Stumpin’

Just two weeks after convening the American Loggers Council’s 27th Annual Meeting in Coeur d’Alene, Id., on October 7-9 (see coverage of that meeting on page 18; Southern Loggin’ Times and Timber Harvesting editors David Abbott and Dan Shell attended), ALC’s new Exe cutive Director Scott Dane traveled to Pratt ville, Ala., just a few miles north of our publishing headquarters in Montgomery, to address the 2021 Annual Meeting of another ALC, the Alabama Loggers Council. SLT/TH editor Patrick Dunning attended this meeting.

While the national organization formed in 1994, Alabama’s group was founded in 1992 to represent and give voice to the state’s roughly 1,500 timber harvesting and hauling professionals as part of the Alabama Forestry Assn.

On October 23, Alabama Loggers Council Chair man Freddy Tidwell and Executive Director Joel Moon welcomed Dane and nearly 150 logging industry professionals from around the state to the Marriot Prattville Hotel and Conference Center. Much of the day’s discussion focused on methods of relieving transportation ailments in the Heart of Dixie. A panel of industry professionals discussed solutions to rising insurance premiums, truck driver shortages and frivolous lawsuits by integrating scales and in-cab camera systems.

Vestige In-Cab Camera Systems national ac count manager, Derek Breed love, discussed equip ping fleets with up to eight HD cameras with au dio, 4G LTE remote livestream and GPS tracking.

“It gives the driver the ability to bring footage to the forefront in case something happens,” Breed love explained. “All of it is relayed from cell towers to the portal so when you log in from any de vice, phone, tablet or computer, you’re going to see full GPS and video.”

The Vestige application is an event-based system that automatically records hard brakes, turns and accelerations. Cameras are weatherproof, industrial grade and include night vision. Vestige is a Google Maps customer and all footage is time-stamped along with the speed.

“If you want events to come to your cell phone every time an event happens, it can send you a link,” Breedlove continued. “We can set it up to auto matically send reports. Geo-fence reports tell you how often you went to the mill that week to verify against tickets.”

The group also recognized Lowe Brothers Logging, Inc. in Reform, as the 2021 Alabama Logger’s Council’s Distinguished Logger of the Year. Steve Lowe founded the company with his two brothers, Terry and Eddie Lowe, in 1992. Gee Allgood Jr., of McShan Lumber, for whom the Lowe brothers contract in Pickins County, presented the award.

“They are farmers, timberland owners and loggers,” Allgood said. “They have a vested interest in the work that’s been done on the ground. It’s easy to acknowledge a group that’s so deserving. The work they do is professional in every manner. They demonstrate this in their community.”

Steve thanked his employees, family and God for continued support over the years. “We’d like to give honor to God, for without him none of this would be possible.”

Great Dane

Dane delivered the keynote ad dress, focusing on the American Loggers Council’s long-term vision to im prove trucking conditions in logging.

“The transportation challenge isn’t exclusive to the timber industry but we are looking for a different caliber of trucker for the timber industry,” Dane said. “It’s not your typical interstate travel between loading docks, so the skillset is even greater and more challenging to address in the timber industry.”

He added, “Participating in the TEAM Safe Trucking program will improve safety aspects of our industry. We’re going to have to begin being competitive if we are going to get people to drive logging trucks instead of freight.”

Dane’s 17-year tenure as Executive Director of the Associated Contract Loggers and Truckers of Minnesota equipped him well to help steer ALC where it needs to go to address the current and wide-spread driver shortage.

“I’m not a logger, I’ve never been a logger. I’m not a truck driver, I’ve never been a truck driver,” Dane was quick to admit when he was tapped to take on the job in Minnesota. “They said, ‘Scott, we don’t need you to log; we already know how to do that. We need you to represent us, build our association and give us a voice.’”

Dane recalled the moments leading up to his speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention where he wore a “Make Logging Great Again” hat. “I knew nobody was going to remember my name. Nobody would even remember what I said. What they’ll remember is someone from the logging industry, doesn’t matter who it was, and they’ll remember the hat. That opportunity was not because of who I am but because of who you are, the American logging and trucking industry.”

Dane and the ALC worked with the Biden Ad ministration and the U.S. Forest Service to develop the Pandemic Assistance for Timber Harvesters and Haulers (PATHH) program, which provides $200 million in financial relief to timber harvesting and hauling businesses that experienced losses during the pandemic. Dane says Alabama is the third highest recipient of PATHH assistance behind Mississippi and Maine.

“It started a year ago with a commissioned

study to determine the impacts of Covid-19 on the timber industry,” he recalled. “As a result, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine worked closely with the Professional (Logging) Contractors of Maine. Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota, at the request of the Associated Logger and Truckers of Minnesota, introduced the initial logger relief act that did not pass, but was the basis for the $200 million included in December. “In the six-month process of putting the PATHH program together, the FSA and U.S. Forest Service reached out to ALC and said, ‘We want your people to look at the program before we roll it out.’ We had a logger from Oregon, logger from Minnesota, trucker from Wisconsin and Maine all participating in the program. It’s because of that participation that they Scott Dane excluded PPP funding as part of the calculation of income, and excluded the sale of logging equipment as income.” Biden officials convened a virtual meeting with homebuilding stakeholders in July 2021 and ALC was the only logging organization invited to participate. ALC made it clear to those at the meeting that recently high lumber prices have not reflected the logger rates, later following up with members of Congress to explain the Canadian softwood situation. Canadian lumber products account for 1⁄4 of all lumber in the U.S., Dane says, though the U.S. has the ability to produce a significant portion of that lumber domestically. “Trains pass through northern Minnesota multiple times per day heading south with railcars loaded with Canadian lumber,” he says. “The trains return north empty and without U.S. lumber. ALC supports tariffs imposed on Canadian softwood production due to the unfair market advantage they receive as a result of subsidized stumpage.” Dane encouraged Alabama logging professionals in attendance to get involved and support the forest products sector by collaborating with others in the industry. “Loggers are considered to be the bottom of the food chain, but it is the logger and trucker that are the first link in the supply chain. Without them, there is no forest products industry.” SLT

By Jessica Johnson

EDGEFIELD, SC

South Carolina’s Mark Mims, 49, hasn’t always been a logger. After high school he farmed, and then got into tree work. He enjoyed lot clearing, climbing trees and the general tasks with limbing. After spending a while climbing with the chain saw, Mims says he “graduated” to a bucket truck. That’s when his crew started to grow, as various family members began wanting to work for him. As lot clearing took off, Mims noticed a strong market for the timber that was being cut—he didn’t have trouble selling it to local wood dealers at all. His hometown of Edgefield, SC is positioned well between markets in South Carolina and Georgia for pine pulpwood, especially with OSB, MDF and pellet plants all within 75 miles.

