A Complete Guide to Shipping Wood and Lumber

About 86,000 U.S. single-family home authorizations were recorded in February 2024 alone. With so many homes being built every year, across every state, one has to wonder, how do we get all that lumber?

Moving wood is an important part of our country's industries. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to provide homes for so many families. 

If you’re a business interested in learning more about the lumber shipping industry, keep reading.

Different Methods of Shipping Wood

Wood is an important part of modern construction. It’s used for just about everything, and that means it needs to be moved all across the world. That being said, there are plenty of ways to transport lumber.

Shipping Lumber Overseas

Many wood types are imported from across the world. Exotic trees like ebony are found exclusively in tropical climates in Africa and Asia. That means these species need to be shipped overseas in order to reach important markets.

There are two options for shipping wood overseas: 

• By air
• By sea

Transporting wood via airplane is the most expensive method, though also the most efficient, and convenient. The high expenses associated with air freight might make it unusable for a lot of businesses. It also doesn’t fit well with other freight systems.

Large overseas lumber shipments will most likely use boats. The great thing about boats is the use of full container load services (FCL). If the shipper can fill an entire container, that container can be transported by boat and train.

Shipping Lumber By Train

One railcar can carry enough lumber to frame five and a half homes. With that level of efficiency, it’s no wonder that trains are integral to the lumber industry.

Even though trains are a reliable way to move construction supplies and equipment, they can’t make it to individual construction sites, and the loading and unloading processes can be difficult. Most shipments of wood from a train will need to be picked up by a truck in order to reach the final destination. 

Businesses that require a load that is smaller than a full truckload might find it difficult to efficiently move lumber via train. The passing of hands associated with less than truckload (LTL) will make the process more arduous than not. 

Shipping Lumber By FTL

The truth about moving lumber or raw wood is that it will require multiple carriers and different kinds of shipping methods. A full truckload (FTL) will make the process a bit easier. A full container can be put on a boat, train, or truck.

If you’re shipping enough lumber to fill a semi trailer, you’ll benefit from drivers being able to make it to construction sites as well as from the ease of transitioning from the different shipping methods.

Shipping Lumber By LTL

Sometimes businesses need lumber shipments that don’t fill an entire semi trailer. Less-than-load (LTL) shipments can be trickier to navigate in the construction industry. 

If you need to ship wood to a construction site, but you don’t have the volume to fill a truck you may find yourself in a pickle. That’s because most shipping companies prefer to move shipments at their fullest volume. You may need to wait for the truck to be filled with other shipments.

The best way to move LTL shipments of wood is hotshot trucking. Hotshots are specialized shippers that don’t need to wait for truckloads to be filled. Instead, they use their equipment to get goods to their delivery location as quickly as possible.

Open Road is a platform that connects businesses to hotshot drivers who are ready to move their goods at a moment's notice. If you’re looking for the most effective way to get lumber to your construction site, Open Road is the best way for you to do it.

Read more about how we can serve the lumber industry and construction industry. Ready to get started? Sign up today.

How is Lumber Shipped With a Truck?

No matter the distance your lumber needs to travel, your goods will likely need to be transported with a truck at some point. There are a lot of ways wood can be transported with a truck.

Truck Bed

For some projects, a truck bed is enough. Pickup trucks make it easier to get wood to more remote work sites.

You’d be surprised at how much a truck bed can hold. You can haul 16 ft lumber in a pickup, as long as you use a bed extension. Just make sure the weight of the wood doesn’t exceed the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of your truck, tie it down well, make sure to put a red flag on the back, and take it slow.

A truck bed can hold quite a bit of wood, but it can’t hold enough for most construction builds. A standard truck bed can fit about one and a half cords of wood.

Trailers

When hauling large quantities of wood, it’s ideal to use a utility trailer. This gives enough space to haul anywhere from 14,000 to 25,000 lbs of lumber. 

Trailers for hauling wood can come in many shapes and sizes. For casually hauling small logs or firewood, smaller trailers like carry-ons with walls along the side are the most used option.

Shipping logs for processing or sawing require special equipment. New log trailers are trailers without a bed but with fork-like attachments that are used to hold the round logs in place.

