On September 30th, Diversified Transportation successfully concluded the Hoodie Drive, an initiative in partnership with Homeless Connect Wood Buffalo. This project was dedicated to collecting new or gently used winter coats and hoodies for the homeless and at-risk populations within our community.

Once again, our incredible community has shown its generosity, stepping up to support those in need. Thanks to your overwhelming contributions, we are thrilled to announce that we collected 9 large boxes of hoodies and coats. These much-needed items were delivered by our Director of Operations, Dean Chappelle, on Friday, October 4th.

Thank you so very much to all who contributed to help keep our at risk population warm!

On Thursday September 19^th our Diversified team got together to celebrate some very special people.

It’s always such an honour to be in the presence of such incredibly special company. Our President’s Club and Diamond Club dinner is an opportunity to celebrate those of our employees who have been nominated for or who have won the R.B. Colborne Award of Excellence, those who have been with our company 25+ years, as well as those retirees who had reached that milestone as well.

It was a great night of catching up and conversation! 

Thank you tall who were able to attend and make this evening a success.

Last weekend, SOUTHLAND Cochrane charters got rave reviews for providing shuttle services for the Wazin Ichinabi Ti House of Oneness Society‘s ‘Pow-Wow 101’. SOUTHLAND ferried passengers from downtown Cochrane to the 2024 Mini Thni Classic Pow-Wow, where a Knowledge Keeper explained the meaning of the event to attendees. 

SOUTHLAND driver Cheryl Tetrau recieved kudos for her excellent customer service, and we even got a nice shout-out on the Wazin Ichinabi Ti House of Oneness Society’s Facebook page:

“Thank you to Southland for powering the shuttle for the first Pow-wow 101!”

Wazin Îchinabi Ti functions in the spirit of an indigenous embassy. The centre operates as a non-profit culture and community-based organization providing educational programming and services that promote Truth & Reconciliation principles for residents, visitors, and other organizations in Cochrane and surrounding areas.

Another school year has arrived, and we are excited! We’ve spent the summer recruiting, hiring and training highly-qualified and caring drivers to fill our nearly 600 routes.

Our President Les Cross spoke to Global News on Tuesday morning to talk about our driver recruitment efforts and what families need to know about this new school year.

CLICK THE VIDEO below to watch the full interview.

And yesterday, SOUTHLAND’s Regional Director for Southern Alberta, Arjan Slagmolen, joined CBC Radio’s morning show The Calgary Eyeopener to explain about the unique challenge in Calgary to staff routes given a tight labour economy, a growing city with new schools opening and competition for jobs in the transportation industry. 

CLICK THE LINK below to check out Arjan’s interview on CBC.

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-5/clip/16090666 https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-5/clip/16090666

Calgarians really light up over GlobalFest. And SOUTHLAND Transportation is proud to have wrapped another successful year as the official transportation provider.

GlobalFest is an annual celebration of Calgary’s multi-cultural communities and features pavilions, performances, international food, children’s programming and of course – the crowning event – the internationally-renowned fireworks show.

This year’s event ran from August 15^th to 24th and showcased presentations produced by world-class pyro musical artists hailing from the world over.

SOUTHLAND drivers happily, and safely, shuttled hundreds of people from Sunridge Mall to Elliston Park, and our VIP locations. We also had a few Safety Teams on site to ensure that everything ran like clockwork, which it has for the last thirteen years or so that we have partnered with the event.

SOUTHLAND’s Calgary Charters Manager Tara Irwin says drivers and the safety teams deserve a big salute for always transporting GlobalFest-goers safely and comfortably.

“Our drivers always drive with care and exude a positive attitude. As I say every year, we couldn’t pull it off without them. Thank-you, drivers!”

We would also like to thank all of the volunteer shuttle ticket sellers – a great crew who were all willing to support each other and provide great customer service. We sold over 4,300  wristbands, had a bunch of laughs and got to know quite a few die hard fireworks fans. 

The Fourth Annual My First Ride Event, hosted by Lethbridge School Division, Holy Spirit Catholic School Division, and Southland Transportation, was held on Saturday, August 17th, at The Children of St. Martha’s School.

Southland Operations Manager Andrea Rioux and her team were on-site to provide details on bus safety and protocols for the 2024/2025 school year.

Click the video below to watch Andrea explain how the free program educates students and parents alike.