Trucking Industry News...

International Roadcheck Set for May 4-6 with Emphasis on Lighting and Hours of Service…

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has set May 4-6 as the dates for this year’s International Roadcheck. Over that 72-hour period, commercial motor vehicle inspectors in jurisdictions throughout Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will conduct inspections on commercial motor vehicles and drivers.

“CVSA shares the dates of International

Inspectors will ensure the vehicle’s brake systems, cargo securement, coupling devices, driveline/driveshaft components, driver’s seat, exhaust systems, frames, fuel systems, lighting devices, steering mechanisms, suspensions, tires, van and open-top trailer bodies, wheels, rims, hubs and windshield wipers are compliant with regulations. Inspections of motorcoaches, passenger vans and other passenger-carrying vehicles also include emergency exits, electrical cables and systems in the engine and battery compartments, and seating.

Hours Of Service Changes Clarified – Change Does Not Impact Maine 100 Air Mile Exemption…

The recent hours of service changes that were effective September 29, 2020 have caused a few questions including about the difference between the Maine 100 air mile rule and the new Federal 150 air mile rule.

Roadcheck in advance to remind motor carriers and drivers of the importance of proactive vehicle maintenance and driver readiness,” said CVSA President Sgt. John Samis with the Delaware State Police. “International Roadcheck also aims to raise awareness of the North American Standard Inspection Program and the essential highway safety rules and regulations in place to keep our roadways safe.”

The recent federal changes do not in any way change Maine’s 100 air mile rule that has long been afforded to drivers and motor carriers who operate in Maine and within 100 air miles of their normal work reporting location.

In short, the Maine 100 air mile rule exempts motor carriers and drivers that operate within 100 air miles of their normal work reporting location (and do not further interstate commerce) from hours of service and from the medical card requirements found in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. These drivers may not drive when sick or fatigued, but are not required to keep a log book or ELD and do not require a medical card. This is due to the fact that Maine adopts the federal regulations with some state amendments, most notably in the area of hours of service and medical card requirements.

To summarize, the recent changes to the hours of service regulations do not impact the Maine 100 air mile rule. A CDL driver that exceeds the 100-air mile radius in Intrastate commerce must either rely on the federal 150 air mile rule (“short haul” exemption) or must keep a log book or ELD. Additionally, drivers who exceed the 100 air miles in Intrastate commerce must have a valid medical card.

KNOXVILLE, IOWA - When Weiler Inc. announced plans to purchase Caterpillar Inc.’s purposebuilt forestry business back in 2018 it was big news in the logging industry in Maine, where Cat forestry equipment is a common sight in the woods.

Understandably, loggers who had invested and trusted in that equipment were worried a company that built its reputation designing and manufacturing quality paving equipment might not be up to the job of doing the same for logging equipment.

A year and a half after the sale officially took place in Sept. 2019, Weiler’s intense focus on listening to and meeting customer needs, its retention of skilled Caterpillar Forest Products employees, and the continued involvement of a trusted network of Cat dealers are laying those worries to rest.

These days Weiler Forestry, the new branch of Weiler focused on logging equipment, is rapidly building a solid reputation for itself in the Maine woods, one customer at a time. That approach comes from the top, where company founder, President and CEO Pat Weiler, a veteran design engineer, is heavily involved in product development and in talking to loggers on the ground about what they need from their machines.

Pat’s most recent trip to Maine occurred in late March, when he visited a logging job in Lexington where Dean Pepper of D.R. Pepper Wood Harvesting was testing a new Weiler H157 tracked harvester - a model designed with input from dozens of logging contractors to replace Cat’s 501 harvester. The test went well, and afterward Pat and representatives of Milton Cat and Weiler circled the machine with Dean talking over features and ideas for improvements, and listening to his comments and suggestions.

This process is critical to Weiler’s ability to deliver machines that not only meet general industry needs, but the specific needs of individual customers.

“We really try to build what the customer wants, and if you make it too much more complicated than that, it’s just too complicated,” Pat said. “Loggers are great to work with and they’re open to telling us what they want, and as long as they do that we’ll try to get it built for them, it’s pretty simple.”