While the transition into logging seemed like a natural fit, thanks in part to a decision in 2006 by Mims to begin running two contract haul trucks under the name MAM Stick Haulers for Edgefield-based timber dealer/logger, Log Creek Timber, it wasn’t until after an accident in 2009 that he got serious about logging. Mims was taking limbs out of a tree on a golf course when he fell and broke two vertebrae in his neck. Thankfully, he was able to make a full recovery, but between the accident and the tree work equipment getting older, after a few years the move away from tree work made sense.

Around the same time as Mims was looking to get out of tree work, thanks to another accident with a dump truck while working the trees, someone he knew who was in logging was looking to get out. It created an opportunity for Mims to purchase his business and go headfirst into logging in 2012.

The purchasing of the business turned out to be a blessing. Mims began gathering more family and friends who wanted to work on his crew—he would ultimately have to expand into two crews, aptly named MAM 1 and MAM 2. Each of the two crews is outfitted with one skidder, one loader and one feller-buncher. Initially, the single crew just had the one loader, and a second was purchased as a spare. Quickly, Mims realized he could keep two loaders busy, and he had the personnel for it. Looking back, he laughs, admitting, “We went to two crews—for what reason, I don’t know.”

Having come into logging from the trucking side, Mims’ company was already named MAM Stick Haulers, a nod to the nickname given to log truckers, “the stick wagons,” on the CB radios in his area. Having been in business for so long, Mims stuck with it. “That’s how we came up with it,” he says, “and it just hasn’t changed since.”

Though the MAM log haul trucks began working with Log Creek

Timber in 2006, Mims as a logger work ed for two other timber buyers be fore finding a home with Log Creek six years ago. Mims says, “This busi ness is more drama than anything in the world. These crews know what is happening with each other before I even know.” But, thanks to working with Tim Wil liams at Log Creek, MAM crews have been getting the quota they need and have consistently been working in pine timberland close to home. Production holds steady at 50 loads per week.

“I don’t ask the crew to do anything I wouldn’t do,” Mims emphasizes. “I wouldn’t be in this business if it wasn’t for them. They follow my lead. I could leave here and they will still do the same job if I am not here. That’s what I love about them.”

Every logger knows multiple crews take a lot of time and attention—something Mims had in short supply this spring. The crew was short a cutter man, and after finding a younger man to replace him, Mims spent time first on the cutter himself just getting the job done, and then training the new hand while the young man learned the ropes.

The crew operates, as many do,

like one big family. Some are actually related by blood or marriage, but at the end of the day, Mims says, they are all brothers. He adds, “Sometimes we’re really a family, and we get to fighting a little bit.” But a family focuses on what’s important. And for Mims that is simple: “I tell them, ‘The Lord first; family second; work third.’ Whatever you have to do, you do it. If you have to miss work for family, that’s important. We are loyal to our families.”

For MAM Stick Haulers to stay productive, Mims says they need to stay in the 10 to 12 loads per day range—with eight sometimes as a reality. The crew stays on pine tracts, spending 90% of their time thinning tracts of between 40 to 120 acres. Mims and his crews can find themselves on pretty rough ground sometimes, but overall he says they can’t complain too much about their working conditions. Log Creek always looks out for them and makes sure they can get the quota they need.

Markets are mainly Enviva in Greenwood, Swiss Krono in Barnwell and Graphic Packaging in Prosperity. Greenwood is the closest at a 25-30 mile haul most of the time, while Barnwell is pushing 70 sometimes. Even with running 50 to 60 miles, Mims and his crew still get at least eight loads per day thanks to their trucking force staying on task and the mills keeping wood yards moving. MAM Stick Haulers runs all late model, mainly 2020 Peterbilts and one Mack in the mix, having the goal to have each of the five trucks get three to four loads per day. Mims has two trucks sitting idle at the moment, thanks to driver retirement.

Woods iron is a combination of John Deere and Tigercat. Mims says his crew was strictly all John Deere for a while, but after a visit from a Tidewater sales rep, some Tigercat iron got added to the mix. “He came out and had us try it,” Mims says of the visit. “We like John Deere skidders, but we run Tigercat feller-bunchers. It’s heavier-duty, and seems to us to hold up better.”

The oldest machine Mims has is a 2014 John Deere 437D loader.

Feller-bunchers are 720G model machines from Tigercat (2017 and 2018). Skidders are mainly Lmodel John Deeres (2017, 2018, 2021), with one Tigercat 620E in as well. Trailers are Mc Clen dons, for a total of nine, with some Evans.

At The Shop

Mims has a shop at his home, 40 x 40, where he does most of the mechanic work. Trucks are maintained by one of the drivers and his son, who have a side business as mobile service technicians. Woods equipment is greased every Friday in the woods, which Mims admits they could do more often.

Woods equipment oil is rotated every 500 hours, pushing it out further than the recommended 250. “I think 250 is too young, the oil seems to be good to me,” Mims explains. He cites keeping engines clean, and machines blown out as to helping them stay in working order and push out the oil longer.

Thanks to newer equipment Mims is able to use JD Link on most all his machines, with the added benefit of new technology Tract, a forestry software that among other features digitizes load sheets. “It’s pretty much easy to use. I am in the logging business, so technology is out the window for me,” Mims laughs.

Though he considers himself not the most technical, “because I am a paper person,” Mims sees great benefit to using new technology as it is available. He adds, “We are subs under Log Creek. So that sends them our load count, then they can tell us what we need every week. Plus, we can look ourselves on the phone what’s been going on.”

