Backhauls key to paper rates

Backhaul cargoes have become crucial to rates for paper and lumber shipments, as revenue-hungry truckers and ocean carriers jostle for market share for these forest products. Rates for softwood lumber, for example, have been slashed to $30 per ton from $36 by a group of containerized carriers to attract more forest products cargo. Although forest products are not prime sources of revenue for carriers, they are sought after by them when they know that they will have to return from their main runs with no cargoes.