In the May/June 2017 edition of My Take, Timber Harvesting magazine Executive Editor DK Knight discusses TH’s recent Trucking Survey and its results. Knight writes, “According to Timber Harvesting’s recently completed Trucking Survey, trucking has turned into a grand way of getting nowhere fast, especially if you happen to do business between Richmond and Houston. I encourage all subscribers who are involved in or connected with forest-related trucking in any way to absorb the findings, beginning on page 10. The survey drew 419 participants—10% of those logging business and trucking contractor owner/subscribers for whom we have e-mail addresses—and I personally want to thank each of them for taking the time to respond. While gratified with this response percentage, which was heavily dominated by the South, I was nonetheless displeased with limited input from other significant forest industry regions.”

Drax Plans Upgrades At Louisiana Pellets; Lawsuits Puts Owl Designation On Hold; New Plywood Mill Celebrates Opening; U.S. Commerce Says Canada Must Pay

Timber Harvesting magazine Executive Editor DK Knight reports on the results of TH’s 2017 Trucking Survey. Insurance issues, compensation rates, unloading delays, driver challenges and fleet expenses are having a heavy impact on the vital trucking component of the U.S. logging industry. Other significant burdens include management time demands, dwindling contract trucking availability and quality, weight restrictions on Interstate highways, state DOT enforcement, federal safety regulations, attitude of the motoring public, local regulations/requirements/restrictions and, to a lesser extent, Tier 4f engine emissions fallout. To one degree or another, all these factors are curbing productivity, blunting profit and elevating frustration and stress among truck owners, leading some observers to conclude the trucking side of the wood fiber supply chain is in serious trouble and others to suggest it could reach crisis level, particularly across the South.

Timber Harvesting magazine Associate Editor Jessica Johnson has the opportunity to visit the Knight family of Whigham, Georgia for the next in TH’s Forest Family Series. For the Knight family of southwestern Georgia, work is literally family and family is literally work. There is no separation, and that’s the way the friendly family likes it. Anchored in the tiny town of Whigham, population less than 500, brothers Johnny and Jason Knight, ages 44 and 42, respectively, own four businesses connected to the logging world: Knight Forestry, a full service equipment dealership carrying brands like Barko, Timber Pro, CSI and Trelan; Mid South Timber Co., a three-crew harvesting entity that also purchases stumpage; Knight Forestry Transport, a trucking entity; and Giant Tire Co., a retailer that sells everything from skidder to farm trailer tires. And while no one can argue that Johnny and Jason aren’t always running around doing something for one of these businesses, the brothers say it wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for the number of family members involved.

Elmia Wood 2017 gets underway June 7 near Jonkoping, Sweden and is live for four days, bringing together more than 500 exhibitors from 50 countries who interface with some 50,000 landowners, forest contractors, machine operators, forest administrators, students and the international trade press. The event is generally regarded as the world’s largest and top-rated forestry exposition, having historically showcased numerous innovations, particularly in cut-to-length technology. Most participants come from Europe but visitors also stream in from around the world, including the U.S., Canada, Russia, China, Poland, Brazil and elsewhere. Three new sections will be included in the exposition this year: Load & Transport, Drone Zone, and Hunting. The former will focus on the construction and maintenance of forest roads, log transport, and log handling.

Timber Harvesting magazine Senior Associate Editor David Abbott travels to Chester, Virginia to visit Williams Tree Harvesters LLC. For Hunter Williams, the youthful owner of Williams Tree Harvesters LLC, based in Chester, Va., the memory of his first childhood encounter with a logging crew is still fresh. His eyes light up and he flashes a big, exuberant grin when he speaks of it. “When I was a kid we had a piece of land behind where I grew up and they came and logged it,” Williams, now 29, recalls. He didn’t come from a logging family, so it wasn’t something he saw every day. His father worked for International Paper, but he was not a logger, so this was the first time the boy had actually seen a logging operation in action. He was mesmerized by it. “I sat there and watched how that job was done and ever since that it always fascinated me.” The memory is an important one for him.