But really, Mims says, everything is about the teamwork of the crew: “We are all a cog in the wheel to make the day go.” SLT

By Patrick Dunning

CAMPOBELLO, SC

Norman Arledge, 64, counts himself blessed when he considers all the activity in his area. “It’s unbelievable,” he says, pointing to housing construction on both sides of the highway in the Campobello community. “I could drive you by development after development of what we alone have cut.” There’s so much ongoing development here that it not only keeps him working steady, it allows him to keep working within a 30-mile radius of his shop.

The owner of Arledge Logging & Timber started seeing communities

grow along the I-85 corridor between Greenville and Charlotte after BMW Group Plant opened in 1994 in Spartanburg. BMW’s upstate manufacturing facility currently employs 11,000 and is pivotal in the German auto maker’s domestic success. BMW’s presence in Spartanburg County has most assuredly spurred much of the area’s new housing construction in the last decade; of that Arledge has no doubt.

Arledge Logging is headquartered 20 miles north of Spartanburg and five miles from the North Carolina state line. Arledge founded the company in 1991 with his late brother, Dennis Arledge. In 1999, the two established A & A Wood Products, LLC as a small-time saw mill ing operation with a LT40 Wood-Mizer.

The brothers grew up in the northwest “Upper Piedmont” portion of the state, watching their father cut five-foot logs on the family farm. Arledge held one job before logging: assembling metal buildings for $3 an hour. After three months of it he was supposed to have received a $1 raise, he recalls. “But after the three months we had a business meeting and they said no raise, so I quit.” Arledge would instead spend the next 40-plus years (and counting) as a member of the South Carolina timber community.

New Landscape

Arledge has lately been harvesting urban wood and clear-cutting properties for housing developers. Historically low interest rates during the pandemic-inspired seller’s market initiated new construction demand across the U.S. Housing

starts in the U.S. were up 3.9% to an annual rate of 1.615 million units in August 2021.

The 245-mile stretch of I-85 from Charlotte to Atlanta is beginning to look like one continuous city, Arledge suggests. Though housing starts are good for short-term business and the industry overall, he says replacing timberland for slab foundations is a catch-22 because you can’t make more dirt. “I’ve cut hundreds of acres around Greenville and Spartanburg,” he says. “There’s never going to be timber again in some areas, just houses. It’s good short term but 50 years down the road there’s not going to be any timber around here.”

He adds, “There used to be farms everywhere. Go down Highway 101 and there’s 100 acres filling up. Ryan Homes and Enchanted Homes are buying lots on the side of the road and stacking houses.” Operations

When Southern Loggin’ Times visited Arledge Logging & Timber back in May, a single crew was clear-cutting a 30-acre plot for homebuilder Enchanted Homes in Spartanburg County. In the past few years Arledge has cut several hundred acres for Enchanted Homes. “In the last years we’ve cut 80s (acres) for them, 120s, 130s, it goes on and on,” he says. “This is an old farm we’re about to strip and go, cutting everything from first thinning chip wood to saw logs and ply logs,” he said of the tract they were working last spring.

Arledge keeps enough woods equipment to run two crews, and in the past he has, but since his younger brother passed away seven years ago, he prefers a solo crew, working alongside his son Andy, 44, and grandson, Andrew, 25. “When my brother passed away we slowed down. We used to haul 6070 loads a week, but I’m 64 years old; the younger guys can have it.”

Tigercat machinery has proven reliable for Arledge Logging in the

woods. The crew runs a ’15 234B loader, ’17 620E skidder and ’15 724E feller-buncher. Species targeted in clude poplar, white oak, hickory, Virginia pine and planted loblolly. “I used to swap tractors and accrue equity till things slowed down,” Arledge says, using his ’05 Tigercat T-240 and T-250 he purchased 11 years ago as an example. “I bought it with 400 hours on it for $135,000. I’ve been Relics of Arledge’s father and grandfather hang on the wall, including two crosscut hand saws. offered $125,000 and will not sell it. A new one is $375,000. There’s a lot of people out here buying new equipment and they’re having to run. I don’t need that kind of tax reduction. If we could slow down and make these mills adjust we’d get our increase.” Woods equipment is serviced every 250 hours and every 10,000 miles on trucks. Majority of maintenance is conducted in-house at the company’s 30x40 shop. Texaco Ultra fuel, grease and lubricants from Brewer Hendley Oil Co.,

based in Marshville, NC, are used across the board. Arledge says he’s bought in bulk from Brewer Hendley for 20 years. Tidewater Equipment, Newberry, supplies Tigercat iron for Arledge. He also looks to Carolina Cat, Asheville, and Blanchard Machinery, Simpsonville, for Caterpillar equipment.

Arledge Logging runs three Peterbilts (2005, 2006, 2013) and contracts two trucks. The company has a mix of McClendon and Big John trailers.

Arledge says chip and pulpwood markets have picked up, and hardwood and pine logs are steadily moving. The problem, however, is that while lumber prices increase, loggers and landowners aren’t seeing dividends. “The supply shortage isn’t because of the logger,” he reports. “We were essential workers. We never let up. Bottom line, loggers and landowners aren’t seeing any more money, but that’s everywhere. What’s funny is when a builder comes up to me and says ‘Man, you’re making money; plywood is $40 per sheet!’ I laugh and tell them no. (A company) I deal with a lot on plywood, cut my price back in April.”

To keep balance in his local markets, Arledge delivers an average of 35 loads per week to seven different mills. The company hauls to Capps Brothers, Landrum; New Indy, Catawba; International Paper, West Columbia; Associated Hardwoods, Gaffney; Boise Cascade, Chester;

Inland Port Greer is 13 miles from Arledge’s office and one of the company’s main outlets for exporting logs. The Greer port opened in 2013 and is located between Green ville and Spartanburg. Inland Port Greer extends the Port of Charles ton’s reach 212 miles.

After the first year, the Greer port performed one-third higher than estimated and at the five-year mark, 62% above predictions.

“In the first year it did one-third more than they predicted. It was so busy we couldn’t get containers fast enough to load logs,” Arledge says. “Trump slowed down exports with the trade war, now all that’s going away. They’re starting to call.”

Near 10% of the business, or five loads per month, is dedicated to export markets in Greer.

Arledge says they would deliver more if not for ongoing supply chain disruptions.

