Totem Lumber & Supply

Industrial & Wholesale Lumber supplies,, international shipping containers and hardware to more than 700 industrial manufacturing accounts from two huge facilities that measure more than 100, 000 sq. ft. Industrial & Wholesale Lumber is located in Schiller Park, Illinois, just east of O'Hare International Airport. Our convenient location affords the Industrial & Wholesale Lumber fleet of delivery trucks easy access to I-90, I-290 and I-294, the largest interchange of interstate highways in the state.Industrial & Wholesale Lumber is a privately owned wholesale lumberyard, crate and pallet manufacturing facility and hardware supply company dating back to the mid 19th century when it was called Reitz Lumber Company. At that time it was owned and operated by Mr. John Augustus Reitz, who was nicknamed "the Lumber Baron" for having milled more feet of hardwood lumber than any other mill in the country. In 1958, the struggling business was purchased and ultimately revived by a 28-year-old employee, John A. Kathrein, who moved the company to its current location and renamed it Industrial & Wholesale Lumber ( IWL ). From 1958 until his death in 1999, John A. Kathrein transformed the company from a hardwood milling operation into a world-class, industrial and commercial wholesale lumber supply company specializing in wooden crates and international shipping containers.Following his passing, he was succeeded by his son, John R. Kathrein, the current President & CEO. John R. credits the company's spectacular growth to a number of factors, including product availability, service and innovation, all of which allowed Industrial & Wholesale Lumber to take advantage of a marked increase in demand for low cost, reliable wooden shipping containers, pallets and boxes. Wood, despite a proliferation of other materials in recent years, remains the most practical and cost effective means of protecting industrial products from a wide variety of handling, storage and shipping conditions, as industry tests and shipping insurance records continue to illustrate. Over the years, Industrial & Wholesale Lumber's reputation has continued to grow as our advancements in engineering, design, fabrication and manufacturing have led to superior prefabricated, pre-assembled shipping containers that are faster to load and feature more reliable and more secure container closures. Industrial & Wholesale Lumber is also export certified and in compliance with International Plant Protection Convention ISPM-15 Guidelines for Regulating Wood Packaging Material in International Trade.All lumberyards and crate manufacturing operations are not alike. Industrial & Wholesale Lumber uses only coniferous woods that have been heat treated ( kiln dried ) to a minimum 56 degrees Celsius/133 degrees Fahrenheit core temperature. In addition, we feature only durable and highly reliable fasteners and Industrial & Wholesale Lumber-certified re-engineered manufacturing equipment. Industrial & Wholesale Lumber has the unique distinction of being one of the first wooden crate and pallet manufacturers in the country to be approved and licensed for "on location" issuance of the new "Heat Treated Certification" ( IPPC or ISPM15 ) stamp and accompanying export shipping documents. As a result of the new shipping standards, shipments utilizing wooden crates, boxes or pallets that have not been certified are barred from exiting or entering the country. ( To learn more about this subject, please go to the tab entitled Export Certified. )Since 1958, Industrial & Wholesale Lumber wooden shipping crates and pallets have been used in export shipments bound for nearly every country in the world. Industrial & Wholesale Lumber has planned, crafted and supplied everything from oversized shipping crates ( big enough to hold a tractor ) to those of the smallest dimensions imaginable, measuring only inches in size. Whether a customer needs several hundred containers a month or several do