Good morning. My name is Sylvie, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Andlauer Healthcare Group 2023 third quarter results conference call. Note that all lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. Please be aware that certain information discussed today may be forward-looking in nature. Such forward-looking information reflects the company's current views with respect to future events. Any such information is subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. For more information on the risks, uncertainties, and assumptions relating to forward-looking information, please refer to the company's latest MD&A and Annual Information Form, which are available on SEDAR+. Management may also refer to certain non-IFRS financial measures. Although the company believes these measures provide useful supplemental information about financial performance, they are not recognized measures and do not have standardized meanings under IFRS. Please see the company's latest MD&A for additional information regarding non-IFRS financial measures, including for reconciliations to the nearest IFRS measures. Please note that unless otherwise stated, all references to any financial figures are in Canadian dollars. Following management's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. Note that this call is being recorded on November 3rd, 2023. I would now like to turn the conference over to Michael Andlauer. Please go ahead, sir. Thank you, Sylvie, and good day, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. With me on the call is Peter Bromley, Chief Financial Officer. Following my opening remarks, Peter will follow with a more detailed discussion on our financial results. I'll then provide closing comments, open the lines to the questions. Our results over the quarter continue to reflect a return of a more normalized operating environment as we no longer benefiting from the pandemic-related tailwinds we experienced throughout 2022, especially temporarily inflating U.S. truckload premiums and significant COVID vaccine-related contributions. COVID-19 related revenue declined to approximately 0.8% of consolidated revenue in Q3 this year, compared to approximately 2.8% a year ago. The rate premiums we were able to capture in U.S.-based ground transportation during 2022 were primarily due to related to equipment and driver shortages, which have now diminished. Our premium pricing in the U.S. is due to our validated temperature control, quality assurance, security audits. However, premium rates are impacted by macroeconomic factors and by movement in standard spot rates, which have been under downward pressure this year. We believe our U.S. ground transportation rates are stabilized now. However, we believe that we can still drive growth by strategically leveraging our core specialized competencies and focus more on certain customers and/or high-value products in our markets. We are revisiting our go-to-market strategies in the U.S. to drive improved performance moving forward. We have also been experiencing lower outbound order handling activities for our ATS Healthcare the past two quarters. We expect our LSU facility expansion in Montreal, which is currently scheduled for completion in December, to improve our logistics and distribution product line performance starting in 2024. Despite the lack of operating tailwind this year, our consolidated revenue for the first nine months is just 1% below the same period a year ago, and our EBITDA margins for the quarter and year to date remain within our historical range of 24.9%. Turn over the call to Peter Bromley to review our financial performance in more detail. Thank you, Michael, and good morning, everyone. Our consolidated revenue for the quarter totaled CAD 156.8 million, a decline of 4.9% from Q3 last year. Revenue for our healthcare logistics segment was CAD 42.1 million, down 12.3% from Q3 last year, reflecting a 9.9% year-on-year decrease in our logistics and distribution product line revenue, and a 31.2% decline in our packaging revenue. The decrease in logistics and distribution revenue was due to lower outbound order handling activities for Accuristix and reduced transportation billings impacted by fuel surcharge programs from carriers. The decrease is also partially attributable to CAD 2.3 million of revenue recognized in Q3 last year, related to certain passthrough expenses, which were reclassified to logistics and distribution revenue for LSU in accordance with IFRS 15 during the fourth quarter of last year. This net revenue treatment has been consistently applied throughout the current fiscal year. The decline in packaging revenue primarily reflects the loss of one of our packaging customers in the first quarter of this year, and lower volume from our remaining base of packaging customers compared to Q3 a year ago. Revenue in our specialized transportation segment totaled CAD 114.7 million, a decline of 1.9% compared with Q3 last year. The decline is attributable to a 1.4% decrease in ground transportation revenue and a 4.4% decline in air freight forwarding revenue. The decrease in ground transportation revenue in the quarter was primarily attributable to lower fuel costs passed on to customers as a component of pricing and a decline in U.S.