58 business elite canada
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SEPT/OCT 2014
then they’ll be happy to work here and they’ll
in turn focus on looking after our customers.
They will create good business relationships
with our customers as partners through which
they become just as interested in our success
as they are their own. That creates a never-
ending cycle that supports itself,” said Peeples
of the company’s award-winning management
strategy.
Since its inception in 1975, Challenger has
remained a national leader for the long haul.
Like many of the most successful and enduring
companies, Challenger is rooted in a humble
beginning. Company founder, Dan Einwechter,
owner, CEO and Chairman, started the business
while attending university for business. He went
to school during the day and drove a truck from
Cambridge, Ontario across the U.S border into
Ohio at night. He was able to grow the business
from a single truck to a multi-truck fleet.
“Not everybody gets to have 1,500 trucks
on the road and operate everywhere in North
America,” said Peeples. “The folks that truly
have a vision are the folks that survive.”
Challenger began as a full truckload car-
