Bulk bags shipped to Kentucky

Who fills bulk bags in Kentucky

Bourbon starts as grain

Bourbon must be made from a mash that is more than half corn, with rye or wheat and malted barley making up the rest. The distilleries around Bardstown, Frankfort, Louisville and Lexington take most of that grain by the truckload. Smaller distilleries, and the maltsters and millers who supply them, move a share of it in bulk bags.

Distillery grain is a food ingredient, so the bags are new and food-grade, with a spout bottom sized to the grain hopper and a tie that closes cleanly. Malted barley is more fragile than corn and dusts more, so some buyers add a liner.

The spent grain left after distilling, called stillage, is fed to cattle. Most goes out wet and in bulk to nearby farms; dried distillers grains sometimes move in coated bags with a wide spout, and keep longer than the wet product.

Grain is bought around harvest and milled to the distiller's schedule. A small distillery with no silo usually orders milled grain per batch, which means a steady stream of bags rather than one big delivery, and that is worth planning as a standing order.

Rock dust for the coal mines

Kentucky has two coalfields, the Eastern field in the Appalachian counties and the Western field around Madisonville and Henderson. Underground mines there spread rock dust, finely ground limestone, over the walls, roof and floor so that coal dust cannot ignite. Mine safety rules require it.

Rock dust is delivered both in bulk and in bags. It is fine and floury, so bags need coated fabric and sift-proof seams. Many mines discharge it into dusting machines, which calls for a spout bottom; a mine with low seams may also need a shorter bag that fits under the roof and on its equipment.

Underground, bags are often moved by scoops and shuttle equipment rather than forklifts. Ask the mine whether it wants four loops, two loops or a single-point lift before you order.

Limestone quarries across central and western Kentucky supply the rock dust and the crushed stone for roads and concrete. Crushed stone and gravel are the loads where a used multi-trip bag can serve again after inspection.

The Bluegrass and the feed bin

The Bluegrass around Lexington is horse country, with breeding farms, training centers and the feed mills that supply them. Horse feed and supplements are high-value and closely specified, and the bags they arrive in are new and often lined. Owners notice dust, odor and moldy pellets quickly, so clean, dry storage matters.

Beef cattle graze across much of south-central and eastern Kentucky, and corn, soybeans, wheat and tobacco grow in the west and along the river bottoms. Feed and mineral for cattle, seed for spring and fertilizer for row crops round out the farm order.

Central Kentucky feed mills make textured sweet feed, pellets and supplements for horses. Sweet feed carries molasses and is sticky, so it empties best through a full-open bottom or a wide spout; pellets flow through a standard spout.

Bowling Green and the south-central counties toward Tennessee mix cattle, row crops and manufacturing, and are served off I-65 and the parkways that branch from it.

The Ohio River and the western end

The Ohio River forms Kentucky's whole northern border, from Ashland past Covington, Louisville, Owensboro and Henderson to Paducah. Barges on it carry coal, grain, aggregate, salt and chemicals, and the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers join it near Paducah and Smithland after passing Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley.

Calvert City, on the Tennessee River near Kentucky Dam, has a cluster of chemical plants, and Louisville has another along the river. Chemical powders need a static type chosen from the site's hazardous-area assessment; Type C only with the ground connected, and the relevant standard and bag maker's documents checked first.

The far western counties around Mayfield share the ball clay deposits of northwest Tennessee. Dried, ground ball clay goes in new coated or lined bags with sift-proof seams.

At the eastern tip, Ashland and Catlettsburg sit where the Big Sandy River meets the Ohio, with river terminals that load coal, aggregate and other bulk. Owensboro and Henderson in the west load grain onto barges headed downriver.

Highways, quotes and empties

Most bag freight arrives by truck, and these are the roads it uses. Northern Kentucky, across the river from Cincinnati, is a busy freight and air cargo area and a good split point for LTL into the eastern half of the state.

Ask for a quote with the product, SWL, safety factor, top, bottom, liner and the ZIP. We book empties pickups from distilleries, feed mills, mines and plants; multi-trip bags that pass inspection can be bought back, single-trip 5:1 bags go to recycling, and chemical bags are booked separately.

Mine bags that carried rock dust should be shaken out before pickup. Bags with coal fines or grease on them are for recycling only.

Winter in the eastern hollows can make narrow mine roads slick and steep. If a delivery climbs a switchback or crosses a low-water bridge, say so, and we will ask the carrier for a smaller truck.

• I-64: Louisville, Frankfort, Lexington, Ashland
• I-65: Louisville, Elizabethtown, Bowling Green, Nashville
• I-71: Louisville to Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati
• I-75: Covington, Lexington, Corbin, Knoxville
• I-24 and I-69: Paducah, Calvert City and the western coalfield