WTFreight: Parcels, Trains, and Trucks

There are a lot of ways to move plants across the country and internationally and each of them have unique costs, benefits, and potential risks. Familiarity with the factors of these options will make all the difference when trying to solve a customer’s problem and get them the plants that they need.

Parcel

Shipping a box with plants in it is the single most expensive way to ship plants and is a “Break glass in case of emergency” sort of option.  When you need it, there is no replacement for this option. 

I recall when an Amish customer of mine approached me at a trade show to see if he could send 20 tiny bareroot apple trees to his friend who had a ministry in Manitoba, Canada.  I had no other material going that direction and the receiving party didn’t even have the required import permit.  It would be a tight spot except for parcel shipping and a few great relationships in the industry. 

After doing all the normal steps for a Canadian shipment, we sent the trees by FedEx to a wonderful customer of mine in Ontario.  He had the trees inspected so they could be shipped across provinces.  After inspection, I sent him another label to forward the trees on to Manitoba.  The trees arrived at the ministry in good condition, and they were able to plant an orchard.  Shipping was a complicated process but the whole thing worked, and it was fun to flex for a good cause.

LTL (Less than Truckload)

               LTL is typically best reserved for palletized shipments as you can’t control what other materials are in front of and behind the plants on the truck.  I once shipped by LTL and had a vehicle in the nose of the truck.  Another time, I had pieces of a sailing ship in front of us.  It is a little tricky and expensive.  The nice thing is that it functions similarly to Parcel service except can handle pallet sized quantities. 

                There are two things to be careful with when shipping LTL.  First, it is generally not climate controlled, so you have to be careful about what time of year you use this service or just be willing to accept the results.  I’ve shipped LTL in the summer, and it worked fine but it was only three days transit, and we shipped tough plants like Juniper that didn’t mind getting hot and dry. 

               The second thing to be aware of when shipping LTL is that most services like FERN will not permit you to ship live plants.  FERN once picked up my pallet of plants for a trade show then brought them back from their shipping hub when they realized it was live plants.  They were good sports about it.  The silliest thing I’ve done was to board up a pallet with pressed board so it just looked like a box and nobody could tell there were plants inside.  That worked like a charm, although I was shipping in January.  Again, it was dormant shipping in winter so there was no risk.  If something happened to the load, you have to know that it’s a complete loss and the shipper is not liable for any damage or loss.

               I recently had expended every other option to get material to a trade show, so we shipped our pallet LTL.  It cost about $1000, which is exorbitant compared to other methods of shipping but beats the opportunity costs of attending a trade show without goods to display.  We made strong sales so it was worth it and we were grateful for the opportunity to use LTL. 

Railcar

               The standard Railcar method is super popular during the late winter months when shipping from Oregon to the Midwest and East Coast, in particular.  Shipping by rail is significantly less expensive by shipping by a semitruck because you’re not paying for the driver.  It can be 20-30% less expensive, depending on the year but it’s not without risk.

Railcars are not climate controlled or insulated so I always advise lining the walls with cardboard so that the freezing cold metal doesn’t cause cold damage to the plants that lean against the walls.  The receiver typically covers the cost of that cardboard.  One other potential cost is that there are typically loading time restrictions, so you only have 2-3 hours to load a railcar before accruing detention fees. This depends on the broker.  

Transit times can be as much as 7-10 days when crossing the country because the railcar has to get through the terminal in Chicago.  Potential delays mixed with the lack of climate control present added risks.  When shipping by railcar, I always make sure to let the customer make the decision and accept the risk if they want to claim the extra savings.  Although I prefer other methods, I have actually always had good experiences when shipping by rail.  It has worked out well each time and the customers seem to enjoy the savings.  

Intermodal Railcar

               Intermodal Railcar is an insulated railcar with a reefer unit installed so the whole trip is climate controlled.  This is mode of transportation was traditionally intended for food products and has only recently been made available to nursery stock because of the dirty nature of the products.  Intermodal tends to be about 10-15% less expensive than over the road trucks and my understanding is that it comes with insurance to covers live goods. 

               The transit times are the same for Intermodal and standard railcar.  There is no need for cardboard since Intermodal is insulated and the climate control saves the risk.  The main drawback for Intermodal is the load times and detention fees that may quickly eat into your savings.  The other unique factor that can be somewhat limiting is the lack of flexibility for pickups or deliveries.  They can handle it but there is a cost.  Any delays or issues in loading or unloading can be costly as well. 

