Many of the shipments to the Walmart distribution centers consist of several pallets of product, not complete trailer loads. And even if the shipment might fill a rail car, rail freight is not responsive enough to satisfy most of Walmart’s needs. So most of the freight into Walmart is handled by truck.
One of my neighbors works in a super large warehouse that assembles loads for all the hard goods stores, no food products. He has trains, local manufacturers and assembly plants delivering to him. They assemble the loads for WalMart, Target, Cabellas, you name it. All done by a few rows of computers and hundreds of men and women, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
You know those boxes marked DELICATE, the handling they receiver in that warehouse is anything but delicate. It’s all in knowing how to ricochet the box off the wall to fill the trailer. LOL They stuff trailers full. They know what boxes on what pallets can withstand another pallet riding on top for 200, 400 or 600 miles and which can’t. Quite the place.