Article by David Abbott
Senior Associate Editor
Mid Star Timber Harvesting, Inc. is a large, diversified and fast-growing conglomerate based near Toxey, Ala. It now includes seven harvesting crews, a road crew and two trucking entities—Mid Star Wood Haulers and Mid Star Express, which moves various products over-the-road. Mitchell and Wanda Presley started the company in 1999.
Seven crews can cut a lot of wood, but it’s all for naught if you can’t transport it. Mid Star Wood Haulers (MSWH) involves 33 trucks—26 company-owned and seven contractor-owned. The logistics could be daunting, but the management team approaches every challenge with a well researched, well-thought out plan.
It all starts with the driver, but finding and keeping good, conscientious ones can be tricky. When screening an applicant, Mitchell says the first step is to pull up the driver’s MVR—moving violations report—to see if he can be insured. “If he doesn’t pass, we go no further.” Insurance carriers have stricter regulations for larger fleets, he notes. “The insurance requirement is a good standard.” Passing a pre-employment drug test is also required before a driver can be trained and placed in an older truck. Drivers are closely monitored until they prove themselves.
Mid Star Express uses a dispatcher for its long-haul trucks, but dispatching is a shared responsibility for MSWH. The Presley’s sons, Doug and Steve, oversee log/chip production and communicate with crew foremen as to what trucks are needed where and when.
Hauling capacity may be shuffled, depending on the specifics of each tract. If one crew needs additional trucks on a given job, or if another has some it could spare, crew leaders communicate that among the team.
Mid Star stresses scheduling. It’s inefficient to have four trucks at the landing simultaneously, so truck arrivals are staggered, starting before the crew arrives. “Turnaround time in the woods is as important as turnaround time at the mill,” Mitchell asserts.
Though not fully implemented yet, Mid Star’s management team is developing a lead driver program. One lead driver for each crew will communicate important information between management and all drivers on that crew. Mitchell says the position will also function as a safety advocate to create awareness among drivers.
Mid Star desires stakeholders, not just employees. Case in point: seven of the company’s 26 trucks are leased to drivers, who have a vested interest in the truck’s profitability, thus increasing their efficiency. “That pays dividends to the driver and the company alike,” Wanda says. This program is not available to all drivers, only to those who have exemplified the right qualities after a year with the company. Though not all drivers want to lease, it’s a coveted spot, she says. “We have plenty who would like to try, but we pick them.”
Since they haul across state lines, management pays drivers by the day, rather than by the hour or the load, to give drivers some security and to dampen the temptation to speed or to do something careless. The company does offer production incentives, but consistent pay is the goal.
The company conducts monthly safety meetings and an annual training session. Mid Star is also developing a semi-annual audit, in which one truck is thoroughly inspected.
Auto insurance and workers’ comp rates are on the rise, Mitchell warns, adding that it is substantially more expensive to insure an over-the-road truck driver than an equipment operator. Mid Star has successfully managed to maintain rates at a reasonable level, but only with effort.
“You must have a safety program in place,” he advises. Otherwise, insurance costs can spike, forcing some companies out of business. Thus, Mid Star’s robust safety program is spearheaded by two managers—safety coordinator John Johnson and administrative manager Natalie Presley.
Lyle Broughton, a man of many hats at Mid Star, wrote an official company policy regarding distracted driving. Cell phone use is strictly prohibited without a hands-free headset. The company provides SouthernLINC headpieces to communicate with drivers. Even then, calls are direct and brief so as to minimize distraction. Drivers cannot make outgoing calls unless the truck is stopped.
When it ran a smaller fleet, Mid Star had GPS installed on all its trucks. The management team eventually decided the money spent wasn’t worth it and stopped using GPS entirely. Just in the last year the company has gradually starting adding it back to a few of its forestry trucks. GPS is found on all its over the road trucks.
“Because of the way we manage our (logging) trucks so closely, we found GPS didn’t make a huge difference and we didn’t feel we needed it,” Michell explains. “It is a useful tool to monitor turnaround time and efficiency, but we feel we get the information we need by just having it on a few trucks.” Still, he doesn’t rule out the possibility of returning to complete GPS assistance in the future. And, while Mid Star has not installed dash cams on any of its trucks yet, it is something the team has considered closely, and will likely eventually make the investment.
All Mid Star trucks-trailers use on-board electronic scales, and the target is 29 tons per load. The terrain in the area calls for a heavier suspension and axles, meaning a heavier truck than some might choose. “You want to get as light as you can without giving up durability, safety and road worthiness,” Wanda says. Lightweight trailers help to offset the limitation, but the goal is to balance it with a sturdy frame.
Drivers check trucks daily and turn in an inspection checklist every week. When things go wrong between 15,000-mile maintenance intervals, a team of mechanics performs repairs in the field. The shop team also has a night shift, so repairs are often scheduled after-hours to keep production on track.
Trucking is regarded by many as the biggest problem in the industry today—a shortage of qualified and responsible drivers, poor training, long hauls to mills and rising insurance rates are but a few reasons. Innovative, forward-thinking players like Mid Star are finding ways to solve some of the problems.