Weiler’s relationship with Caterpillar goes back nearly two decades, and Weiler’s growth since Pat founded it in 2000 has included a steady expansion of product lines.

The company began its relationship with Caterpillar and its dealer network in 2005 when it purchased the BG730 road widener and BG650 windrow elevator from Cat. By 2011 the companies had signed a worldwide marketing agreement, allowing Cat dealers first right of refusal to be a Weiler dealer.

All North American Cat dealers today are Weiler dealers. Over the years, Weiler’s product line grew to include pavers, compactors, force feed loaders, soil stabilizers, and rock drills, and the company carved out a solid reputation for itself in the paving market.

Making the jump into sophisticated mechanized logging equipment may have seemed like a big step to many outsiders since Pat and his company had no direct history or connection to the logging industry, but from the perspective of an engineer, the challenge and the desire to tackle it make perfect sense.

“At the end of the day it’s all steel and iron and that’s what I like working with,” Pat said. “To me it’s all cutting and welding, and hydraulics and motors and you just apply them in different ways.”

Weiler’s 2019 acquisition included CAT’s manufacturing plant and warehouse in LaGrange, Georgia, the demonstration and training center in Auburn, Alabama, and the legacy Prentice parts distribution center in Smithfield, North Carolina. Nearly 300 former Caterpillar Forest Products employees were added to Weiler’s payrolls by the purchase.

“We’ve got the lineage of experienced Cat forestry employees to draw from, so now it’s just a matter of converting things from the way Cat did it to the way we do things,” Pat said. “We’re more set up for niche products while most forestry stuff is more purpose-built, so whereas

Weiler Continued Page 22

Weiler Continued from Page 21 16

Cat’s really, really good, we may be a little more nimble and can react a little quicker.”

While the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crash that came with it have certainly impacted the U.S. logging industry over the past year, Weiler Forestry’s rollout has been going well, Pat said.

“Better than we expected, the former-Cat people have been great, Caterpillar corporate has been really supportive, the dealers have been fantastic and the customers where it all starts - the loggersthey’re really receptive to having us involved and I think they’re starting to see how responsive we are to the things they tell us,” Pat said. “Everything is new for us so we’re learning and for us, starting from scratch almost, everything’s up.”

Weiler Forestry is an Enhanced Supporting Member of the Professional Logging Contractors (PLC) of Maine, joining soon after the Caterpillar forestry acquisition was completed. The PLC greatly appreciated the company’s decision to join as well as Pat taking the time to personally visit with contractor members of the PLC in 2018 at Milton Cat’s Brewer facility to discuss the upcoming acquisition.

In 2020, students in the Mechanized Logging Operations Program, a Maine community college training program created by the PLC with industry partners, first began operating Weiler a B457 feller buncher and an S250 grapple skidder.

Customer demand will drive where Weiler takes its forest products line in the future, and that means the company will be paying a lot of attention to the details that matter out in the woods, Pat said.

“Right now, we’re just busy redesigning stuff and updating stuff and trying to get it to work the way customers want it to, so that’s what we’re focused on.” Pat said. “Loggers are great to work with, and we’ll build what people want to buy, so we’ve got multiple new products in production or coming into production.”

For more information on Weiler Forestry Inc. and its product lines, visit weilerforestry.com

SafetyGlasses

ByDonaldBurr PLCSafety&TrainingCoordinator safety@maineloggers.com

Safety Glasses required beyond this point. We all have seen, read, and then disregarded this sign, and if you say you haven’t, I am guessing you are part of the 10% who lie.

When I sat down to write this article, I planned to try to convince you to wear your safety glasses and all PPE for that matter, every time, because there is a chance that it could make a difference between a close call and an injury. Seeing that there has been a campaign since the 1920s to get employees to wear them, I was not surprised when I could not come up with anything newer than the old trite sayings. Let’s get them out of the way.

