How far does a 350 km service area actually reach?
Quick answer
A 350 km radius from the GTA covers essentially all of Southern Ontario. Westbound it reaches past London toward the Windsor border region; southbound it takes in the whole Niagara Peninsula and its border crossings; northbound it runs well past Barrie; eastbound it stretches beyond Kingston. Ottawa, by contrast, sits outside that range at roughly 450 km from Toronto — which is where transportation partners take over.
Numbers like “350 km” are easy to skim past on a coverage page, so it is worth pinning down what that radius actually contains. Measured from the GTA, 350 km of highway reaches nearly every business address in Southern Ontario — from the Windsor border region in the southwest to beyond Kingston in the east, and from Lake Erie up past Barrie. Here is the geography, with real example endpoints.
What 350 km means on the road
Think of 350 km as roughly three and a half to four hours of highway driving, one way, in normal conditions. That is the practical envelope for a direct regional run: a vehicle can leave the GTA, drive to the far edge of the radius, deliver, and return within a working day.
The measurement that matters is driving distance, not a circle on a map. Freight follows the 401, the 400, the 403 and the QEW, so two towns the same straight-line distance from Toronto can sit at quite different driving distances depending on how the highways run.
Example endpoints, with approximate distances
The table below uses well-known driving distances from the Toronto area, rounded — actual figures shift a little depending on which part of the GTA the run starts from.
| Destination | Approx. distance from Toronto | Inside a 350 km radius? |
|---|---|---|
| Hamilton | ~70 km | Yes — easily |
| Barrie | ~90 km | Yes — easily |
| Guelph | ~95 km | Yes — easily |
| Kitchener–Waterloo | ~110 km | Yes — easily |
| Niagara Falls | ~130 km | Yes — easily |
| London | ~190 km | Yes — comfortably |
| Kingston | ~260 km | Yes |
| Sarnia | ~290 km | Yes — nearing the edge |
| Windsor | ~340–370 km | Right at the edge |
| Ottawa | ~450 km | No |
| Sudbury | ~390 km | No |
Two things stand out. First, the entire Golden Horseshoe — Hamilton, Niagara, Guelph, Cambridge, Kitchener–Waterloo, Barrie — sits in the closest third of the radius. Second, the genuinely long runs, like Toronto to London, still land only a little past the halfway mark.
What sits inside the radius
Essentially all of Southern Ontario. From the GTA, 350 km reaches southwest past London toward the Windsor–Detroit border region, south through the Niagara Peninsula to the crossings at Fort Erie and Queenston, northwest across Grey and Bruce counties, north past Barrie into Simcoe County and the edge of cottage country, and east along the 401 beyond Kingston.
A radius is geography, not a service schedule — it tells you an address is reachable on a direct run, not that every carrier serves every road within it daily. Sonic Transport’s core lanes connect the GTA with Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, Markham, Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton, Niagara, Guelph, Cambridge, Kitchener–Waterloo, London and Barrie; the full list and how the lanes fit together is covered in which Southern Ontario cities are covered.
What sits outside — and how it still ships
Ottawa, Montreal, Northern Ontario and everything cross-border sit beyond a 350 km regional radius. That freight still moves; it just moves on a different model. Longer Canadian and cross-border shipments can be arranged through transportation partners — the coordination and the point of contact stay the same, while the linehaul leg is handled by a network built for the distance.
The dividing line is worth knowing when you plan: inside the radius, freight can go direct, door to door, often same-day; outside it, plan on a partner-arranged move with a longer transit window.
Why regional carriers draw the line around 350 km
The 350 km figure is not arbitrary — it is where the same-day math stops working. A direct run needs to fit an out-and-back within a driver’s working day, with time for loading and delivery at each end. Around 350 km one way, that day is fully spent. Beyond it, overnight linehaul networks are simply the better tool.
Inside the radius, though, the direct model is hard to beat: one vehicle, your freight only, no terminals or cross-docking between pickup and delivery. That is exactly what same-day direct service is built for, and it is why a well-placed base in the GTA can cover a region this large with a straight face.
Sonic Transport runs B2B freight across that whole radius from our base in Mississauga — minivans and Sprinters for smaller shipments, 26-foot box trucks with tailgates for skids and pallets. If your delivery is anywhere in Southern Ontario, or beyond it, request a quote and we will confirm the lane and put the right vehicle on it.
Related questions
Is a 350 km service area measured by road or in a straight line?
In practice, by road. Freight moves on highways, not as the crow flies, so carriers think in driving distance one way from their base area. How any individual carrier draws its exact boundary varies, which is why an address near the edge is worth confirming when you request a quote.
Is Ottawa within 350 km of the GTA?
No. Ottawa is roughly 450 km from Toronto by highway, well beyond a 350 km radius. Shipments to Ottawa and other long-haul Canadian destinations are typically arranged through transportation partners rather than run as direct regional freight.
What happens if my delivery is farther than 350 km?
The freight still moves — it just moves differently. Regional carriers like Sonic Transport arrange longer Canadian and cross-border shipments through transportation partners, so you keep one point of contact while the linehaul leg is handled by a partner network built for that distance.