Lumber Industry Gets Together For Better lllqteriols Hondling

By Robert B. BROWN, Materials Handling Director, NRLDA

Most materials-handling methods used in the retail lumber industry are the result of "trial and error" development by a comparatively few dealers who have not been satisfied with the commonplace handling methods that only effected half of the possible modern-handling savings. Recently the whole lumber industry was asked to help perfect and prove the value of a handling method which might be classed as revolutionarv and which certainlv will have a far-reaching effect on tfre industry.

Through the combined efforts of Sterling Lumber Company, Chicago, Illinois; Boise-Payette Lumber Company, Emmitt, Idaho; Acme Steel Company, and a few others who believed that a better way to ship and unload lumber had to be developed, a method was developed of packaging and loading lumber in box cars in a way that would permit it to be unloaded by mechanical means. This was first shown publicly to the industry at NRLDA's annual Exposition in Chicago last December, and a great amount of interest was generated among retail lumber dealers as well as mill representatives, since it made possible great savings in time and labor.

Immediately after the Chicago Exposition, a few mills and retailers began trying out the methods that had proved successful and experimenting with different ideas aimed at improving the system. The results of most of this "isolated" experimenting was very good but there were mistakes and difficulties encountered which discouraged some mills and retail dealers.

The Materials Handling Committees of both NRLDA and the National Lumber Manufacturers Association held a joint meeting in Washington and recognized the tremendous savings inherent in shipping unitized lumber in boxcars for all segments of the industry. They agreed that a major effort should be made to coordinate all activities in this regard and to eqcourage further development.

Plans were made for a test shipping program in which all lumber mills and retail dealers would have an opportu- nity to cooperate in further development of this method.

fn response to a request from NRLDA and NLMA through their federated associations, M retail lumber dealers and 66 mills agreed to cooperate. Since this development would be of great value to the wholesalers, the National-American Wholesale Lumber Association polled their members and 30 have agreed to ship or receive packaged lumber in cooperation with the program. Additional retail lumber dealers, mills and wholesalers who desire to participate in the program will be added as it progresses.

A valuable contribution to the success of the program will be made by the strapping industry and some of the materials-handling equipment manufacturers. They have agreed to help individual mills and dealers with their initial cars and help them solve any problems that may arise in packaging, loading, or unloading the cars shipped under the program.

Retail dealers have been supplied a list of the cooperating mills and wholesalers. They will order unitized cars from this group through their regular sources. A report will be made by the shippers, and another by the receivers, on the