Southwest Forest Products Transportation, Inc.

steve van der toorn, an american veteran, began his career as the military chauffer for the pentagon. after completing his military service, he became an owner operator running cross country team. at the age of 34, steve relocated to arizona with a goal to work locally and spend quality time with his family. when local driving did not provide the income to support his family, steve embarked upon an opportunity for additional income by repairing abandoned pallets from his customers’ yards in his garage. in 1984, by crafting broken wood into a marketable commodity, steve transitioned his garage repair business and opened his company as a used pallet repairer and quickly ventured into custom new pallets and crates. in 1995, the lumber crisis put steve’s company in jeopardy. vowing to never allow anything to hinder his business, steve employed his tremendous entrepreneurial spirit to re-ignite the arizona logging industry and support the health of the northern arizona forest through t