from the truck

Most of the freight Kattz moves begins overseas and arrives in British Columbia by ship or by air. Kattz does not sell air freight; it coordinates what happens once the shipment is on the ground, at a Vancouver-area port facility or at one of the Canadian ports and rail ramps it works with.

A container vessel approaching the British Columbia coast in morning haze

03 · Ocean

Arriving in British Columbia

Container vessels call at the Port of Vancouver, where Kattz picks up at five port facilities. The port handled a record 3.78 million TEU in 2025. Kattz plans the pickup before the vessel docks.

A container being lowered from a gantry crane onto a truck chassis at a Vancouver terminal

04 · From port

Port and container drayage

Kattz coordinates the terminal reservation, the port pickup and the container's next leg so the box does not become another moving part the customer has to chase. The vehicle changes at the port. The freight keeps moving.

Port & container drayage
A Kattz tractor pulling a container along a coastal highway at dawn

05 · On the road

Drayage planned around the appointment

From the terminal the container rides to the Mainland barge terminal or straight to a Lower Mainland receiver. Every leg is planned backward from the receiving appointment, because at Kattz early is on time.

A commercial barge carrying trailers across the Strait of Georgia toward Vancouver Island

06 · The Strait

Vancouver Island freight

The trailer or container crosses the Strait of Georgia on the commercial barge from Tilbury or Surrey to Duke Point or Swartz Bay. The tractor and driver do not cross with it, which is what makes the Island move efficient: the carrier keeps its tractor and driver working on the Mainland, Kattz books the sailing, and our Island-side tractors and drivers take the trailer onward.

Vancouver Island freight
A Kattz tractor leaving the terminal yard and joining the Island Highway as fog clears

07 · Island side

Island-side pickup at Duke Point and Swartz Bay

At Duke Point and Swartz Bay a Kattz tractor collects the trailer from the terminal's designated yard, not from the vessel, and takes it onward up the Island Highway or into Greater Victoria. Local drivers, local knowledge, and the receiving appointment already confirmed.

Tractor / power-only service
A green shipping container on a chassis backed up to a loading dock at a grey and white industrial building under a deep blue sky
Dropped at the receiver's dock.

08 · Receiver

Delivery and consignee coordination

Kattz contacts the consignee, confirms the day and the window, schedules the driver, delivers around how the receiver actually works and coordinates the empty or the equipment return. One shipment, a lot of moving parts, one call.

Delivery & consignee coordination

One shipment.A lot of moving parts.One call.

You shouldn't have to think about everything that happened in between. Tell us where it is and where it needs to go.

Get a Rate

One shipment.A lot of moving parts.One call.

You shouldn't have to think about everything that happened in between. Tell us where it is and where it needs to go.

Get a Rate

Not a rendering

That was the model. This was a Wednesday.

Two workers at the open doors of an orange shipping container on a chassis while a crane truck reaches over it, on a sand lot ringed by tall firs
A crane truck unloads a container on a forest lot.

The journey above is a model of how freight reaches Vancouver Island. The photographs on this site are not. They were taken on the job, on a phone, by the people doing the work, and each one that kept its record is stamped with the time the camera wrote down.

Proof of work

Different freight. Same standard.

A blue shipping container lifted off a chassis by a crane truck on a quiet residential street, with a worker guiding it
Off the chassis, onto the ground.
Stretch-wrapped industrial machinery chained to the deck of a flat-deck truck on a sand lot among firs
Wrapped machinery, chained to a flat deck.
A tractor and container parked on a downtown street lined with heritage buildings, red lanterns and cherry blossoms
A container, delivered downtown.

What if it isn't that simple?

The boat that was inches too tall

A sailboat arriving from China had to come straight off the ship onto a truck, and the load was too tall for the clearance on the route. Kattz lowered it on its own tires and moved it with inches to spare.

The problem
Direct discharge was required: the boat had to come off the vessel straight onto the truck. Loaded, it was too tall for the clearance available on the route.
The response
Rather than treating the load as impossible, the team worked through the physical constraint and found enough height by carefully reducing tire pressure until the load cleared.

Inches made the difference.

Sometimes logistics is a rate. Sometimes it is figuring out how to make something physically possible.

Read the case study

Island freight, without the trip across

Your freight crosses. Your driver doesn't have to.