Arledge speaks in a natural southern vernacular, and says conversations with foreign clients can be interesting given the language barrier. “You can imagine me with my southern accent talking to a Chinese or Vietnamese man on the phone,” he laughs. “They come meet me in the log yard sometimes and there’s such a barrier, from all different countries. It’s funny; we laugh about it.”

Accolades

Arledge is a member of the South Carolina Timber Producers Assn. (SCTPA) and served on that body’s board from 2001-2008. The South Carolina Forestry Assn. awarded Arledge the South Carolina 2010 Outstanding Logger of the Year, and in 2008 SCTPA’s Gene Collins Activist of the Year Award.

Swamp Fox Agency, Moncks Corner, provides the company’s insurance. Arledge works with David Hayes.

Arledge enjoys working with local landowners when purchasing his company’s timber or on various side-deals on land purchases. “When I buy from a landowner, you have to keep in mind they only do this once or twice in their lifetime. It’s new to them. I’ll tell you as a landowner when I’m buying your timber, when we get through we’re going to be friends. I go above and beyond to make sure they’re happy,” Arledge declares. “I never buy massive acreage but what I do is find a deal, buy it, clean it up and sell it. A wise man once told me to invest in property because they don’t make more dirt.” SLT

By David Abbott and Dan Shell

COEUR D’ALENE, Id.

When the members of the Ameri can Loggers Council met for the organization’s 25th anniversary in September 2019, no one at the time knew that it would be two years before the group would have its annual meeting in person again. Due to the pandemic, the 2020 meeting, which would have taken place in Branson, Mo., the home state of then-President Shannon Jarvis, was held virtually instead in September 2020. At that time, ALC’s board voted for all officers elected in 2020 to serve two-year terms and for the annual meeting to return to Branson in 2022, at which time new officers will be elected. This decision was reaffirmed in the 2021 meeting.

This year’s meeting took place on October 7-9 in Coeur d’Alene, Id. Current American Loggers Council President Tim Christofferson welcomed attendees to his home state of Idaho. New ALC Executive Director Scott Dane rose to the challenge of his first annual meeting admirably well, while his predecessor in the posi tion, Danny Dructor, who handed the reins over to Dane earlier this year after 20 years on the job, clearly enjoyed the chance to sit back, relax and enjoy the meeting free from all the headache of organizing it.

The future picture of the American Loggers Council is taking shape in real time, building on the foundation of its past. Signs abounded that the dedication and hard work of so many people over so many years has paid handsome dividends, with ALC now being recognized in new ways. As Dructor himself put it, “We have arrived.”

Said arrival must surely and justifiably be a source of validation for Dructor, and all the others who have been involved in ALC all this time, to see how the group has grown into its own, earned recognition and taken a seat at the table.

That turned out to be a recurring theme of the weekend, underscored by the fact that no less than the office of the President of the United States sent ALC a message during the meeting. Responding to the message, Tom Trone, who moderated Friday’s seminars, said, “The work of 27 years has paid off, because ALC is on the radar of the highest office in the land. Five years ago they wouldn’t have known (anything) about us.”

At one point Trone invited Dructor on stage with him to look back on what ALC has accomplished, how it has grown, where it came from and where it is headed. Dructor noted that participation in the annual fly-in event, in which ALC members visit their state’s Congressional delegates to represent the interests of the industry, has grown significantly, and the impact of their efforts is now becoming apparent. “We don’t call them anymore; they call us,” Dructor said, citing the example of Arkansas Congressman Bruce Westerman texting him directly to discuss forestry issues. “The letter (from President Biden) we just got was proof positive that we have arrived in Washington, DC. We are in a position now we have never been in. We are speaking for ourselves, our sector of this industry; we have not had that opportunity in the past.” He noted that ALC reps are now sitting in on advisory panels, working on policy, testifying before Congress. “We have built relationships with members of Congress that are priceless, and we have to continue that. It doesn’t matter which party is in power.” Concluding his remarks, Dructor left his friends with this ad vice: “You are loggers working for loggers; don’t ever let anyone take that away from you.”

Unsurprisingly, log trucking was a major topic of discussion over the three days of the meetings.

First, TEAM Safe Trucking named Robert Lussier its new President on October 6 during TST’s annual meeting preceding the American Loggers Council meeting. Lussier, owner of Great Woods Companies in Bennettsville, SC, replaces Richard Schwab, who had served in the position since the organization’s inception in 2016.

During the TST meeting, Bryan Graham of Associated Loggers Exchange, with host group ALCIdaho, noted that the big log hauler concerns he sees include hours of operation, training, age and resistance to change. “There’s a correlation between (workers’ comp) claims and longer work hours,” Graham asserted, adding that he’s seeing the “same things over and over” and that too many times operators only make changes after experiencing a tragedy.

Graham noted that younger and less experienced drivers are harder to insure because of insufficient training and overall safety issues. He cited statistics showing drivers under 25 have loss ratios over 100%. Graham further reported results of a survey of Idaho loggers showing 2/3 wouldn’t pay more to insure younger drivers— if they could find them—and only 1/4 would pay up to 10% more.

Transportation lawyer Bridgette Blitch from Boise, Id. firm Blitch Westley Barrett offered several ideas to mitigate risk. In addition to the basics, like fully documenting such activities as due diligence when hiring and all maintenance and inspection records, Blitch made two suggestions to reduce risk. First, by using equipment leasing and holding companies, she advised moving as many intangible assets as possible out from under the trucking company. The key, she said, is to truly operate separately, and “You have to follow through every year with the formalities and make sure you stick with the corporate rules.” Another good idea, she counseled, is to get a written agreement or indemnification statement from any contract driver or company that might use any of your trailers.

Longtime TST supporter Jimmie Locklear, currently risk control manager at the Forest Insurance Center Agency in Newberry, Mich., said that when the group began in 2016, insurance costs were increasing, carriers were exiting the log hauler market, and driver shortages and behavior were big challenges. Those issues remain, and while there has been some progress made, there are still 38 fewer companies offering log truck insurance now than there were in 2016. “We have got to change to move forward,” Locklear said, adding that “Carriers must be able to cover their costs or they will exit the market.”

