Pallets in Spokane, WA. Delivered by the truckload.

Spokane is the freight crossroads of the Inland Northwest. Wheat and lentils roll in from the Palouse, I-90 ties Seattle to Montana, and BNSF and Union Pacific meet here, with transload track on the West Plains and a main yard in Spokane Valley.

Spokane grew as a rail and supply town between the mining districts of north Idaho and the farms to the south, and it still serves as the commercial center for eastern Washington, north Idaho and parts of British Columbia and Alberta. Wood and food processing, primary metals and fabrication, and electrical equipment lead local manufacturing, and economic developers court aerospace suppliers. South of the city, Palouse farms grow wheat, lentils and dry peas, and a large share of the region's wheat is sold to buyers in Asia.

Each of those flows wants a different pallet. Grain and pulse shippers that send bagged product overseas in containers need heat-treated wood. The aluminum rolling mill at Trentwood and fabricators around Spokane Valley ship coil, plate and parts that need block or custom bases. Grocery and retail warehouses run standard 48x40s, and plants in Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene, across the Idaho line, share the same I-90 freight lanes and draw on the same supply.