-based truckload rates, as Michael discussed earlier. Our ground transportation revenue in our Canadian network, excluding fuel, partially offset this decline with growth of approximately 6% in the quarter....Our decline in airfreight forwarding revenue primarily reflects a decline in fuel surcharge revenue, partially offset by organic revenue growth. Our slight decrease in dedicated and last mile delivery product line revenue in the quarter reflects organic growth, partially offset by reduced fuel surcharge revenue. Cost of transportation and services was CAD 79.6 million, or 50.8% of revenue, compared with CAD 81 million, or 49.1% of revenue for Q3 last year. The decrease reflects lower fuel costs, in line with the decreases in revenue related to fuel prices. Slight increase in our operating ratio is attributable to the lower pricing in our U.S. truckload operations. Direct operating expenses were CAD 25.3 million, or 16.2% of revenue, compared with CAD 28.3 million, or 17.1% of revenue for Q3 a year ago. Direct operating expenses this quarter reflect a reduction in outbound volume in our Accuristix logistics and distribution operations. The decrease is also partially attributable to the recognition of certain pass-through expenses in Q3 last year, which have been reclassified to logistics and distribution revenue for LSU, as discussed previously. SG&A expenses were 8.2% of revenue for the quarter, which is in line with our expectations, and compares to 6.8% of revenue for Q3 a year ago. The increase reflects our investments in supporting our business growth. Operating income totaled CAD 21.7 million, compared to CAD 27.9 million for Q3 last year. The decrease is primarily attributable to reduced contributions from Boyle Transportation and Skelton USA, and the decline in revenue related to COVID-19 vaccines and ancillary products. Net income was CAD 15.3 million, or CAD 0.36 per share on a diluted basis, compared with CAD 19 million, or CAD 0.44 per share on a diluted basis in Q3 a year ago. EBITDA totaled CAD 39 million, compared with CAD 44.1 million for Q3 last year. The decrease in net income and EBITDA is due to the factors already discussed. Our 24.9% EBITDA margin for the quarter is in line with our historical range of 24%-26%, as Michael noted earlier, and compares to our margin of 26.7% in Q3 last year. If I look at our balance sheet, cash from operating activities has continued to build our discretionary cash position in 2023. During the quarter, we repaid CAD 25 million on our term facility. At quarter end, the amount outstanding under our credit facilities was CAD 25 million, and under the term facility and nil under our revolving credit facility. We've also been active in our normal course issuer bid, announced last March. As at quarter end, approximately 108,000 subordinate voting shares, for a total of approximately CAD 4.4 million, have been purchased and canceled. At quarter end, we had cash and cash equivalents of CAD 68.3 million and working capital of CAD 104.5 million. This compares to cash of CAD 66 million and working capital of CAD 85 million at 2022 year-end. We remain well-positioned financially to pursue growth opportunities. I'll now turn the call back to Michael for closing comments. Thanks, Peter. Looking ahead, we are confident that we can build off this new baseline in 2024, supported by the positive industry growth fundamentals that characterize the healthcare and transportation logistics markets, in particular in Canada and the U.S., and leverage our unique platform to outperform. This is evidenced by the actual growth we have experienced if you compare the Q3 of 2021 results to the Q3 2023. A 50% growth in revenue and 39% growth in EBITDA. In addition, our strong balance sheet positions us to generate incremental growth through complementary acquisitions. We have an attractive pipeline of potential targets in both the U.S. and in Canada. As we continue to expand our platform, we'll maintain our disciplined approach with respect to both financial and operating metrics, and our constant focus on better serving our customers and supporting our unique culture for employees. I'll now open the line to questions. Sylvie, you can start the Q&A. Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question at this time, please press star, followed by one on your touchtone phone. You will then hear a three-tone prompt acknowledging your request. If you would like to withdraw from the question queue, simply press star followed by two. Lastly, if you're using a speakerphone, please lift the handset before pressing any keys. Please go ahead and press star one now, if you do have a question. Your first question will be from Walter Spracklin at RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead. Yeah, thanks very much, Sylvie. Good morning, everyone. Just perhaps starting off on your comment about building off on a new baseline in 2024. I know 2024 saw kind of a wind down of some one-time or non-recurring benefits that you had seen during the pandemic period. And now that you're discussing a baseline in 2024, is it fair to view now you're returning from this point to a mid to high single-digit growth trajectory going forward? Or is there still something that you're seeing, either in the economy or related specifically to your business, that perhaps that resumption to that level of growth may take a little longer? Just curious your view there. Yeah. Good morning, Walter. I think with respect to the baseline, I mean, I think I tried to compare it to 2021, the similar quarters. I think you can see that it's evidence that 2022 was definitely an anomaly for us. There have been some findings. I think when I look at the Canadian market, I feel that it's still very robust and continues to grow at those predicted growth rates. The U.S. has been a little bit more of a learning experience for me on the truckload side since Skelton USA and Boyle. And those were unexpected. I think that's where the macroeconomic, you know, I think I mentioned last quarter that we were seeing, we were going into a trough, that was definitely evidenced in Q3 with our U.S. truckload companies. More so than I had anticipated. But it is the reality of that of the economy in the U.S. and the, you know, the truckload market in the U.S. I think I hadn't realized that it's more commoditized than I had anticipated, especially with the type of margins we would experience in 2022 with these U.S. truckload companies. So that actually leads to my second question. I mean, Peter mentioned Canadian ground transportation revenue, ex fuel, was up 6%, but your consolidated group was down 1%. That would imply that the U.S. business was actually very bad, unless there's something in there that I'm missing. Is that causing you all, at all, Michael, to reexamine your strategy going into the U.S.? I know that's been a focus in your prepared remarks. You said that that continues to be a focus, but you mentioned that structurally it is a lot different from your Canadian business. Is there opportunities that you could refocus into the Canadian market, or you still believe the U.S. market is a good growth area for you? Yeah, yes, you're absolutely right. Refocus is exactly what we do. We're very flexible. You know, discussed that with our board yesterday with respect to the U.S. market. And I, you know, when I look at the business on its own, you know, they're good truckload companies. I think that, you know, most truckload companies would admire the type of operating ratios that they're running at. You know, but, you know, in the teens, in the mid-teens. But you know, that's not specialized, that it might, you know, when we looked at that, we looked at it, you know, that because we were in the healthcare, we would make a difference. Now, on its own, it still runs well, but when we were talking, you know, at this time last year, they were, you know, they were in the low to mid-twenties. There's a big difference, and that, and a part of it was the education of trying to understand why. You know, the one area that, that stood out for me, Walter, was the fact that, you know, the FDA is not as stringent, particularly on ambient business, than they are, than Health Canada is. As there were more trucks on the road, more drivers and less other freight to be moved around, all of a sudden, the pricing became too attractive for some of these 3PL companies, or, you know, in particular on the consumer goods, healthcare consumer goods side, to say no to. We, you know, we try to keep a disciplined approach. So basically, changing our attack, our strategy in terms of type of product and not necessarily look at growth. So for, you know, for me, for the next couple of quarters, it's, you know, it's been about stabilizing. We're not gonna grow the fleet like we had anticipated. But that's all good. I mean, that's all... You know, I look at it. It's not, you know, no chance, no reason to press the panic button when I look at the truckload industry in the U.S. You know, they'll tell you that they're at the trough right now, and, you know, we're not gonna get—Our numbers aren't gonna get any worse going forward. The service is good. There's still a demand, but a lower tariff rates, and that's just the reality. But what it says to me is that it doesn't differentiate itself more than the other product lines that we have in the AHG suite of products. Yeah, appreciate that color, Michael. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next question will be from Kevin Chiang at CIBC. Please go ahead. Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my question. I think if I look across, at least in your disclosure, you know, Canadian ground transportation, air, last mile, all posted organic growth when you exclude the impact of fuel surcharges. Just trying to get a sense of when you look at that organic growth, if you're able to split out between what was, you know, what was pricing driven versus what was volume driven. Is this still primarily pricing-led organic growth, just given the broader softness in the economy, or are you getting a lift from both sides of that equation? I would suggest it's both sides of the equation. So I think when I just off the top of my head, our shipment count grew by mid-single digits. Our weight stayed status quo. So that's you know while the weight hasn't changed, you know our next product, the cosmetic, the vitamin business, you know everybody seems to be tightening their belts from a consumer spend. And so we've seen that you know that trend. But we've seen it particularly at Accuristix, the consumer goods part of the healthcare business. You know and that's big volume. Those are big, big, big shipments from a weight standpoint. But all in all, I mean, it's. You can see that it is robust and steady business, you know, going forward. So, obviously, the pricing discipline, you know, where we're making sure that our employees are properly paid, that we have the right equipment on the road, that we reinvest, that has to be, you know, passed on to a certain degree. Having said that, there's some pricing pressures that we did experience, and then in another case, in one particular case, particularly on a dedicated, you know, basically a concession for longer contract period, was an opportunity for us to work with one of our clients to ensure that they, you know, met their needs and ensure sustainability for AHG for long-term sustainability. That makes sense. I know it's a small part of your business, the packaging business, you know, that has been, you know, trending lower, and I know you lost a customer here. But just at a high level, you know, I would have thought this is, well, I guess it is an ancillary business tied to logistics and distribution. Presumably, that customer or customers still need packaging done. So maybe just some color in terms of what's happening there. Like, are they insourcing the packaging, and they're just sending you the product, so they don't no longer need that service, or would it get packaged somewhere else, but they're still using your warehousing facility? Just a little color in terms of what's happening there from a customer's perspective as they, as I guess, they look for another packaging solution. Yeah, the packaging solution is probably more co-packaging solutions that we- Mm-hmm. -that we offer in that area, and that's, you know, and I'll display in the healthcare sector, because, you know, with our... What I'm looking for validation with the GMP license- Mm-hmm. to co-package those type of products. That has slowed down. And the other thing, too, is that we hadn't put as much focus on that as I thought it was the least yielding business, and you know, focus on areas where we get better return for our investment, and it was more commoditized. So a combination of pricing, once again, on that side of the business. Mm-hmm. And I think, you know, retailers are not willing to spend as much, and therefore, manufacturer, you know, from a co-packaging standpoint, has reduced. It's not the actual packaging of the product, that we're not- Right. in that business, but kind of wish we were. But in this case, that's, that's, you know. That, too, we've hit a trough there. We— It can only go up from that point, but our customers— And that's particularly in the, Kevin, in the consumer goods part of the business. Right. And that's where we're seeing a bit of a slowdown there. Yeah, I figure it might be tied, maybe a little bit more consumer goods. And just last one for me, only because it's, it feels like you can't go by a week without hearing about this, but you know, GLP-1 or Ozempic consumption, I'm sure it's very small today, but you know, as you think of longer term, you know, there's some big numbers out there in terms of potential, I guess, societal consumption of this miracle weight loss drug. Is that something that is a small part of your business that you see growing, just or conversations you're having with the pharmaceutical companies that are looking to produce this GLP-1 drug? Is that a big opportunity that, or maybe a more sizable opportunity as you kind of look out the next few years? Yeah. Is it a big opportunity? I don't think—like, we don't get a percentage of the revenue in our business. You know, it's a drug like every like, like, I don't know, like Viagra, like, you know, what, other drugs. So if they get popular, yes, we'll get more volume. Certainly, there's a temperature control requirement on that, that it's, you know, being injectable and, and, and two to