There are good training programs and new technology that can help reduce costs and liability, Locklear noted, and the cost of a trucking safety program is far less than the cost of a preventable accident. “We need to get proactive and adapt to new technology, but we have to get owners motivated to make changes.”

During Friday’s seminars, Toni McAllister from Louisi ana Loggers Assn. was part of a panel focused on trucking issues. She spoke on tort re form and the work done in her state to reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits and limit exorbitant damages awarded. Insurers that would cover log trucks, she said, had left Loui si ana in droves, and the re duc ed competition among those that stayed inevitably en sured that insurance rates would assuredly increase. With a win in the state legislature, they’re seeing improvements, with more insurers and better rates.

Richard Schwab was also on the panel with his successor at TST, Bob Lussier, and with Jeremy Morris, a representative of J.B. Hunt, the Arkansas-based freight transportation giant. Schwab’s company, Florida’s M.A. Rigoni, is currently testing a partnership with J.B. Hunt to handle all of Rigoni’s trucking needs, a model that others may want to consider. Among the advantages, as Morris pointed out, is that, since Hunt is self-insured, they are less restricted in hiring young drivers.

A Samsara representative was also on this panel to discuss the benefits of dash cams and GPS systems in trucks. He highlighted driver exoneration—dash cams can prove definitively when they aren’t on fault— and driver coaching, as the systems

Seminars

Industry consultant and former John Deere man Tom Trone served as moderator and facilitator for the full day of seminars on Friday, October 8. Trone set the tone for the day by com menting on what he called a “generational shift” in the logging industry, in the ALC and in its leadership.

Noting that information is key to success, Trone introduced Pete Stewart, President, CEO and founder of Forest2Markets, who kicked off the slate of speakers with a discussion focused on post-Covid markets in 2021 and going forward. The pandemic hastened structural changes that were already taking place anyway, he said. Printing and writing papers were hit hard, but those sectors, Stewart noted, were already dying, albeit with the effects varying by region.

Capital expenditures at mills have been almost entirely in the South, which has added 2.5 billion board feet of new capacity. “Capital is flowing to the South, China, and Latin America and nowhere else,” he says. Stewart cited 50 million tons of excess pulpwood in the U.S. and 40 million tons of excess saw timber, adding that “The South alone could produce another 10 billion board feet of lumber, easily.” Overall, in dustry trends are fairly clear, he as serted: increasing demand for logs and pine pulp in the South, flat de mand in the northwest, and declines in the Midwest outside of some choice markets. “Can we grow out of this situation?” Stewart asked, concluding that the answer is “Unlikely, from traditional industry.” As for other, less traditional industry markets, Stewart admitted progress is being made in advanced biofuel and chemicals, but slowly. Meanwhile, he called the market potential for mass timber/CLT “enormous.” He further ad vised members of the forest products community to pay attention to carbon credits, calling greenhouse emission offset trading a new global currency. “Google could buy all the timber in the U.S. for 2% of their revenue,” he warned.

Regarding those new markets, the next panel included representatives of different expanding and emerg ing markets, included Chris Pease, southern regional manager for Idaho Forest Group in Moyie Springs, Id., discussing new lumber mills; and, join-

ing the meeting virtually, Dr. Iain MacDonald, director of the Tall Wood Design Institute at Oregon State University, on the rise of cross laminated timber; and, also virtual, Jeff Manternach, cofounder and CFO of Red Rock Biofuels, on forest-based feedstock biofuels.

Dana Doran, Executive Director of Professional Logging Contractors of Maine, was on a panel with Julie Tucker from the DC office of the U.S. Forest Service speaking on the work it took to achieve success with PATHH this past year. Doran said, “$200 million puts the logging community on the face of the earth when it comes to Congress and the Executive Branch. It was a battle,” he ad mits to get PATHH cleared. “We have gotten on the map and we can use that for what we need going forward.”

Another panel considered the challenge of finding, training and retaining qualified employees. Delbert Gannon made a presentation about the HELO (Heavy Equipment Logging Operations) training program at northern California’s Shasta College. Rex Storm of Associated Oregon Loggers (AOL) and Sara Nelson, AOL’s workforce development manager, discussed how to attract new workers to replace older ones retiring. Nelson asserted that 80% of logging businesses in Oregon use word of mouth as the primary method of finding new employees. “That’s not the best way to reach young people,” she points out.

Dan Snidarich, a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49, based in the Virginia office but representing workers in Minnesota, discussed how his group helped the timber industry in Minnesota design a healthcare agreement for loggers and their employees—a benefit that’s not often feasible for many small operators to offer potential hires.

Meanwhile, according to Caterpillar’s marketing consultant Mike Lenzie and senior project engineer Mike Greco, future loggers may not even need as many employees. They say timber harvesting technology is on the path to autonomy: remote controlled machines with no operators physically in the cab.

The annual auction Friday night was as spirited as usual and attendees proved themselves as generous as always, perhaps more so this year. Normally the proceeds from the auction go to the ALC and to Children’s

Hospitals. This time, though, they went further, also donating to help one of their own. Among the items donated and auctioned was a Stihl 880 Magnum chain saw with 4 ft. bar. Michigan logger Jim Carey do nated the saw for the silent auction. The initial winner immediately do nated it back to be re-auctioned, on the condition that the proceeds be given to ALC board member Dan Leeds, who suffered a stroke a little over a year ago. The owner of Northwoods Logging in Greer, Ariz., Leeds represents the Northern Arizona Loggers Assn. Together, the ALC members in attendance raised more than $20,000 in one night to help a fellow logger in a time of need. Meetings, Awards During Saturday’s meetings, Henry Scheinebeck reported on climate change mitigation and carbon neu-

trality biomass credits, and lamented stalled progress on the proposed safe routes act to increase weight tolerance for log trucks on interstates nationwide. Frustrated with the lack of traction on the interstate issue at the federal level, some suggested confining the issue to the local and state level, an approach that has been successful in many areas. According to Richard Schwab, political insiders have told him that “No legislator in their right mind will increase weight limits nation-wide for just one industry.” As an alternative, state associations and politically active loggers can lobby to carve out exemptions in specific corridors close to a local market, rather than a blanket change for the whole country. This piecemeal approach, some suggested, may also prove more palatable to railroad lobbies, which have been a major roadblock at the federal level.