Sending your own tractor and driver to Vancouver Island means a day of crossing, terminal waits and a trip back, while that truck could be earning somewhere else. Drop the trailer at the Mainland barge terminal instead. Kattz books it on the commercial barge, and our Island-side tractors and drivers collect it from the terminal yard at Duke Point or Swartz Bay and deliver it.

A standard approach

  • Your tractor and driver cross to the Island and back
  • Driver hours spent waiting and crossing
  • Your truck is off your other work for the day

The Kattz approach

  • The trailer crosses on the commercial barge
  • Our tractors collect it from the Island terminal yard
  • Your truck and driver stay working on the Mainland
Get a Rate
The Kattz lane from the Port of Vancouver to Vancouver IslandVancouver-area port facilities connect by road to the Tilbury and Surrey barge terminals. Commercial barges carry drop trailers and containers across the Strait of Georgia to Duke Point near Nanaimo and to Swartz Bay near Victoria. A Kattz tractor collects the trailer from the terminal yard and carries it on to the receiver.Strait of GeorgiaVancouver-area port facilitiesTilburySurreyDuke Point · yard pickupSwartz BayNorth IslandMid-IslandVictoria · South Islandcommercial barge · 3–5 sailings a day on the Duke Point lane

Vancouver Island

Mainland reach. Island expertise.

Moving freight onto Vancouver Island adds a layer of coordination that rarely shows up on a rate sheet: a barge sailing, a terminal with a dwell clock, and a tractor that has to be waiting on the other side. We already work inside that reality, from Nanaimo, with our own tractor and driver on the Island side and an active commercial barge account for the crossing.

Port. Crossing. Island-side tractor. Receiver. We coordinate what happens in between. The Strait shouldn't become your logistics department.

How freight gets to the Island

Across Canada

Vancouver Island is our specialty. Not our limit.

Kattz Logistics takes on freight moving through Canadian ports and intermodal rail ramps, and coordinates the next leg wherever it needs to go. The Island is where we know every yard and receiver.

Based on Vancouver Island. Freight across Canada and into the U.S. Whatever they need: tell us where it is and how it has to arrive.

British Columbia
The five Vancouver-area port facilities, rail ramps in Surrey and Pitt Meadows, and Vancouver Island by commercial barge
The Prairies
Rail ramps in Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg
Ontario and Quebec
Rail ramps in Toronto and Montreal, and the Port of Montreal
Atlantic Canada
The ports of Halifax and Saint John, and rail ramps in both
Into the United States
Cross-border moves coordinated for freight that starts or finishes south of the border

Places we coordinate freight to and from. Each move is planned around the real facility, its access and the arrangement in place.

Why Kattz

You shouldn't have to manage your logistics company.

How we work

  1. 01

    Built around you.

    We start with how the shipment needs to arrive.

  2. 02

    Early is on time.

    Receiving appointments are not suggestions.

  3. 03

    Find the practical way.

    When freight gets complicated, experience takes over.

  4. 04

    Watch the total cost.

    We look for smarter ways to move freight, not another line item.

Relationships

Our strongest sales pitch is how long customers stay.

17+ years with our longest-standing customers

Logistics trust isn't built in one shipment. It is built every time the phone gets answered, every appointment gets taken seriously and every problem gets solved. Some of our customer relationships have lasted more than seventeen years, and nearly all of our work is repeat work.

  • “Been a pleasure building the relationship and I can not say enough good things about the service you provide, definitely next level.”
    Tyler · Pro-Ex Transport Systems Ltd.
  • “Thank you for the cooperation, and great teamwork throughout the year. We truly appreciate our partnership and look forward to continuing our work together in the year ahead.”
    Mike and Jerry · Roscher Transport International
  • “You truly are a rare find in this industry. I would recommend you to anyone. Thanks for the update and the continued amazing service.”
    Nicki · FCL Import Coordinator and Pricing · ECU Worldwide
Read every message from our customers

Services

What we move, and how

Seven services in plain language. Industry people get the right term; everyone else gets what it means. Not sure which one you need? Tell us what you are moving and we will work it out.

