At the end of 1991, Longshore s partner quit. Longshore Transportation, as it was then called, became Metal Transportation Systems in 1992. At that point the firm had 65 trucks of different makes, models and colors. Longshore wanted to focus on getting quality trucks for his fleet. He went with new Peterbilt trucks, deciding on teal green for the fleet s identity.
New trucks are easier than used.
The Alcan aluminum that Metal Transportation hauls comes in different forms and is shipped to Alcan customers and to other Alcan plants. Aluminum starts out as a solid block of metal called an ingot. The ingot is heated in a hot mill and rolled into sheets, which can then be rolled into coils. After the hot mill process, some aluminum also goes through a cold mill process. The cold mill process thins the metal out, for shipping to makers of beverage cans, for example.