ardwood lumber asy

By Gage McKinney Contributing Editor

Since then many people in the industry have decided the best way to ship hardwoods is by net tally. Many sawmills and distribution yards alike began shipping net footage and emphasizing the fact in their sales literature. They felt the customer should get exactly the footage he ordered. The State of California agreed with them and several Years ago with many other states outlawed the practice of adding shrinkage to a tally.

Even in Califomia, though, selling hardwoods on a "mill tally" (meaning an accurate tally of the lumber before it was dried) is legitimate. There can be a cost savings involved because it saves the expense of tallying before and after drying.

Although mill tallies are legal, you have to be very careful when comParing the price of net tallied and mill tallied hardwoods. The price for mill tallied lumber will probably be less, but you will get less lumber. If You don't take that into account, Your hardwoods could actually be costing a lot more than you realize.

There's one sure way to take all the guess work out of comParing prices between suppliers who may tally their lumber in different ways. Insist that every supplier quote your requirements based on a net tallY. That way you'll always be comparing apples with apples. That way when you inspect incoming shipments the zunount of lumber you receive should be exactly the amount shown on the bill of lading and invoice.

A salesperson may say that he can offer you a better value based on a mill lally, and he may be correct in a specific instance. But in the long run I believe a net tally will be more accurate while eliminating costly errors and possible misunderstandings. And since you're the customer, you can have it that way.

Some may disagree, but I would like to see the industry adopt the net tally as the standard. Thafs because it is the most accurate and credible method, and it gives priority to the needs of the consumer rather than the needs of the manufacturer or the supplier. It makes tallying simple enough for even a school boy to understand.

Story at a Glance

,, 'Kilh Dried Hardwood Lumber Measurement

Measurement after klln drYingl,Sales,of hard,wood lumber measured after kiln drying shall be quoted, invoiced and delivered on tbe basis of net board footage, witb no addition of footage for kiln drying shrinkage,

Measurement before kttu dr5r; Ing: Sales of hardwood lumber measured prior to kiln drying sball:,,, be quoted, invoiced and delivered on the basis of net board footage before kiln drying. If the lumber:is to be kiln dried at the reques! of the purc[aser, the kiln drying'charge ihaU be clearly shown and identified on the quotation and,invoice. :::

Source: 'iAn lllustrated Guidc, to Hard.woql lamber G rade s" pablishedt br" Nwional Hardwootl Ltilber Atsocia.tion , i,