eight, there's more care, and there—we will have, you know, more volume from that standpoint. So, you know, Skelton, who does a lot of the two to eight, have been a beneficiary of this, and, and ATS, who, you know, whenever it's gone through the their Credo program, which manufacturer has subscribed to. But it's not, it's not material from a numbers perspective. You know, it's just stable business that we continue to get, but it's not. I wouldn't hang my hat on that. Okay. Been around my house because I've just gained back and lost too much. You and me both. You and me both, Michael. Thank you for taking my question, and have a great weekend. Thank you, Kevin. Thank you. Next question will be from Konark Gupta at Scotiabank. Please go ahead. Thanks, operator. Morning, everyone. Good morning, Konark. Morning. My, my first question is, on the U.S. revenue. So from the disclosures, it seems the U.S. revenue, in entirety was down about 11.5%, from last year in Q3. Can you help us break down that number, by pricing, volume, and fuel? Like, what drove the most, decline in that number, and was volume up or down? Was the volume down? The volume was down, but, yeah, I don't think the volume was down. I'm just looking to Peter here. Here's the reality, Konark. I said, you know what, we are both companies. So if you, you know, if you combine both companies, their EBITDA difference from Q3 of 2023 compared to Q3 of 2022, the difference is about CAD 4.4 million, difference, negative. That is probably 85% of the difference in our bottom line to overall AHG. That was the big surprise. You know, like I said, the FDA not being as stringent on temperature validation. Obviously, you know, the cost of equipment was greater, and obviously, we were growing and had to replace the equipment. There's a big maintenance CapEx in the truckload world that happens year-over-year. You know, driver wages didn't go down, but the rates did. And they were aggressive of, you know, manufacturers, 3PL companies, other decision makers were basically RFPing or being, you know, shown, you know, a 20% decreased rate. So they couldn't. They had to look at that. Because the FDA, when it particularly when it comes to ambient, they're not. They don't have inspectors out there. They don't have the policies or to ensure that there's validation on the equipment. Now, having said that, if you're, if you got, you know, frozen product, or, you know, more injectable product. So, when we talked about, you know, relooking at our business and pivoting, it's about looking at going forward, at a different quality of product, in the healthcare sector. More specialized, a little bit harder to do, because both of these companies are really good at what they do. The customers don't leave us because of service. They're leaving us, or choosing. And this is a spot rate business. So, to me, we're, you know, that's, that is the biggest reason for, you know, for the difference. We can grow that business tomorrow, but, you know, at basically normal truckload company rates, and I just don't want to be a normal truckload company. I'm in the healthcare sector for, you know, first, and there's sort of the healthcare sector that requires quality service and willing to pay for it. So we'll look at those clients. And I think what was happening is we got so excited with 2022 and the margins that we got because, you know, people weren't gonna mess around with vaccines. And there was a shortage of drivers and trucks, and we were able to provide that. So we were able to, I guess, price it in a way that was similar to what the pricing is in Canada. So that's a long and short on the USA. It's, it's a good learning. Like I said, it's not, it's not the end of the world because we're making good margins. You know, a mid-80 OR is not bad for a truckload company, but it's not, it's not the AHG, you know, way, I guess. That's, that's good color. Thanks, Michael. Perhaps on, on the Accuristix side, just want to kind of dig in a little bit more what's happening there. Like, revenue's been down organically, I guess, last two quarters. Volume seems to be soft. Is there any market share, shift dynamic there, you think, or is it more like customer volumes are coming down? Like, just, just trying to understand what, what's happening, behind the scenes in, in that aspect, and, and is there any outsourcing, opportunities that you are kind of working on? Yeah. On the logistics side, I think there's no doubt. The pharma side is good and steady. The generics, you know, keep on tightening their belts so that's, we're seeing a bit of a trend there, but particularly the consumer goods side of the healthcare, there's been a huge tightening and relooking, especially when you got these companies that, you know, they're looking at consolidating, you know, they're consolidating, they're buying, they're consolidating, and then they're looking for cost savings and efficiencies. But then even from a consumer standpoint, you