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PTI Forest
Products By Rail - History
PTI Forest Products by
Rail (PTI) was founded in 1996 by forest product
industry professionals while purchasing logs for
their newly founded company, which at that time was
manufacturing veneer for plywood plant customers.
While purchasing logs for the veneer plant, it
became apparent that there was a surplus of logs
available in Aberdeen, a shortage of logs in the
vicinity of Roseburg, OR, and low cost rail
transportation between the two. A group of 56
railcars were acquired from Crown Pacific Lumber
Company and logs were transported from Aberdeen,
WA, to Roseburg, OR. The demand for railcars for
this move quickly grew to over 100 cars and 4
steady customers.
In 1998, PTI
acquired a log loader and hired its first operator
to load cars in Hoquiam, WA. In order to expand its
business, PTI set up its own newsletter, purchased
timber, and started having annual conferences which
were always sold out with log buyers, sellers, and
transporters.
Additional log
sources developed and PTI set up contract source
log yards at New Westminster, BC, and Sumas,
Everett, Ferndale, and White Swan, WA. Additional
customers developed in Northern California, Eastern
Washington, and Northern Idaho. PTI cars were
transporting logs from Mexico to Oregon and New
Zealand logs from port to mill.
Imported
New Zealand Radiata Pine being loaded on
a
maximum height spine car at the Port of
Vancouver, Washington.
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In 2000, PTI set the bar for log railcars with the
acquisition of 50 plate F maximum height spine cars
carrying 100 net tons each. In 2002 a larger group
of standard height spine cars were added. Another
group was added in 2004.
In late 2002, PTI
was asked by the BNSF to provide the cars and
transload for the proposed timber sales resulting
from the giant Rodeo-Chediski forest fire in
Arizona. PTI negotiated the rail rates and provided
quotes to all of the bidders. Ultimately PTI was
contracted to mills in California. The scale of
this transportation project was unheard of,
requiring over 500 log rail cars and two log yards,
loading 60 car unit trains every 2 days. Equipment
for the log yards including 4 log shovels and 3 988
log loaders were relocated from Washington to
Arizona via railcars.
60
car unit train carrying Arizona fire
salvage logs to sawmills in
California
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The successful completion of the Arizona project
led to other salvage projects in southern
California and Colorado in 2004. After the projects
were completed, PTI set up company operated log
yards in Oroville and Conway, WA.
Later, PTI expanded
its service to include a full service truck to
boxcar transloading and transportation operation in
Hoquiam, WA.
Over time, most of
PTI's log customers changed from single mill users
whose needs often included locating logs,
transloading, car use and class 1 arrangements, to
large multi-plant operators and shortline railroads
who established their own sources and made their
own transportation arrangements and simply needed
access to maximum capacity log cars.
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