Industrial Grid

"Skids aren't anything new, Ernest," Hollen said as they spread drafting paper across the workbench at Plant One later that day. "Factories have used wooden skids to keep wet cast iron off muddy floors for decades."

"They use them for storage, not transport," Ernest said, sketching rapidly with a grease pencil. "And every carpenter makes them a different size. One is four feet wide, another is six, some have clearance underneath, and others sit flush with the cobbles."

He drew three identical timber platforms side by side, each built with solid runners underneath and uniform slats on top.

"If we standardize the platform dimensions across the entire freight line, two things happen," Ernest explained, tapping the paper. "First, our truck beds can be designed to fit an exact number of them without wasted floor space. Second, we can build a mechanical tool to lift and carry them."