Regarding working with the federal government, particularly on issues related to the environment, biomass and wildfires, Dane said that the trick is always this: “Find out what people are buying, and sell it to them.

We know what the agenda is under the current administration. We can fit into it if we sell it to them the right way.” He added that many in government are coming to understand that well-managed forests are an essential key to a sustainably healthy environment. With public attitudes toward climate change shifting, denial could be a losing strategy, but the forest products community can be a part of the solution, rather than perceived as part of the problem. In this way, the industry can bring its point of view into the discourse.

At the awards lunch on Saturday,

ALC gave special recognition to

Dructor, calling him a trailblazer who left a path others now follow.

Receiving a special ax and plaque in appreciation for his two decades of service, Dructor was sincere in his thank you, saying, “I’m pleased to see in my successor what it takes: it’s called passion.”

At the President’s farewell banquet Saturday night, Hatton-Brown

Publisher’s western editor Dan

Shell presented the Timber Harvesting 2021 Logging Business of the

Year award to Tim Curran of Seaway Timber Harvesting in Massena,

NY. Like Southern Loggin’ Times,

Timber Harvesting magazine is a publication of Hatton-Brown. Seaway Timber Harvesting is a major producer that operates multiple crews and a pellet mill. The company is the 24th winner of the award, which recognizes loggers who step outside the woods in support of their industry and communities, and the first winner from the state of

New York.

The keynote speaker was Staff

Sgt. Travis Mills, a veteran of

Afghanistan who woke up from an encounter with a land mine in 2012 to learn on his 25th birthday that he was a quadruple amputee. He didn’t let this stop him from leading a full life with his family and helping others. Urging his audience to never give up and never quit, Mill’s speech was moving, motivating and, perhaps surprisingly, extremely funny. No doubt those in the room left with a renewed perspective on their own lives. SLT

WAYNESBORO, Miss,

Amill fire is a devastating event on multiple levels and the January 6 fire that destroyed the Scotch Plywood Co. veneer facility in Waynesboro was no exception. The fire occurred while the mill was in operation, and every on-site em ployee, many of whom helped fight the fire, was accounted for and found unharmed.

Except for a few pieces of equipment saved by the firefighters, the blaze resulted in a total loss of the mill, one of three Scotch owns, including a veneer mill at Beatrice, Ala. and a softwood plywood mill near the corporate office in Fulton, Ala. But before the smoldering em bers cooled, leadership was moving forward. Aside from the concern for employee safety in Waynesboro, the group had to come to terms with the disruption in production of one mill and the logistical challenge of boosting production in another.

The company needed to consider employee retention and maintaining relationships with landowners and customers, and what it would mean to not have a mill in eastern Mississippi to serve that part of the industry. Within 18 hours, company officials decided to rebuild at the same Waynesboro site and keep production moving by ramping up production of its veneer mill in Beatrice. Timber would be shipped an additional 120 miles from Mississippi east to Alabama. Employees would be bussed to and from work, daily.

From the first days following the fire, the mission of the company was clear: to keep employees working, timber moving, land management intact, customers satisfied, landowners’ return on investment unaffected, and to ensure that every employee got home to their families.

“Our greatest investment is in our people,” says Buddy Douglas, plant manager for Scotch Plywood. “They make it happen.”

For the plant managers of Scotch, the well-being of employees and their families, and the future of the surrounding community outweighed the logistical struggles. Running a mill round-the-clock, they knew, would involve reducing some of the regularly scheduled maintenance that is vital to a mill running at its normal production hours. The challenge is managing costs.

Not pushing the Beatrice mill to its maximum output was not an option, not with Waynesboro em ployees needing to work to support their families. With two charter busses, 12-hour days, and 12,000 tons of logs processed weekly, the Beatrice mill has continued to thrive.

Meanwhile, come mid-September, working around major rains and storms, Scotch Plywood Co. was pouring concrete at Waynesboro in preparation for building erection with key pieces of machinery on site in anticipation of a spring 2022 startup. By mid-October, construction

progress had gained momentum.

While production employees have been bussed back and forth to Beatrice since the fire, the maintenance employees have been rebuilding the mill. Production and recovery should see an enhancement with new technology that will include an Altec lathe and XY charger, USNRremanufactured clipper along with USNR clipper scanner and controls, and Raute stackers. A landscape timber machine is also in the mix.

Timberlands

Scotch Plywood is more than just a place to sell timber, which is why there was a natural concern for landowners across the region following the Waynesboro fire. Be yond taking the trees and processing them into plywood, Scotch is an end-toend solution for landowners. It’s a reputation and an expectation Scotch has built through a history that dates back to the late 19th century.

Long known for timberlands and lumber manufacturing, Scotch started up the first plywood mill east of the Mississippi River in August 1965. As demand increased for plywood, Scotch expanded its timber procurement area by constructing the veneer mill with a log yard 60 miles west in Waynesboro in 1969. Scotch then looked east to expand and started up the veneer mill in Beatrice in 1979, about 60 miles from the Fulton plywood mill.

Meanwhile, in addition to operating the plywood and veneer business, Scotch continued to enhance its timberlands activities and services. Today the Scotch companies and their owners manage 460,000 acres in Alabama and Mississippi. In total, the group oversees 24 logging crews, employs 28 foresters and technicians, and manages multiple wood dealerships.

Through its land management company, Scotch provides forestry expertise that many companies don’t offer. With the loss of Waynesboro, it was possible that Scotch would be too focused on its Beatrice mill to continue to service landowners from Waynesboro. For generations, Scotch has helped large landowners not only sell and market their timber but has provided expertise in site preparation, seedling genetics, burning, thinning, logging, road building, land acquisition, and applying management best practices to ensure the land is cared for.

Therefore, a major priority for Scotch was to reassure these landowners, many who have been with Scotch from the original handshake, that they were committed as always. As a complete solution for its large landowner partners, Scotch has deep expertise with boots on the ground when it comes to how well it knows the market, and how many vendor relationships it maintains around the region.

For David Hall, President and CEO of Hall Timberlands, Scotch’s response to the fire at Waynesboro confirmed what he already knew about the type of people at the company. As the largest landowner for Scotch in Mississippi, his family has been trusting Scotch to manage his family’s land and timber since 1976, and for the longest time did so without a formal contract.

