There’s a story that gets told around Verduyn Tarps — one that anyone who has spent time with founder Lloyd Verduyn has probably heard at least once. It’s about a man driving through Hamilton, Ontario, knocking on doors and asking if anyone needed their tarps repaired for months on end, before a single person said yes.
That story matters — not as a feel-good origin tale, but because it is, quite literally, the blueprint for everything Verduyn Tarps has become. Forty years later, on May 1, 2026, that same determination has built one of North America’s most trusted names in flatbed tarping and trucking equipment — with locations in Ontario, Michigan, and Indiana, and a reputation that has crossed every state line in between.
Where It Started
Lloyd Verduyn founded Verduyn Tarps in 1986 in Hamilton, Ontario, on three principles: quality, honesty, and service. At the time, the business was a one-man tarp repair operation — no shop, no staff, no guaranteed income. What it had was a founder who simply refused to stop showing up.
The early years were defined by that persistence. Lloyd built a reputation one repaired tarp at a time, working out of a single-bay shop and taking every job seriously, no matter how small. His young son Zak rode along on those early calls — too young to understand the business but quietly absorbing something more fundamental: what it looks like to build something from nothing.
When the work outgrew the space, Lloyd moved to a 3-bay facility at 398 Kenora Ave in Hamilton. He tells the story of driving his truck through the empty shop after taking possession of it, genuinely puzzled by how he’d ever fill the place. Today, that same location runs at full capacity with a yard that regularly overflows and a team of more than fifty employees proud to call it home.
Crossing the Border
In the summer of 2005, Lloyd made his first move into the United States — purchasing a shop in Detroit, Michigan. For a company born in the steel-and-freight corridor of Ontario, the Motor City was a natural destination. The Detroit location opened its doors in January 2006, and over the following two decades became a cornerstone of Verduyn Tarps’ American presence. A recent expansion brought the Detroit facility up to 109,881 square feet, located directly off I-75 at Exit 37 and just four miles from I-94 — purpose-built for the volume and efficiency the US market demands.
The second American location followed in Gary, Indiana in 2015, positioned at the other end of the same busy I-94 steel corridor. That location carries a particular significance in the company’s history: Lloyd opened it alongside his son Zak — the first-time father and son stood together at the door of something they were building as partners.
Back in Canada, a fourth location opened in January 2020 in Woodstock, Ontario — a custom-built, 14-bay facility at the intersection of Highway 401 and 403. Four locations. Two countries. One standard.
Built for the People Who Keep America Moving
Verduyn Tarps didn’t grow by chasing markets. It grew by building genuine relationships with the people who run flatbed operations across North America — and by delivering products and service worthy of those relationships.
From fleet managers overseeing hundreds of trucks across multiple states and provinces, to the owner-operators running a single rig and depending on every load, Verduyn Tarps has spent forty years earning the trust of the people who can least afford equipment failures on the road. That trust isn’t taken for granted. It’s earned every day, at every counter, in every bay.
That commitment to listening to the industry directly shaped one of Verduyn Tarps’ most significant innovations: the Eagle Tarp System. Developed in-house and built around the real-world demands of flatbed trucking, the Eagle retractable tarping system is now closing in on 1,000 units produced per year — a number that reflects not just manufacturing capacity, but the confidence of the drivers and fleet managers who trust it for their operations. The American trucking industry didn’t just welcome Verduyn Tarps. In many ways, it helped build it.
The People Behind the Name
A company is only as strong as the people who show up for it every day.
To every employee — past, present, and future — who has worked at any of our four locations: this anniversary belongs to you. The work ethic, the craftsmanship, and the care that have defined Verduyn Tarps for forty years weren’t built into the walls — they were brought in every morning by people who took pride in doing the job right. That standard has been passed down from one generation of employees to the next, and it is the most valuable thing this company owns.
To the communities of Detroit and Gary — thank you for welcoming a Canadian company and making it your own. The support of those communities has meant everything, and Verduyn Tarps is proud to be part of the local economies and workforces that keep both cities moving.
The Road Ahead
Forty years is a milestone worth celebrating. It’s also a moment to look forward.
As Verduyn Tarps steps into its next chapter, it does so with Zak Verduyn taking the wheel. The boy who rode along on those early Hamilton calls, who stood at his father’s side when the Gary doors opened, has grown into a leader ready to carry this company through its next forty years. Same values. Same work ethic. Same commitment to the drivers, fleet managers, and industry partners who have made all this possible.
The road ahead is long, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Verduyn Tarps has locations in Detroit, MI and Gary, IN, serving the American flatbed trucking industry since 2006. Learn more at verduyntarps.com
