Kattz Logistics
Get a Rate

Zone 01 · South Island

Swartz Bay or Duke Point. We pick the one that fits.

Kattz Logistics coordinates commercial freight to Victoria, Saanich, Langford, Sidney, Sooke, Duncan and Lake Cowichan, crossing to Swartz Bay or Duke Point and delivering with its own Island-side tractor.

A trailer bound for Greater Victoria can cross the Strait to Swartz Bay, about 30 km from downtown, or to Duke Point near Nanaimo and come south over the Malahat, about 110 km. Swartz Bay is closer. The Duke Point lane has more sailings a day. We choose per shipment, around the sailing and the receiving appointment.

Get a Rate(250) 729-9111

The request opens with the South Island as the destination.

South Island, shaded, with the way in from Swartz Bay or Duke Point. The ringed dot is Kattz, in Nanaimo. Zone lines are approximate: they group the places we deliver to, not municipal boundaries. Coastline: Natural Earth.

The way in

How freight reaches the South Island

By commercial barge: to Swartz Bay and then Highway 17 into Victoria, or to Duke Point and then Highway 1 south through Duncan and over the Malahat. None of the Swartz Bay routes into Greater Victoria cross the Malahat; the direct road from Duke Point does.

Source: Seaspan Ferries; BC MoTI / HDR (2022); road routes by OSRM on OpenStreetMap.

  1. 01Port pickupOne of the five Vancouver-area port facilities, inside the terminal's reservation window.
  2. 02The crossingThe commercial barge from Tilbury: 1–3 sailings a day to Swartz Bay and 3–5 to Duke Point in the Province's 2022 count. The trailer crosses without a tractor.
  3. 03Island terminalSwartz Bay, at the north end of the Saanich Peninsula, or Duke Point, south of Nanaimo. A Kattz tractor meets the trailer.
  4. 04The roadFrom Swartz Bay, Highway 17 to Sidney, Saanich and Victoria. From Duke Point, Highway 1 to Duncan and over the Malahat to Langford and Victoria; Highway 18 for Lake Cowichan, Highway 14 for Sooke.
  5. 05ReceiverDelivered to the appointment; the equipment goes back on a return sailing.

Road distances from the terminals

Road distances from the terminals
CommunityFrom Duke PointFrom Swartz Bay
Victoria110 km30 km
Saanich110 km30 km
Langford100 km40 km
Sidney125 km5 km
Sooke120 km60 km
Duncan50 km85 km
Lake Cowichan75 km115 km

Road distances: OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap data (© OpenStreetMap contributors), terminal to town centre, computed 2026-10-05 and rounded to the nearest 5 km. A truck's route can differ.

What is different about South Island deliveries

The Malahat is the main road in

Highway 1 over the Malahat is the main route in and out of Greater Victoria. Between 2009 and 2018 it closed in one or both directions about 40 times for more than half an hour and 7 times for more than four hours; the longest closure lasted about 21 hours.

Source: BC MoTI Malahat detour study (2019); BC Government news release, December 16, 2019.

There is no short way around it

When the Malahat closes, the province's alternatives are the Pacific Marine Circle Route through Port Renfrew and Lake Cowichan, about three and a half hours, or the Mill Bay ferry, which takes vehicles up to 40 feet and under 8,000 kg: no use to a tractor-trailer. A trailer that crosses to Swartz Bay for Greater Victoria never needs the Malahat.

Source: BC MoTI Malahat detour study (2019); BC Ferries, Mill Bay and Brentwood Bay terminal pages.

The terminal nearer Victoria is the smaller one

Seaspan's Swartz Bay terminal has one working berth; Duke Point has two. In the Province's 2022 count the Swartz Bay lane ran 1–3 barge sailings a day against 3–5 to Duke Point, so for Victoria the nearer terminal is not always the sooner delivery.

Source: Seaspan Ferries terminals page; BC MoTI / HDR (2022), Table 3.

The widest loads stop at Jordan River

Loads on Category C single-trip permits (wider than 3.8 m, up to 4.4 m, or combinations longer than 36 m) may not travel on Highway 14 west of Jordan River. A load that size for Port Renfrew, or anywhere else past Jordan River, needs a different plan before it leaves the terminal.

Source: BC CVSE1000 general permit conditions (April 2026).

Shrink-wrapped pallets of bagged product with orange date labels, loaded two abreast down the length of a dry van trailer
Bagged product, two pallets wide.

What we handle on the South Island

How we work, wherever the receiver is

  • Built around you.

    We start with how the shipment needs to arrive.

  • Early is on time.

    Receiving appointments are not suggestions.

  • Find the practical way.

    When freight gets complicated, experience takes over.

  • Watch the total cost.

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

Why Kattz

FAQ

South Island freight, answered

How does freight get to Victoria?

By commercial barge from the Mainland, either to Swartz Bay, about 30 km north of downtown Victoria by Highway 17, or to Duke Point near Nanaimo, about 110 km away by Highway 1 over the Malahat. A Kattz tractor meets the trailer at the terminal and delivers it to the receiver.

What happens to a Victoria delivery if the Malahat closes?

A trailer that crossed to Swartz Bay doesn't need the Malahat: none of its routes into Greater Victoria use it. Freight coming from Duke Point waits for the highway or goes around by the Pacific Marine Circle Route through Lake Cowichan and Port Renfrew, which the province puts at about three and a half hours. Closures long enough to set off that detour have come about once a year.

Do you deliver to Duncan and Lake Cowichan?

Yes. Both are in our South Island zone and both are closer to Duke Point than to Swartz Bay: Duncan is about 50 km from Duke Point by Highway 1, and Lake Cowichan about 75 km, by Highway 1 and Highway 18.

Other Island zones

How freight gets to Vancouver Island, and what the crossing costs

Sources

Get a rate

Have freight to move?

Going to Victoria, the Saanich Peninsula, the Westshore or the Cowichan Valley? Tell us where the receiver is and when they can take it.

Get a Rate(250) 729-9111

admin@kattzlogistics.com · Nanaimo, Vancouver Island