Larger shipments of lumber should be loaded onto a flatbed. Flatbeds are incredibly easy to load due to their open sides. They’re the most efficient way to move lumber and wood using a pickup truck.

Related Article: The Best Size Trailers for Hotshot Trucking

Typical Lumber Load Sizes

The size of a load of lumber will depend on the GVWR of the hotshot truck and what the wood is going to be used for. Another consideration is the weight of the wood itself. 

A 48’ flatbed truck can haul around 45,500-52,000 pounds of lumber. That’s around a fourth of a rail car, but that’s not the typical size of a hotshot load.

Hotshot drivers move smaller than full truck loads straight to construction sites or wherever they’re needed. Therefore, their average load sizes are going to be smaller. Hotshots are used when smaller loads need to be moved quickly.

What Affects the Cost of Shipping Lumber?

Shipping lumber and raw wood can be an expensive endeavor, especially if that wood is coming from overseas. Depending on your freight class and how much volume you’re trying to move, you might find yourself in a bind to find an option that’s right for you.

These are the things to consider when finding the cost of shipping wood.

Related Article: How to Determine LTL Freight Class

Convenience

Convenient ways to ship wood will cost more money than other forms of shipment. For example, air freight is a very convenient method for shipping, but the cost is very high. Compare what you need to what you can afford to make a good decision on choosing convenient or budget friendly shipping methods

Raw Wood vs Lumber

Lumber and raw wood have different considerations. Therefore, they have different costs associated with them.

Raw wood is often moved as logs and requires specialized equipment to move. That means it’s going to be a bit more expensive. However, most businesses looking to move raw logs have processing and saw mills nearby so they don’t need to worry too much about that additional cost.

Raw lumber are planks of wood that have yet to be treated. These are easier to transport because they don’t require special care like treated planks of lumber. Shipping raw lumber is cheaper than shipping treated lumber.

Treated lumber is finished planks of wood ready to be used. They’ve been treated and now require a bit more care, meaning the cost will be higher.

Type of Wood

The kind of wood you want to ship will change the cost. Common woods like poplar, alder, ash, white, oak, and maple will cost less than uncommon woods like mahogany, cherry, and walnut.

More expensive woods will have a higher shipping cost and heavier hardwoods will as well.

Market Fluctuation of Lumber

The cost of shipping wood changes based on market prices. 

Residential improvements have the largest market share of the lumber industry. Residential constructions, multi-family constructions, industrial production, and nonresidential share a large piece of the pie, but each of those categories is less than the 40% that residential improvements have of the market.

This explains the high cost of lumber during the COVID-19 pandemic. When people have more time to work on their homes, the price will increase. This also goes for construction booms.

Hardwood Logs vs Softwood Timber

Hardwood is typically transported as logs. This includes hardwoods for international shipping. That's partially because hardwood is purchased at a higher price than softwood. And If hardwood was shipped long distances as planks, it would be very susceptible to damage and therefore lose value.

Softwoods almost always get processed into timber or lumber before long-distance transportation. This means the logs have already been cut to size. Softwood timbers are shipped as bundles secured together using metal strapping bands. This makes them much easier to ship compared to logs as they can’t jostle around and they fit nicely onto trailers.

Softwood timbers are cheaper to ship than raw hardwood logs due to their inexpensive price and ease of shipping.

How to Ship Lumber Fast

The supply chain doesn’t always work with businesses. It’s frustrating to be so close to finishing a project only to be told your lumber will be there in three months. That’s not quick enough.

To ship wood fast and efficiently, ship with a hotshot driver. Hotshot drivers use their own vehicles to move goods for various industries in need of goods. 

Construction sites, large projects, and building projects in remote locations can benefit from the agility and timeliness of hotshot truckers.

Open Road Shipping

Tapping into the world of hotshot trucking can be confusing. However, Open Road Shipping makes finding the perfect hotshot trucker for your job easy. 

We prescreen and find truckers so you can rest easy knowing a professional is taking care of your precious goods. Start getting your lumber exactly when you need it by contacting Open Road.