In the South, pulpwood is commonly known as short wood to the people in the business, especially with railroaders. The pulpwood industry was significant and vibrant throughout the South until recent years. I used to see car after car of these loads on lines such as the Illinois Central, the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio, and the Louisville and Nashville.

And very common, especially in small towns, were the trucks used to haul the short wood to the rail-side for loading. Virtually all were rather old and beat up, and no two were exactly alike. They were most often “home-made” adaptations, frequently on a truck that had it’s originally bed or box removed, and having been modified for the purpose of hauling wood.

In the spring of 1995, Ron Findley and I were making our way up north following the railroad tracks along Hwy. 51 from Hammond, Louisiana and up toward Mississippi. We spotted this hauler in Summit, Mississippi, just north of McComb. This tired and decrepit old machine is about the most pitiful of all I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen some pitiful examples!). These vehicles were almost always grossly overloaded with regard to weight. And this old fella appears to have a broken back.