know, they're not meeting nearly the same targets that they were themselves in 2022. So we're seeing a softening of the movement of goods, particularly on the consumer goods side of things. But still being used, cough and cold, you know, will. But I think, you know, vitamin side looks like it's down. So that becomes more a little bit more pressure on that. I'm not worried about that. You know, it's still a good business. It's long term. It's long-term contracts. And you know, from a cost standpoint, we've had the duplication of putting a new system in place, so the duplication of costs and the likes. But all in all, I think we're good. You know, we were also you know, we talk about 2022 being a you know with the vaccine and COVID-related products movement of COVID-related products, we also had we're the beneficiary of you know the baby formula shortage that happened last year. So, for example, and that was a big volume as well, for example. Perfect. No, that's great. Thanks. And the last one for me, just a kind of housekeeping. On the lease payments, seems like they have been declining sequentially over the past four quarters. I'm just curious, like, I think everybody's kind of talking about inflation and rate hikes, all that, and you're seeing the lease payments coming down. Just curious, are you consolidating any footprint or renegotiating any of those lease contracts? I'll let Peter answer the first part, and I'll answer your second part of your question. Yeah. So in our facility network, there's really been no change, and Michael will talk to that. The reduction in lease payments is really, it's just cycling through equipment leasing. So there's no real trend there. We've had some deferral just because of equipment shortages much of last year, that has kind of brought down our lease payments. But those will—those, that's just temporary. So we should be back to our sort of typical run rate of leasing, you know, in the next near future. It's really not—There's nothing systemic in there. That's more on the equipment side. Yes, on the equipment side. Yeah. On the real estate side of things, there's no doubt that there's you know, as every lease comes up, that those go up. And I think we'll have stability over the next couple of years. You know, we're pretty stable, certainly for the next couple of years. So we're not gonna see huge. But you know, we do have some of the transport facilities are getting raised. I know Ottawa, for example, next year is probably gonna go up by 40%. And like, but it's not as significant that it's gonna impact, but it will impact you know, but not too much. I think we'll absorb it. We'll be able to absorb it, and certainly with pricing disciplines as well. Perfect. That's great, guys. Thanks so much, guys. Appreciated the time. Thank you, Konark. Have a good weekend. Thank you. Next question will be from Ty Collin at Eight Capital. Please go ahead. Hey, guys. Thanks for taking the questions. For my first one, Michael, wondering if you could just maybe update us on the M&A pipeline, I guess particularly, in light of how the U.S. business has evolved. I know some of your comments earlier in the year seemed to indicate that the U.S. was the focus from an M&A perspective, and that you were, you know, not averse to even doing a larger size transaction. So I'm just wondering if that's still the case, and if so, what the pipeline is looking like. Yeah, we spent a lot of time yesterday at the board meeting with Graham's presentation. And a lot of the time was discussed on that on that subject. There is a lot in the pipeline. It's a matter of priorities and understanding, you know, and timing. On the U.S. side, you know, you know, we are trying to focus more on the logistics side of things, things that we can make a difference and bring our best practices to. Ambient temp transportation is definitely not, you know, where it's, it's a big component within our, within our AG network in Canada. We feel we will not be able to make any difference in the U.S. at this juncture until FDA changes their, the rules, or, or become more stringent, I guess. So, you know, on the logistics side, we're looking at opportunities. I'm excited about the opportunities because of not only our balance sheet, but also, you know, I think prices are starting to become a little bit more attractive in the marketplace as well. Expectations, I guess. So I'm looking at it, you know, we'll be methodical about it, but it's not about something being automatically accretive. You know, I wanna make sure it's sustainable long term. So for me, that's my focus. But that's where we're at. We're gonna continue. And then there's opportunities in Canada as well. I mean, I think it's, you know, being a healthcare services provider in this country, I think we'll be good. Thanks. Okay, great. Yeah, I appreciate that color. And for my follow-up, just wondering if you could provide maybe a little more color on the competitive