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December 18, 2002 1:30 PM, EST

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img src="/sites/default/files/images/articles/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>Every spring, Doug Lumry begins a search for trucks to haul railroad ties from one of six Kerr-McGee Chemical plants to job sites across the country.

Working from a list of 60 to 80 carriers, Lumry found it a bit harder this year to get enough carriers to haul the 1,600 or so shipments his company generates annually. As many as a dozen carriers on his checklist had gone out of business.

Two of the nation’s largest flatbed fleet operators — Intrenet Inc. and Trism Inc. — fell by the wayside in 2001. Intrenet was the parent of three flatbed specialists, including prominent steel hauler Eck Miller Transportation of Rockport, Ill., generating $245 million in revenue in 1999. Trism Specialized Carriers closed down after its debt-laden parent declared bankruptcy and was later sold.

For the full story, see the Dec. 16 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.