When a truckload of feedstock arrives at the bioenergy plant, what happens? Does this material go directly into the plant as in a just-in-time processing model? Or, does it go into some type of at-plant storage? If it goes into at-plant storage, is there an efficient procedure for placing it into storage and retrieving it? All these questions relate directly to the cost of Receiving Facility operations, thus, when a bioenergy plant commissions a logistics system, it first specifies how it wants to receive material. Key questions for a receiving facility are:

1. Do I want each load to be the same size with the truck loaded the same way (i. e. are bales need to be in the same configuration)?

2. What are the hours of operation, and can I schedule approximately the same number of deliveries each hour of the workday?

3. What size at-plant storage must be maintained?

Design of a receiving facility is beyond the scope of this chapter; but, it is hoped that by posing these questions, the reader will begin to think about the constraints that a bioenergy may have when specifying a logistic system. Two criteria used in this example are:

1. Weigh and unload a truck in 10 min, and

2. Cost effective flow of material in-and-out of at-plant storage to support 24/7 operation.

Design of a logistics system is directly linked to the design of the receiving facility — neither is designed independent of the other.