environment in Canada on the logistics side. I think you mentioned earlier in the call that, you know, you're still seeing some pricing pressure there, and that's kinda consistent, I think, with what you said last quarter. So just what's sort of driving that? And would you say that the level of competition is sort of stable over the last few quarters, or is it getting more intense? I think it's... No, I think it's pretty stable, and I don't see, you know, I don't see our competition being aggressive on the logistics side of things. I think one of the areas that we have going for us, I think, with Konark, the previous caller, you know, talking about leases, is that we have stability on that front. And on the logistics side, you know, the second biggest cost is facility costs after employee costs and logistics. And that's, you know, any new contracts are gonna be, you know, dealt with new space, which would typically be more expensive space. We have stability there, and we wanna be focused on making sure that we have the right clients and long term. I think that's where we're good. Right now, we're going through a, you know, a system, a warehouse management system change, so we wanna make sure that's done right as well. So, everybody's, you know, focused on doing the right thing, and we're a patient company. We're, you know, we wanna do it the right way, and I always say our biggest competitor is bad service. So for me, that's how we're gonna keep on focusing on that front. That's from a Canadian perspective, as you asked, Ty. All right, great. Thanks for the comments, Michael. Thank you. Next question would be from Justin Keywood at Stifel. Please go ahead. Good morning. Thanks for taking my call, and I appreciate all the comments. Just to clarify, I understand the expectation to build off of 2023 into 2024. But just as we head into Q4, I know it's typically seasonally strong for Andlauer. Are we anticipated to see some of these headwinds that have showed up so far this year? Are they anticipated to ease where we have a normal comp quarter in Q4? I would suggest that's probably a good. We're starting to see the signs of it. At the end of Q3, we started to start seeing those signs. And like I said, previous callers, I said, at this juncture on our U.S. business, it's not, the margins aren't gonna get any worse from this point forward. I do admit it's been a bit of a surprise to me, but we are on our management meetings with the executives there. We're just relooking at—refocusing on the type of quality of product that we're looking at, and I think there's a bit of a pipeline there that's gonna allow us to be more focused on, you know, more frozen, two to eight than versus trying to get, you know, ambient business, or growing that business. So we're, y eah, like I said, we're—the Q4, I would anticipate would be starting to look a little bit more normal. If that's the right word. Okay, that's helpful. And then just on M&A and the timing of, you know, obviously, the balance sheet's ripe to deploy here. I heard there were some comments on the multiples being a bit more reasonable. Is now the time to be maybe a bit aggressive? Like, we were listening in on UPS's call last week, and you know, they were mentioning you know, plans to grow their healthcare business pretty aggressively in the U.S., including potentially cold chain assets. So, you know, that could still be a different area that Andlauer is potentially looking at. But just trying to understand the urgency for potential M&A. Urgency is, timing is everything, and there's no doubt that the timing is becoming more better and better. It's because of that, and we are focused on, y ou know, we are also focused on cold chain. You know, and that's, we're excited about it because we do a lot of it here in Canada. We represent a lot of these manufacturers. In Calgary, for Accuristix, we've just, you know, expanded, we didn't expand our warehouse, but within the warehouse, we've expanded the footprint of cold chain storage. So we're, I think we're extremely well positioned. You know, our growth in the U.S. is probably gonna be more on the logistics side of things, and there's plenty of business to go around. Great. Look forward to the developments. Thank you very much. Thanks. As a reminder, ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your touch-tone phone. Your next question will be from Tim James at TD Cowen. Please go ahead. Thanks very much. Good morning. My first question ties into the M&A theme, and I guess what I would like to try and get at is your thinking, Michael, on, you know, when you think about investment dollars and deploying investment dollars, what are the key metrics that you are looking at in terms of hurdle rates to make you move forward on a, whether it's an M&A transaction or some other investment? I mean, you know, one of the challenges, almost a good challenge you have, is that your returns in Canada, your margins are so strong. You