Vaughan is shaped by highways and by rail. Two large rail freight operations sit inside city limits, but they are not the same kind of facility. Mixing them up leads to wrong assumptions about truck traffic, gate cycles and where fleets are actually based.
MacMillan Yard is Canadian National Railway's main GTA-area classification facility in the Concord area of Vaughan. Transportation Safety Board reports describe it as CN's main classification yard in Eastern Canada, where traffic is distributed by flat switching or humping. The City of Vaughan has referred to it as CN's second-largest classification yard. A Transportation Safety Board report stated that MacMillan Yard could process up to one million rail cars annually — that figure comes from investigation reporting (for example TSB R16T0111), not a 2026 operational press release.
The CPKC Vaughan Intermodal Terminal is located in west Vaughan between Rutherford Road and Major Mackenzie Drive, near Huntington Road and Highway 50 — not at the Highway 400/407 interchange. It is a container transfer facility and is commonly identified as CPKC's largest intermodal terminal in Canada. CPKC's broader intermodal network includes connections with major ports and interchange partners; that network context should not be confused with undocumented claims about specific gate systems, chassis pools or daily dual-terminal routing for every Vaughan carrier.
CPKC Vaughan Intermodal generates substantial rail-to-truck container activity. MacMillan Yard primarily supports rail classification, switching, repair and related freight operations. Commercial vehicles working around the two facilities may therefore have different routes, site-access requirements and duty cycles. Do not describe MacMillan as a container-stack drayage terminal equivalent to CPKC Vaughan.
Vaughan's logistics sector benefits from access to Highways 427, 400, and 407 and sits near Toronto Pearson International Airport. The City of Vaughan presents the city as one of Ontario's major transportation hubs. Exact fleet location choices still vary by operator.
Heavy-duty diesel commercial vehicles with RGW over 4,500 kg still follow Ontario DriveON ownership-transfer and plate-renewal triggers regardless of which rail facility they serve. An authorized mobile DriveON facility and registered DriveON technician can inspect prepared units at an eligible fleet yard when safe access and suitable testing conditions are available. An off-site inspection may add travel, driver and waiting time depending on location and appointment availability.
Related guides: CPKC Vaughan vs. CN MacMillan and Concord / Hwy 400–407 fleets. Schedule through Piotr Service.
