About Us

A considerable amount of what we do is done in Canada. We take chips to Skookumchuck and we have 6 – 7 mills in Canada that we haul out of and bring the material back to MDF. We have a sister company in Canada called Glen Transport who we work with to provide service to these mills. We deal with the MDF at Columbia Falls more than with any other mill we do business with. We haul out of all of the local Plum Creek mills, Ksanka, Columbia Falls, Evergreen, Pablo, plus we haul out of the Stimpson mill in Priest River ID. At this time all of our work is shift work, meaning you always return to the shop at the end of your work day. We have several different trailer combinations that we use depending on the job being done. We have A-Trains, B-Trains, 53’ trailers and Livebottoms. Several of our A-Trains are configured for hauling Resin These trailers bring chips to Smurfit Stone then go to Hexion which is next door to Roseburg in Missoula. The rubber bladder that is inside the trailer is then loaded with resin which we either deliver to the MDF or to one of two Plum Creek Plywood plants. Our drivers are required to wear hard hats, orange reflective vests, and safety glasses in every mill they go into Hanson Trucking will supply drivers with these safety items. Our Canadian drivers are also required to have steel toe boots in any Tembec mill that we service. Hanson Trucking will pay half of any boot purchases for fulfilling this requirement up to $75. Any new employee’s that purchase boots will be reimbursed this amount after completing their first year of employment.

Hanson Trucking, Inc. increased the size of their business when they bought out Missoula Cartage Co., Inc. and began operations out of the Missoula terminal on August 1, 2006. This was a good fit for Hanson Trucking as the two businesses were virtually identical in form and function.

Mr. Waldo Williams started Missoula Cartage Co. when he obtained the bid to haul wood chips to the fledgling Waldorf pulp mill near Frenchtown in 1957. Since that beginning, the pulp mill has changed names about five times to the present Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. However, Missoula Cartage had stayed under the ownership of the Williams family for 49 years until the sale to Hanson Trucking.

The company continued to grow steadily through the >60s and >70s and reached its peak in employees and trucks in the early >80s. Throughout those years, the Williams family sought to find innovative and efficient practices to increase safety, efficiency, and a competitive edge to match the growth of their business. Their trucks and trailers were among the first in the area to utilize roll tarps, pusher and tag axles, and Rocky Mountain Doubles.

From the beginning, the company had a dedication to safety. One of the first positions Waldo filled on his management team was a safety supervisor and like everything else with the company, that department had grown as well. As a result, the company had enjoyed the rewards of being a safe company and the awards for being recognized as such. Hanson Trucking, Inc. has the same dedication to safety and now is able to increase that dedication with the combined efforts of the north and south terminals.

The Missoula facility complements Hanson Trucking’s operation of hauling wood by-products to and from mills in Western Montana, Northern Idaho, and Eastern Washington by bringing more drivers, equipment, and diverse hauling options to the company. These include hauling mulch, compost, and beauty bark to landscape operations, mining reclamation sites, and retail outlets. This is accomplished with the use of self-unloading livebottom trailers. They also haul from in-woods chippers which grind up the residuals from logging operations and utilize them as a useful source of energy instead of burning in a slash pile or rotting on the ground.

Having coordinated operations in both Columbia Falls and Missoula, allows Hanson Trucking, Inc. to have the logistics of manpower, equipment, and area coverage to meet the ever-changing needs of their customers in an efficient, timely, and safe manner; now and well into the future.