know, can you duplicate that type of profitability and those returns with future M&A, or would you be prepared to accept the lower returns, but returns that may still be well above your cost of capital? If you could just kinda talk us through that mindset or that thinking as you review investment opportunities. Yeah, that, I mean, that Tim, that's exact, you know, that's exactly what we talk about is, you know, does it fit? And I think every acquisition we've had, we've had good return on capital, even as, you know, as we've had a bit of a slowdown in return on capital on the Boyle and Skelton USA business, it's still, you know, it's still a good return. But to me, it's about fit. I've always maintained that we're gonna go in there, which and fit, you know, what fits is from an employee culture standpoint, I think is critical because what we do is we don't make anything, we don't manufacture anything. We're every one of our businesses is people-oriented, and it's not cliché, it's a reality. So that has to, that has to be there, and then it has to be complementary to our business. And, and, you know, we have a great network in this country, in Canada, so there's a lot more we could do with that network, and on the healthcare side of things. And, you know, we can go from cold packaging to, you know, to transportation, to logistics, to other, other opportunities. And, and we are looking at ancillary products that help in the healthcare, that are non-manufacturing or, or, you know, retail or wholesale, you know, so that to me, that has to be that, that fit, that complements our other, other companies. In the U.S., we're just, you know, we're just delving into it. To me, it's, you know, it's a learning experience where, you know, we work with the three major wholesale distributors or are clients of ours. We're learning about what their needs, what they're looking at, what their focus their business on and for the future. And try to understand where we can, you know, we can. It's big, the U.S. is a huge market, and people always talk about, "Oh, my God, you know, it's 10 times bigger," et cetera, et cetera. The opportunities are there. Ultimately, you know, I also know that it's a long time, so we got to do it right. So it's about fit, and it means, you know, complementary and also making sure we find something else that makes a difference. And it may not, it may be it, you know, at a lower margin, but if it's sustainable, then our investors are gonna appreciate that. Okay. That's, that's great. That's helpful. My second question, you've been highlighting some belt-tightening going on at, at different customer groups, the TL kind of pricing pain that you're feeling in the U.S. and, and some other challenges. And yet you still had a, I mean, a 25% EBITDA margin in the quarter, which I realize was down slightly year-over-year. But, it's still a, a good result given all the sort of the challenges that, that you've been highlighting. How, how is the business able to maintain that margin in this environment, I guess, is the question? And maybe, you know, are there some offsets, some, some positive sort of factors that are allowing you to, to offset these challenges that maybe we just haven't touched on? Yeah, I mean, that's why I'm so optimistic. I mean, we're able to keep those margins, but that's good discipline. That's what it's all about. It's truly understanding what our customer's needs are and not trying to be everything to everybody, and just staying focused. You know, I've operated, Tim, this way since I started my ATS in 1991, and it's proven successful and will continue to be if we just stay disciplined. It's not, s o that's how we, you know, I mean, so you can imagine we do 24.9%, and then our U.S. margin significantly dropped. So it shows you how robust our Canadian business is. And the fact that they're working together, these businesses are working more and more together, so there's a lot of elimination of revenues that are matched. So, which is also a benefit when we go to our clients and offer a suite of services as a package, and speak their language versus just being a commodity, you know. So that's. We want to be a solutions provider. We want to make a difference for these customers, and that's why we've been rewarded with these type of margins. Okay, great. Thank you very much, Michael. Thanks, Tim. Thank you. At this time, gentlemen, we have no other questions registered. Please proceed with additional comments. No, as I alluded to, I think we've hit, we're back to normal again, and I think, you know, we're focusing on continuing to grow the business in the right way. Very optimistic about 2024. Thank you for support. Thank you for taking the time to be with us today. Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, this does indeed conclude your conference call for today. Once again, thank you for attending, and at this time, we ask that you please disconnect your lines. Have a good weekend.