“These are two family-owned businesses, and we have a seamless relationship with Scotch,” Hall says. “We see ourselves as an extension of their operations and vice versa. We buy land knowing that Scotch will handle the management aspect of it and get it to the Alabama mill until Waynesboro is back online.”

Because 60-70% of Hall Timberlands’ cuts go to Scotch, it was important for Hall to stay in the loop on everything that was happening with both the Waynesboro and Beatrice operations. “Sure, many might have considered alternate outlets for their timber,” Hall says. “But with Scotch, we have the security of knowing that the ROI is coming.”

Another large landowner in Mississippi, Harry Haney, also has enjoyed a long-term partnership with Scotch Land Management that began in the mid-1980s with a word-of-mouth contract. Together, the two companies have developed tremendous trust for each other and have worked on annual harvests of Haney’s 43-year-old plywood logs.

In addition to forest management, Scotch has assisted Haney with the purchase of approximately one-third of his current land inventory. “A land owner needs a land management company they can trust,” Haney says. “They didn’t hesitate to reassure me that they would rebuild.”

Because of its economic impact,

Scotch Plywood, like many mills across the Southeast, has a huge effect on the surrounding region. In the case of Waynesboro, it is estimated that Scotch’s influence stretches upwards of 100 miles in every direction from where it is emerging from the ashes.

The decision to renew and retool the facility will have enduring implications beyond the employees who will ultimately resume their shifts in Waynesboro. The eastern

Mississippi region also is home to truckers, gas station owners, truck service companies, and retail outlet managers who depend upon the supply chain economy to help them raise their families in this area of the state. Indeed, in just 18 hours after a total loss, the resilient leaders of the Scotch Plywood Co. weren’t merely deciding to rebuild a single mill, but enhancing an entire way of life for many who call this area home. SLT

By mid-October, construction was on a steady pace.

Photos and article supplied by Scotch Plywood, as written by Stamp Ideas for Forest Landowner mag azine.

SLT invited manufacturers/dealers of forestry transportation products/services to submit information about their offerings.

American Truck Parts, Inc., established in 1997, located in Douglas, Ga., is a worldwide supplier of new and used heavy-duty truck parts. We specialize in used and rebuilt engines, transmissions and rear ends. We also carry body parts including a full line of new and used hoods. We clean DPFs for trucks and heavy equipment as well. Our full service shop also repairs, balances and manufactures drive shafts. Our heavy-duty wreckers and lowboys provide 24-hour service. Owned and operated by staff formerly in the timber business, we appreciate loggers and understand the business. Check out our web site at americantruckparts.com to search our inventory or call us with your truck part needs at 888-383-8884.

Big John Trailers has been manufacturing some of the finest trailers for the forest industry since 1973. Because we have been around longer than many of our competitors, and because of the fact that we work directly with loggers on design and customized options, Big John is the obvious choice for your log trailer, loader/delimber trailer and lowboy needs. Products offered by Big John include log trailers, lowboys, knuckleboom loader trailers and self-propelled loader carriers. These products are marketed mostly by a dealer network throughout the United States and Canada, with the strongest market area being in the Southeast. The log trailers offered by Big John cover a wide range of designs. However, the most popular are the “Full Load Series,” or lightweight, low profile plantation and four bolster styles. Lowboy trailers manufactured by Big John range from 10-ton tagalong style to 50-ton fixed neck lowboy style models. The standard lowboy for most loggers and contractors is the 35-ton fixed neck lowboy. All log trailers and lowboys come standard with unimount hubs with outboard brake drums, D.O.T. spec lights and reflective tape, radial tires, and one of the best warranties in the business. Big John also offers custom building for those customers who have special trailer requirements. Loader trailers and self-propelled carriers are another very important part of Big John’s product line. These trailers are primarily sold to equipment dealers and range from a basic chassis to more complex designs to handle heavier loaders and delimbers. After over 30 years of manufacturing trailers, Big John has become a well-known name in the logging industry and continues to manufacture at its facility in Folkston, Ga. For more info, call 912-496-7469 or 1-800-771-4140 or email info@bigjohntrailers.com.

Fryfogle Manufacturing Inc. was established in 2018 under the operation of Gordon Fryfogle as President and Larry Williamson as Sales Manager. Together, they have over 65 years experience in the forestry trailer market. Located in Lucedale, Miss., FMI carries a full line of new and used trailers as well as parts and is an authorized Vulcan and SI on-board scale dealer. Please visit FMITrailers.com for photos and standard specifications, or call Gordon at 601-508-3333 or Larry at 601-508-3334.

Since 1987, our products have become the standard of excellence for the industry. If Kaufman sells it, you can depend on it being the best value available. Our rigorous internal standards as well as NATM certification assure you of a durable, long-lasting, great investment. We specialize in the following:

Gooseneck—We offer gooseneck trailers in multiple types. These include a flatbed version with the floor over the tires, equipment hauler style with fenders, and tilting deck in both deck-over and floor between the fenders configuration.

Flatbed—We define this family as a trailer having the floor over the tires. These models start at 14,000 GVWR with electric brakes and go up to our 62,000 GVWR tri-axle air brake model.

Equipment—All our equipment trailers have fenders and swing-up ramps in ratings ranging from 7,000 to 17,000 GVWR. With our extensive range of models, we have an equipment trailer to fit every need.

Dump—Low profile dump trailers are available in bumper pull and gooseneck hitch options. Weight ratings range from 10,000 to 17,000 GVWR.

Heavy Haul—We offer a full range of heavy haul products ranging from 30-ton capacity lightweight commercial trailers up to 55-ton commercial trailers and everything in between.

Logging Trailers—We offer a full range of forestry trailers with about any option you can dream up: 2-axle, 3-axle, plantation, straight frame, sliding bolsters, scales, multiple suspension styles, the list goes on and on. It will be hard to find something we can’t do.

Kaufman Trailer’s friendly, specially-trained customer service staff can help answer your questions and assist you in finding the perfect trailer for your needs at a price you will love. Call 336-790-6807 or visit kaufmantrailers.com for more.

