full-seruice providers

IXJHAT is a successful full-service lumber transportaV V tion provider? What distinguishes it from a typical lumber reload?

Obviously, significant amounts of lumber are produced in remote regions of Canada and the U.S. Traditionally, mills are located close to timber supply. If the mill is not served directly by rail, production must be trucked to a rail head to ship to the marketplace. This is needed because lumber transportation is still cheapest by rail, particularly in specially designed "centerbeam" railcars or flatcars.

Basically, a reload unloads a truck and then reloads the lumber onto a railcar. This type of operation is typically called an "origin" reload. Once the railcar completes its journey, it is unloaded at a "destination" reload, where it then completes its journey to the customer by truck.

A reload may be little more than an unpaved yard accessed by a road and rail spur, manned by a small crew operating a couple of forklifts. Usually, these reloads operate on a fee-for-service basis charging per MFBM loaded or unloaded. They satisfy producers and buyers who arrange their own truck transport to the reload, negotiate with rail lines for rates and car supply, prepare their own documentation, time the market appropriately, and anange for addi-