  1. 01Port & Container DrayageYour container made it to port. We keep it moving.Terminal reservations, port pickup and the container's next leg, coordinated from the Vancouver-area port facilities to Lower Mainland receivers and Vancouver Island.
  2. 02Vancouver Island FreightThe Mainland doesn't have to feel far away.Commercial freight between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island: the Mainland pickup, the commercial barge crossing for drop trailers and containers, the Island-side tractor and the delivery appointment, coordinated as one move.
  3. 03Tractor / Power-Only ServiceHave the trailer? Need the tractor?Island-side tractor and driver to pick up your trailer or container, complete the delivery and coordinate the return, so nobody has to cross with the equipment.
  4. 04Freight Consolidation & TransloadingWhen the container isn't how the receiver needs it.Destuffing and transfer of freight from the container it arrived in to the equipment the receiver can actually take: flat deck, step deck, pup trailer or partner equipment.
  5. 05LCL Pickup & DeliveryNot every shipment fills a container.Pickup of less-than-container-load (LCL) freight at destuff and deconsolidation facilities once it is released, and delivery to its destination: a single skid, a few boxes or a part load.
  6. 06Delivery & Consignee CoordinationOne less schedule for you to manage.Consignee contact, receiving appointments, driver scheduling, final delivery and equipment returns, coordinated directly around how the receiver works.
  7. 07Specialized FreightHave something weird? Good. Talk to us.Oversize, over-dimension, direct-discharge and otherwise non-standard loads, planned from the physical facts rather than the rate sheet.

Not sure which one you need? Tell us what you're moving.

FAQ

Before you ask

Do I need to send my own driver across to Vancouver Island?

No. Drop the trailer at the Mainland barge terminal and it crosses on the commercial barge without a tractor. Kattz books the crossing, and our Island-side tractors and drivers collect it from the designated terminal yard at Duke Point or Swartz Bay and deliver it.

Is Kattz only a Vancouver Island company?

No. Kattz Logistics is based in Nanaimo and specializes in Vancouver Island freight, and also takes on freight moving through Canada's commercial ports and intermodal rail ramps, coordinating the next leg wherever it needs to go.

Do you service Vancouver Island?

Yes. Kattz Logistics is based in Nanaimo and delivers across Vancouver Island, with our own tractors and drivers on the Island side and an active commercial barge account for moving drop trailers and containers across from the Mainland.

Can you pick up containers at Vancouver ports?

Yes. Kattz coordinates container pickups at five Vancouver-area port facilities, inside the terminal's reservation window, and moves the container to its next leg on the Mainland or across to the Island by commercial barge. We also pick up at the ports of Montreal, Halifax and Saint John.

Can you provide Island-side tractor service?

Yes. If your trailer or container is arriving at Duke Point or Swartz Bay, or is already sitting at an Island yard, Kattz supplies the tractor and driver to pick it up, deliver it and return the equipment.

What if my freight can't be delivered in the container it arrived in?

Kattz coordinates destuffing and moves the freight onto the equipment your receiver can take, whether that is a flat deck, a step deck, a pup trailer or partner equipment, and consolidates deliveries when that saves money.

Do you handle small shipments, like a few skids or boxes?

Yes. Kattz picks up LCL (less than container load) freight at destuff and deconsolidation facilities once it is released and delivers it to its destination, whether that is a single skid at 150 kg or 29 boxes at 400 kg.

Do I need to know what equipment I need?

No. Tell us what you are moving, where it is, where it needs to go and how the receiver takes freight. Choosing the equipment is our job.

Can you handle unusual or oversized shipments?

Yes. Over height, over width, direct discharge from a vessel, difficult receiving conditions or a load another carrier has already refused: bring us the problem. We once moved a sailboat that was inches too tall by lowering it on its own tires.

Can you coordinate with my receiver?

Yes. Kattz contacts the consignee, confirms the delivery day and window, schedules the driver around it and coordinates the empty or equipment return, so you get one confirmation instead of a chain of calls.

How do I request a rate?

Use Get a Rate, which asks what you are moving, where it is, where it needs to go and when, or call (250) 729-9111. You do not need to know the logistics details yet; send what you have and we will follow up at the contact details you provide.

What information should I send?

What you are moving (a container, a trailer, a few skids or boxes, or something unusual), where it is now, where it needs to go, when it needs to be there, and anything unusual about the load or the receiver. Dimensions and photos help for specialized freight.

Get a rate

Have freight to move?

Tell us where it is and where it needs to go. You don't need the logistics details yet.

Get a Rate(250) 729-9111

admin@kattzlogistics.com · Nanaimo, Vancouver Island