In the competitive logging industry, you need confidence your operation is as efficient and smooth as your loading style. Introducing Loadrite Scales, the most reliable way to optimize your load. Loadrite calculates weight in real time, by constantly monitoring your machine. Loadrite scales provide accurate dynamic payload measurements that improve safety, optimize truck loading, improve productivity, and protect your bottom line. Loadrite scales are known for their durability and reliability. Since 1978 Loadrite has been used in harsh environments like mines, quarries, landfills, and forests. Take control with Loadrite! Ensure you're getting the maximum payload on any truck, anywhere, every time!

The Loadrite X2350 knuckle boom scale removes a need for truck scales on your entire fleet. It gives you the ability to accurately load any truck, anywhere! You have the flexibility to move and retrofit the Loadrite scale to a new piece equipment and our scale will outlive 2-3 loaders!

With the addition of Loadrite payload management solutions to your operation, you’re in a more powerful competitive position in the marketplace. Whether you choose to start small or connect your operation, the expanded capability will enable you to be more efficient and productive, year after year. After all it’s not just a job for you, it’s a legacy you're growing!

The experienced professionals at Loadrite Southern Star provide: ● Local customer service and sales ● Installation services, annual calibration check up ● Personalized operator training and refresher ● Management reporting setup and training ● Technical support

Loadrite Southern Star is your local authorized Loadrite distributor, contact us today for more details!

Established in April 1993 to service the forestry and equipment hauling industry, Magnolia Trailers Inc. builds all types of forestry, logging and equipment trailers. We also offer a complete line of conventional pole, loader, delimber or your own specially designed trailer, including a great inventory of used trailers. Principals Robert and Connie Langley welcome you to call today to discuss your equipment needs. Call (601) 947-7990; toll free: 800-738- 2123; fax: (601) 947-4900; e-mail: info@magnoliatrailers.com or visit magnoliatrailers.com for more.

Maximizing payloads is what we do. A MaxiLoad platform scale provides a time proven solution to controlling your truck weights and safely maximizing your payloads. Our scales are accurate, durable, and trouble-free. They come with a comprehensive 2-year warranty. We have 24 years of proven performance weighing log trucks. The first scale we built in 1996 is still weighing log trucks daily. Our scales are working on over 800 logging jobs throughout the southeastern United States.

Mills only pay for what crosses their scale. Under-loaded trucks are a missed opportunity. A fully loaded truck would have paid more money. Overloaded trucks are a liability. If one has an accident you can be dealing with a serious issue. Tally your weekly load tickets. What tonnage did you get paid for? What could you have been paid for? The difference between being almost loaded and fully loaded: about $1,000 per week.

A Maxi-Load platform scale can be installed on your job in two hours. From that point on you can safely maximize the payload on every truck serving your job, your trucks, and contract trucks. Financing is available. Delivery and installation are part of the sale. Contact your forestry equipment supplier or Maxi-Load at 1-877-265-1486 or on the web at Maxiload.com.

McComb Diesel is not only the oldest Western Star Dealership in the South, it was recently named the oldest in the United States. Since the ’60s our family owned and operated business has focused on striving to offer our customers the highest quality service and support experience possible. To that goal, we have partnered with world class, reliable partners like Western Star Trucks, Pitts Trailers, Detroit Diesel, Caterpillar, Cummins, Eaton Fuller, Meritor and dozens more to offer our customers the best commercial transportation products available. We invest in the equipment and training for our technicians, most of whom have been with us well over 10 years. We pride ourselves on providing the absolute best service for our customers and getting them back to the woods as soon as possible.

Our goal is to provide as much of a one-stop shop as possible. We offer a 22-bay factory-authorized service shop, and also we have one of the areas only state-of-the-art chassis floor dynamometers. We can test a truck at highway speed under resistance of a full load in a totally controlled environment to do things like test horsepower, torque, check for leaks and identify chassis vibrations. It is a tremendous investment, but it is an awesome tool to help serve our customers. We also offer the latest in Laser wheel alignment and tire balancing, quick lube services, roadside repair, a 75 Ton Rotator Wrecker and a full-service body shop with downdraft paint booth, fiberglass repair, in-house welder and steel fabricator, complete trailer repair shop, and well-stocked parts department.

At McComb Diesel we truly care about our customers. You’re not just an account number here; you are a valued customer. We feel like we are big enough to know, but small enough to care about each customer.

For decades, Pitts Trailers has pulled the industry forward with innovative designs and high quality products built for optimal performance. According to President and CEO Jeff Pitts, every innovation, every manufacturing advancement starts with a single person in mind—the customer. “The people who use our trailers go to work every day in one of the toughest, most demanding industries,” Pitts explains. “Our number one goal is to supply them with high performance trailers to make their work as efficient, convenient and safe as possible.”

The most recent Pitts innovation, Lock ’N Go landing gear, was introduced in 2018 to significantly enhance operator safe-

ty and convenience. The four-pin auto-lock system allows a driver to easily ensure that both sides of the landing gear are securely engaged without circling or crawling under the trailer. It also helps secure the load and protect the trailer from unnecessary wear and tear.

The pioneering Load Payin’ Series, introduced in 1994, is the number one selling logging trailer in North America. This line introduced a fully fabricated frame made of high-yield materials with a continuous submerged arc welding process, allowing customers to haul more wood and less steel, while maintaining the highest performance standards available in the industry.

Pitts revolutionized loader carrier manufacturing with the development of Crawler Suspension, providing the smoothest, most stable transport available for safety both on- and off-road. The military-derived, patent pending design delivers double the ground clearance of traditional spring single-point suspension. And the rocking beam construction eliminates spring bounce effect, protecting the load from unnecessary impact and vibration.

Family owned and operated since 1976, Pitts Trailers is the world’s largest and only complete-line forestry trailer manufacturer. Pitts offers a wide variety of truck trailers, including logging trailers, hydraulic elevating loader carrier trailers, open and closed top chip vans, moving floor vans, hydraulic removable neck lowboys, fixed neck lowboys, hydraulic folding tail lowboys and construction grade tagalong lowboys.

“Pitts Trailers has made many contributions to the industry over the years,” says Pitts, “But what we’ve really done is take care of our customers.”