In the May/June 2014 edition of My Take, Chris Dixon, the outgoing Forestry Products Division Operations Manager for Ring Power Equipment, discusses strengthening the safety culture. Dixon writes, “Over the years I have worked with many professionals in different industries, including residential and heavy construction, oilfield, trucking, mining, rigging, maritime, logging, mill operations and heavy equipment. I have learned one very valuable lesson: as a business owner, co-worker, or employee, it is your responsibility to live and breathe safety at work, home and elsewhere. Accidents happen every day. These events, almost all of which can be prevented, occur because we as humans are “foulable.” We are not perfect and we don’t always think about safety before we act. We can all do more, especially in our daily operating arenas. It is time to strengthen the Safety Culture.”

Forest Industry Rallies Around Oso Victims; Former H-B Publisher Cline Remembered; Bioenergy Conference Focuses On Pellets; Loggers Converge On Capitol Hill; Future Logging Careers Act Introduced In U.S. House; Hatton-Brown Partners With ATPA For In-Woods Expo 2015; Scheff Logging/Trucking Honored In Minnesota

Timber Harvesting magazine Western Editor Dan Shell travels to Port Angeles, Washington to spend some time with Herman Brothers Logging & Construction/Evergreen Fibre. Evolving from a major regional logging contractor into a fiber production and handling operation, Hermann Bros. Logging & Construction plays a major role in chip and biomass output on the north side of the Olympic Peninsula. Since 1984, the company’s Evergreen Fibre subsidiary has held contracts to supply chips to several regional mills, including Port Townsend Paper and Nippon Industries. Under leadership of brothers Fred (President) and Bill (Treasurer) and Bill’s son Mike (Vice President) Hermann, the company operates a large log yard and chip mill operation and also contract operates a debarking line and small log export yard for Monroe LLC at the Port of Port Angeles. Hermann Bros. also tends to a set of chip bins at the Interfor sawmill in town, where Hermann trucks make sure the bins are regularly emptied.

(This article was written by Curt Bennink, Senior Field Editor for Equipment Today, where the article, lightly edited for Timber Harvesting magazine, was originally published.) A service truck is among the most useful tools in a logger’s arsenal, but it needs to be set up correctly to enhance productivity rather than hinder it. A common mistake is cutting corners to save on acquisition cost. “Many people under spec the engine horsepower. They may under spec the interior,” says Tim Davison, product manager, bodies and cranes, for Stellar Industries. “They think, ‘As long as it gets down the road to the next job, I’m okay.’ But when you pull maximum torque out of your engine day in and day out, that truck engine is not going to last as long.” And the mechanic probably won’t be happy with the truck. “If they don’t like the truck, they are not going to service it very well,” says Davison. “That is human nature.” When spec’ing the vehicle, start with the work that to be performed.

Iowa Mold Tooling Co.; LMC-AG Diesel Tanks; Jomac Ltd.; Maintainer Corp. Combo Trucks; Rayco RCT60 Field Service Truck; Reading Truck Body Cranemaster CM3200; Thunder Creek Equipment

Timber Harvesting magazine Senior Associate Editor David Abbott visits Anthony B. Andrews Logging, Inc. in Trenton, North Carolina. It isn’t that there are a few bumps in the road, it’s that life is just a bumpy road, according to a favorite sermon of Anthony Andrews, the owner of Anthony B. Andrews Logging, Inc., based in the eastern North Carolina community of Trenton, a few miles west of New Bern. It’s an idea close to his heart. As his company marked its 30th anniversary in March this year, the family at the controls celebrated overcoming challenges both in business and at home, never more difficult than those faced in the last year. From the start, 2013 brought with it mill quotas and ongoing high fuel costs, but that’s not what made Andrews call it the toughest year he’s ever faced. The deeply devout Christian family found its faith tested as matriarch Betty, Anthony’s wife and mother of their two sons, was diagnosed with breast cancer (see companion article). The experience caused them to reevaluate their priorities and put things in perspective.

Timber Harvesting magazine has a Q&A with Danny Dructor, Executive Vice President of the American Loggers Council. As Executive Vice President of the American Loggers Council, a position he has held since 2001, Danny Dructor directs the group on a day-to-day basis from his office in Hemphill, Tex. As well, he represents the ALC in Washington and elsewhere, often at trade shows and at annual meetings of the ALC member organizations and at sponsor events. A 1979 forestry graduate from Stephen F. Austin State University, Dructor worked in various capacities, including forester, assistant plant manager and procurement manager, for several companies in east Texas before venturing into logging in the late ‘80s. He shut his logging business down in 2001. He began his affiliation with the ALC in 1997 as the Texas Logging Council’s representative on the ALC Board and also served on the ALC Legislative Committee.

Ulterior Motive; Truck Stop Bumper Stickers; Animal Crackers; Confessional

Early 1960s Mulcher; Bentley, Zimmerman: Louisiana Lumbermen; 1940 Logging Scenes; A Mac Of Another Type

Exhibitors Pouring In For Mid-South Show; Terex Environmental Expands Dealer Network

This article, titled “The Mechanic’s Missing Thumb”, is supplied to Timber Harvesting magazine by Wendy Farrand, operating as WFarrand Consulting, a forest industry consultant who emphasizes the value of strengthening the people side of a logging business and the impact it has on safety, production, efficiency and professionalism. Farrand writes, “The most important PPE that you can provide for your crew is the protection of employee engagement. A disengaged employee is the most dangerous element on your job! Employee engagement does not happen by accident, and as a crew supervisor or contractor, if you are not thinking about employee engagement, you are not doing right by your crew. A couple of years ago when I was a Human Resources and Safety Manager, the company had a mechanic who had lost his thumb in an accident while working for a previous employer. Everyone knew the story of how he lost his thumb, but I was really interested in what led to the loss of the thumb.”

The ALC In Washington: Gaining Traction; NCFA Appoints Gibson As Executive Vice President; Changes Announced By NC Loggers’ Group; John Martin Remembered At May 4 Service In Virginia; SWPA Event To Include Logging/Outdoor Expo