Long distance delivery

UAWAIIAN TRADE sounds roJI mantic, but to the building product dealer trying to span nearly 2500 miles between the West Coast ports, his closest source for many building materials, and his Island customers, it is strictly business.

Seattle, Wa., Portland, Or., Oakland and Long Beach, Ca., are the principal departure points for mainland produced building materials headed for Hawaii. Lumber often sails from Coos Bay, Or., Eureka, Ca., and other lumber Producing ports in the Northwest.

Three companies share in the Hawaiian trade: Matson Navigation, the oldestin existence since 1882; Hawaiian Marine Lines, a CrowleY Co., and Sause Bros. Ocean Towing Co. Inc., whose barges specialize in lumber. All three regularly carrY building materials across the Pacific, often battling storms and high seas.

Matson specializes in container shipments while HML carries both palletized or platform shipments as well as 20 and 40 foot dry containers. Containers frequently are used to carry the more fragile materials such as windows. doors and cabinets. Lumber is carried both under cover and out on deck, depending uPon its packaging.

Companies making large shiP- ments normally make their own shipping arrangements and deliver materials to the dock. However, companies making small shipments often find it easier to use the services of freight consolidators or freight forwarders. These are companies which receive packaged materials from several companies and consolidate them in containers which they then ship. When the container arrives in Hawaii, the freight is broken up and distributed.

Cargo ships and barges usually dock at the Honolulu terminal, the main port on the island of Oahu. Inter-island barges are then used to carry the freight to the outer islands of Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Kauai.

The Pacific crossing takes about eight days, but most shippers calculate door to door delivery at two weeks. Matson has its own Sand Island Terminal in Honolulu and its own barge to the neighboring islands. The 300 ft. Islander can carry up to 155 containers. Other vessels use leased facilities at the Honolulu terminal and utilize local barge services such as Young Brothers.

Building product shippers often develop unique shipping techniques for their products. For example, Western Cabinet and Millwork,

Woodinville, Wa., ships cabinet components by container to a subassembly facility on Oahu, rather than ship completed cabinets. They do about $1.5 million volume annually, sending the finished product by barge to contractors and dealers on the other islands. Containers are loaded at the Woodinville Plant bY their employees and delivered to the Matson terminal in Seattle. When the containers arrive in Honolulu, they go directly to the assemblY plant.

Story at a Glance

How building mat6rials get to Hawaii special rcquirements for some shipments... "RG Ro" and container vessels and barges shuttle building Products and lumber from the mainland.

Ron Hillman, general manager at the Weyerhaeuser distribution center in Portland, Or., is responsible for Weyerhaeuser shipments to Hawaii. Lumber, plywood and metal products such as nails and fencing are their principal shipments. Mate- rial is sent in mixed loads by container every two weeks. Each order is identified and carries the name of the customer who is responsible for taking delivery at the terminal.

"The procedure is not much different from shipping materials to a customer l0 miles away," says Hillman. "lt's a service oriented business with the need to understand the customer's needs and then service them as required."

Fragile products such as windows require special packaging to assure their safety. They are frequently palletized and banded for ease in handling. Shipment is usually by container. Doors also require special packaging and handling. They are crated in plywood to withstand dam- age and moisture. Doors are normally shipped in containers.

Matson pioneered containerized cargo shipments in the Pacific in 1958, carrying them on a deckload basis. In 1959 they converted a freighter into an all-container ship and in 1960 they began service with the first all container ship in the Pacific. This vessel had a capacity for 436 24-ft. containers. "Ro-Ro" vessels as the roll-on, roll-off trailership ser- vice carriers are known began operating in 1973. The most recent innovation is a combination rgll-on, roll-off/lift-on, lift-off carrier which has the capacity of I,179 (24 ft. equivalents) containers and trailers.

Hawaiian Marine Lines uses combination house/container barges. The house provides covered cargo stowage with the deck space accommodating container and breakbulk cargo.