Technology may have changed the way people do business today, but the overriding goal remains the same: be profitable. That’s why the smartest people in the timber industry are always looking for an edge, technological or otherwise. Thanks to the advent of rugged portable handhelds, jobs that used to be very time and labor intensive can now be done with drastically improved efficiency. For timber buyers, profitability is linked to using the best estimation tools available. Even a slight miscalculation can result in overpayment and large losses, so savvy buyers have turned to rugged PDAs equipped with GPS to improve the speed and accuracy of navigation, data collection and estimation. Dalton Smith, a buyer with Thomas Timber LLC in Magnolia, Ark., relies on the rugged Nautiz X8 handheld data collector, a product of the Handheld Group, along with a package of industry-specific software, to cruise timber stands faster and calculate bids more accurately.

There are a lot of moving parts involved in running any type of business, but this is especially true in logging. You make big investments in equipment and in training and retaining good operators. You carry insurance, incur big fuel bills, fork over a lot for repairs, may be involved in trucking, and sometimes may lose sleep at night trying to keep track of it all. Given all these moving parts, how can you keep accurate track of everything so you can run a profitable operation? To succeed you need well-maintained equipment, follow productive harvesting and hauling methods, and rely on competent, dedicated employees. But there is one not-so-obvious asset critical to financial success: a well-designed software system to track core business information such as job type and characteristics, compensation, load tickets and time sheets. A good software system is like a good business partner—you come to rely on it to tell you the unvarnished truth about how your business is doing and where you need to improve.

Timber Harvesting magazine contributor Wendy Farrand discusses ways to attract young people to logging. Farrand writes, “You are loggers, working in one of the world’s most dangerous professions to deliver forest products to the masses that they cannot live without. Everyone has the fruits of your labor in their homes and workplaces. You work from sunup to sunset in conditions that test your strength and endurance. Yet our industry still struggles with the same misunderstood perception of what it is you actually do. Some still believe you are conspiring with the devil to rape and pillage the landscape. You may not realize it, but you have a lot in common with the people who judge you, seeing that you and your doubters both love the forest! They just don't understand how deep your love is. For years the logging industry has dealt with the never-ending struggle of attracting youth to the woods.”

Nick Carter, Agency Manager at Forestry Mutual Insurance Company, discusses ways to keep trucking under control. Carter writes, “Not a day goes by that I do not receive a call about some company’s commercial auto premiums increasing. This cycle starts with the logger or log trucker who is experiencing the pain of his operating cost falling into negative territory. Comments I hear include: “I cannot find acceptable drivers,” “I cannot find reliable contractors,” or “My insurance costs are driving me out of business.” Timber is not purchased at $20/ton and sold to mills for $15/ton. It is simple math. Losses, lawsuits, medical and underinsured/uninsured motorist costs are pushing premiums out of control. Once a claim occurs these costs escalate very quickly and the insurance company has to pay. Commercial auto carriers are steering away from writing all types of truck insurance.”

Tidewater Equipment Co., celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, went all out for its customers and vendors in staging a memorable Demo Day near Quitman, Ga. on May 6. The ‘invitation only’ event attracted several hundred customers and family members from Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and the Carolinas, all of whom seemed to enjoy themselves. The convenient, picturesque mature pecan orchard and adjacent pine forest, made available by The Langdale Co., was complemented by cool breezes and a cloudless sky. Tigercat brought 26 machines to the party; Morbark brought five. Both showed what their products could do. Several vendors, among them CSI, R Squared Solutions, Rotobec, Pitts, Big John, Maxi Load Scales, and GCR Tire, had displays and personnel on site and provided door prizes. Tidewater sponsored a loader contest, giving away $1,000 in prize money—winners were Jonathan Dale Stinson, Jason Braddock and Buddy Lominick—and provided several

Bandit Coloring System; NeoBrake Brake Shoe; Caterpillar D Series FB; Heavy-Haul Planetary Axle