It’s all about the cost of delivery to distributors and manufacturers. Because lumber does not transport easily as it is bulky, heavy, and you are transporting a portion of what will be lost in manufacturing processes. Alder use creates an advantage, as it can ship up to 20,000BF on a regular flatbed, compared to Soft Maple or Poplar, where trucks can carry only about 72% and 80% of the Alder volume, respectively.  While freight rates are currently quite competitive, once markets improve, and trucking becomes more competitive again, the 15% or so decrease we have seen in rates is likely to disappear, making the Alder Advantage even more significant.   
 
As we have covered in this column, buying width sorts for targeted applications can minimize waste and lower the delivered costs of raw materials when making specifically sized items. Cascade has been delivering its market-leading width sort program to markets across North America since 2019. In fact, our Port Angeles facility, with its automated sorting and stacking machinery, now runs nearly exclusively on Alder width sorts in both Superior and Premium grades. Buyers have come to count on Cascade’s extensive width sorting program to help lower finished goods prices via yield and freight savings.  

The marketplace is also quickly moving to buy more S2S 13/16 and straight-line ripped or gang-ripped to-width products. Buying these products mill direct also brings with them freight savings as the same flatbed with 20,000BF of 15/16” random width Alder if S2S to 13/16” and straight line ripped on one edge can also carry up to 25,000BF of lumber, an additional 20%. On a normal $5500 freight haul, this can make a $55/mbf difference in the delivered price of the goods. If blanks are ripped and surfaced, the savings could be even more.   
 
We are excited to be entering the initial install phases for our upcoming surfacing and gang ripping/straight-line ripping line, which is due to be operational late in the second quarter of 2025. All the pieces are bought; we are just waiting on equipment to start heading our way. For those companies wanting to take advantage of only one of many advantages of using Alder, start getting us sizes and inquiries, as we will be busy from day one. We have bet ownership we can push the surfacing/rip line to two shifts by the end of the year; you can help make that happen as we help offset via freight savings some or all of your additional services cost by providing those services at our mill.