               For these reasons, Intermodal is not my preferred method for shipping.  I would probably only suggest using it for simple runs that are one pick/ one drop and load quickly.  If typically load with racks or are just very fast in loading and ship truckload quantities, this might be a safe way to save extra money. 

Flatbed (Over the Road)

               Shipping OTR with a Flatbed trailer is the preferred method for B&B tree growers because they are very easy to efficiently load the big, heavy trees.  There really isn’t a great way to load heavy, large caliper trees in railcars and enclosed semitrucks because they can only be loaded from the back so the whole process is labor intensive, slow, and a little dangerous.  Loading big B&B trees in a reefer is also a very inefficient use of space so freight will be higher. 

               Because my experience is mostly in the container grown shrub and tree world, I have a very limited understanding of flatbed shipping.  I believe flatbed pricing is pretty sharp.  The main concerns are cargo securement and the use of a breathable tarp system to protect the trees as they’re being transported across the country.  That much wind can wreak havoc on a tree without effective protection. 

               This process works great for B&B, hardgoods like stone, and other materials.  I would stay away from using flatbed trucks for shrubs because you can stack so high on other methods and really maximize the freight dollars.    

Dry Van (Over the Road)

               Shipping OTR with a vented Dry Van can be a great cost savings during certain times of the year when plants are dormant or weather is mild.  You can save upwards of 10% when compared to shipping by Reefer.  The loading efficiencies are great and you can actually fit more on a truck because it does not have the weight of the reefer unit as part of its GVW.  With a reefer unit, you will want to stay near 40,000 lbs.  For a dry van, you can typically get as high as 44,000 lbs.  If you’re shipping a load of #1 size shrubs which typically weigh about 4lbs, you could fit nearly 1000 more shrubs on a dry van.  Less freight, more sales. 

I mentioned “vented” before because you do want that air circulation.  I would also say that you do not want fiberglass tops on the trailer.  I have only seen one or two fiberglass tops in my career so my assumption is that they are uncommon.  If you have a broker who specializes in transportation of nursery stock, they’ll likely only use vented dry vans. 

               I’d be willing to use a Dry Van anytime from late fall to early spring.  Just make sure to check the weather reports across the country before scheduling the truck.  You don’t want to get stuck in Wyoming when a blizzard shuts down the highway and you don’t want to spend a few days driving through a warm front.  Low night temps make this less problematic.  Using team drivers can dramatically reduce risk because the drivers take turns and can cut the transit time in half. 

I have to say, I’ve never experienced an issue using dry vans.  I typically only offer them if a customer requests or if they’re overly concerned about freight costs.  At that point, similarly to how I work with railcars, it’s their risk and their reward.  Like I said, I haven’t seen it go wrong yet. 

Reefer (Over the Road)

               Shipping OTR with a Reefer trailer is my personal favorite method.  It has the short transit times of OTR, with an option to use teams to even shorten it further.  It has the safety and security of a reefer unit as well.  This is great if the truck hits weather, breaks down, or gets in an accident.  I’ve experienced all three of these issues and was grateful for the reefer unit maintaining the climate while we worked on a solution. 

               Cost on Reefers vary during the year.  From the west coast heading east, the peak seasons are April-June for nursery shipping season, fall when the apple harvests kick off through the leadup to Christmas as the Christmas Tree farmers use a ton of trucking capacity in a short window.  This is why I prefer to use several trucking brokers to make sure I’m following market trends and bringing the best value to my customers.

               Another benefit of shipping by Reefer is that there is a lot of flexibility for complex loads.  I’ve had a three pick, five drop truck before and everything worked out well, although the additional miles and stops did add to the cost of the truck.  Shipping combination loads is a massive boon to customers because it enables them to order for just in time delivery.  I can think of no better way to maintain product availability in your customers’ sales yards throughout the summer than shipping by a reefer.

Closing

It's important to know what tools are at your disposal. You may use all of these, choosing to ship in by parcels, trains, and trucks. The point is, to choose the method which best fits your needs. And your needs may vary, like that wild story about shipping a parcel to Manitoba through Ontario. Having the right tools will let you accomplish incredible feats.