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of building materials have and sell them-as well as with the severe drop-off in trucks have been pulled off

That translates into more than 3,000 trucking firms going out of business in 2008 and more than 2'000 going under in 2009. Analyst Donald Broughton, Avondale Partners, predicts another 2000 trucking companies will close this year due to higher operating costs and lower demand.

And, as lumber distributors painfully discovered during this spring's uptick in business, fewer trucks mean more work to find a shipper and higher freight rates. Just imagine the hassles once the lumber industry finally does rebound.

The Merchanr asked several industry professionals for their insight on the current transportation challenges:

I,ONGER DEI,AYS

Jim Vandegrift, sales mgr., Bennett Lumber Products, Princeton, Id.

"No doubt trucking has become substantially more expensive and more difficult to procure. Our customers all arrange their own trucks, but what used to be a two- to three-day delay between release and pickup of an order now averages eight to 10 daYs."

D-I-Y: DRIVE IT YOURSELF

Bob Quickstad, Hills Products Group, Spearfish' S.D.

"We have had more difficulty hiring inbound and outbound trucks the last two years. In some areas we have had to run our own trucks round-trip to keep deliveries going."

TRANSPORTATION PROBI,EMS

Butch Bernhardt, Western Wood Products Association, Portland, Or.

"I've heard from some of our mills that getting trucks is more difficult now. There also have been a lot of centerbeam lumber rail cars that railroads parked when markets dropped that are slow to move back into service.

;We predicted that transporting lumber to market would be an issue once things pick back up. So far, shipments are &rlHingrRoductsom only up ll%o from last year, which was one of our lowest years for volume. And look at the transportation problems that rise caused. Once home construction activity comes back for real, it may uncover more problems like this."

MANY COMPI,AINTS

Dean Sturz, sales mgr., F.H. Stoltze Innd & Lumber Co., Columbia Falls, Mt.

"We don't control the trucking out of our facility, we sell FOB Mill. I have heard many complaints, though, from our customers on the subject, and we have seen that it takes longer for our customers to find trucks for their purchases at our mill because there are less trucks on the road to choose from. They have also mentioned that freight rates have increased, in some cases dramatically."

Rollercoaster Ride

Heidi Pierson, logistics assistant, Sun Mountain Lumber, Deer Lodge, Mt.

"Arranging the freight for outbound loads is my daily task. In the last three months, since I have started arranging trucking, the availability of haulers has been greatly reduced. Trucking companies andbrokers have gone from providing trucks in a day or two down to not being able to provide trucks for up to two weeks in some cases. One facior that is driving the shortage is diesel prices. This rise has caused truckers to demand more money per mile.

"Another factor is the destination of each load. We have had many loads going into the Dakotas and are finding it almost impossible to arrange freight into these states. I am told by miny truckers this is due to available materials and loads returning from there-pretty much nothing comes back this direction. Truckers would rather wait for another available load than take one into North and South Dakota, even though they are offered more money per load.

"Another trend was the lumber market took a long rise the past couple of months, driving demand up. We had buyers wanting large volumes of material due to the price they were receiving from consumers. This caused freight all over to be in large demand because buyers needed materials quickly before the market started to fall off. Now that the market has started to fall, I am seeing less demand for materials and freight. We have gone from arranging several trucks a week down to one, two at most-althoush I am still finding some of the shorter hauls hard to irranse freight for. Truckers are waiting to take longer hauls, cau-sing our cost to rise, as well.

"On the other side, I am receiving inquires from many smaller trucking companies looking for possible loads, telling me things have slowed down dramatically-but not enough to get truckers to loosen up and take loads. Hopefully, freight will free up somewhat, allowing mills to move materials they have sold cheaper and more quickly. All in all, it has been a rollercoaster ride in the freight world with so many ups and downs in recent weeks. It has been very difficult to predict freight availability and price from one day to the next with all the uncertainty."

No Regular Routes

Steve Ondich, operations mgr., Commercial Forest products, Fontana, Ca.

"Inconsistency in sales volume has caused erratic shipping schedules. Many truckers do not have regular routes anymore. We're doing more LTL work and using more carriers than we used to. If we had to rely on only a couple of haulers to move material, we would have a lot of disappointed customers."

You Need Partners

Terry Baker, sales mgr., Tri-Pro Cedar Products, Oldtown, Id.

"Our long-range transportation model works in times like these. We use only a few trucking firms, with whom we have set formulas, fuel rates, etc. We work hard to keep them busy in the slow times and they work hard to cover our needs when trucks are tight. If we have to go outside the circle of our normal truckers, then, yes, it's very difficult and expensive to get the loads covered."

Dealing With Thn Consequences

Steve Merchant,Inndstar Carrier Group, Birmingham, Al.

"The lumber business has for the most part been addicted to back-haul rates, heavy loads, and in many cases their shipments require 8-ft. tarps. Unless one has ever tarped a load in winter or summer conditions, I can tell you it is one of the worst parts of flatbed movements, and drivers will choose not to tarp and take different freight when they have the choice, as they do in current market conditions.

"Very few lumber mills have developed real relationships with those carriers that have capacity, because in the past few years the market collapsed for trucking companies. Customers were able to find trucks at mercenary rates, which the mills took advantage of. I'm not saying they shouldn't have done this, but as with any decision there is a