1. Eye protection only works when you are wearing it.

2. Make sure that you are wearing the proper eye protection for the job you are doing.

3. Keep it clean because you need to see what you are doing to be safe.

4. Glasses can be a pain to wear. They fog up, fall off, get scratched, and can bechallenging to keep in good repair.

5. You only have two eyes. Protect them both.

6. OSHA says (you can fill in the blank).

So here’s my angle. Let’s be proactive!

1. Evaluate the job that you are doing and be honest about it. Are you grinding? Then you need safety glasses and a face shield. Are you welding? Then you need a shield with the proper tint, and if you are going to lift the helmet to hit the slag off, you require glasses too.

2. Watch where you are walking.

No, this is not a shout-out to slips, trips & falls. You may need to go into an area where there could be flying debris. You hear a grinder running, or a sandblaster or welder working, make sure you stay away without proper eye protection.

3. Make a plan to protect your safety glasses. Have cleaning supplies handy and use quality cleaner. I like Sprayway, it does a great job on my glasses and my truck, and the equipment windows.

4. Always be on the lookout to make your work area safer from spraying or flying debris that could get into your eye or your co-worker’s eye.

5. Wear only glasses that meet the ANSI Z87 standard. This standard will be noted somewhere on the glasses. Check for the measure before you wear.

6. Get glasses that fit and give you the protection you need to do the job you are doing.

7. Lastly and my favorite, “Shut up and protect your eyes.”

Wearing the proper safety glasses when you need them will give you the confidence to do the job at hand. In closing, when the job is chaos, “Keep calm & Safety glasses on”.

Safety glasses are required past this point!

Ted Clark, CLCS, Loss Control Consultant, Acadia Insurance Quarterly Safety Meeting: Step Ladders

As winter makes its exit, giving way to spring most of you will replace your time in the woods with time at the garage, performing the much-needed spring maintenance on your machinery before starting back up again in early summer. During this time in the garage many of you will be performing nonroutine tasks, requiring planning and caution to avoid injury or incident. One of the most hazardous tools that is utilized to perform these tasks is step ladders. While most of us have used ladders since an early age, it continues to be a significant source for injuries, many serious. This safety meeting will address the selection, inspection and use of most step ladders.

Selection

Every job starts with selecting the proper tools to complete the work. For a step ladder:

∙ Verify that the job that needs to be completed can be done so within the manufacturer limitations of the ladder you select.

∙ Most step ladders are designed as work platforms and are not designed to access another level (like a straight ladder).

∙ Consider the height of the ladder you select. Most step ladders are not designed for you to stand on the top two rungs. Working on the top two rungs significantly reduces the stability of the ladder.

∙ Verify that the weight load limits of the ladder are adequate to support the full load on the ladder. The user’s weight should include the weight of the tools and the clothing that the person is carrying on their person.

∙ Some ladders are constructed with materials that may present limitations. For instance, an aluminum ladder is not likely approved to use when working around live electrical.

Ladder Inspection

Once you’ve selected the proper ladder for the work to be completed, the user should thoroughly inspect the ladder to verify that it is in good working order. If any damage is noted on the ladder, it should not be used. Repairs to ladders are not generally accepted by the manufacturer so damage to the ladder typically means it will need to be destroyed and replaced. Prior to use you should inspect:

∙ Tags – While tags on the ladder rail and rungs may seem minute, they are a vital part of the ladder which must remain completely legible. If tags are missing or not legible, it may result in an OSHA violation.

∙ Rails – Looking for dings or damage that may indicate the ladder is no longer capable of withstanding the weight it is rated for. Manufacturers should be consulted for specific tolerances.

∙ Rungs – Ladder rungs are your lifeline to the ladder. Prior to use you should thoroughly inspect all the rungs. Verify that they are clean and free of oils and grease which could result in a slip or fall when using the ladder. Also verify that there are no dents or holes in the rung which could damage the ladder rail or reduce the load limit on the rung.

∙ Feet – The ladder feet are its connection to the floor. When inspecting you should verify that the slip resistant pads are in place and in good condition.

∙ Spreader assembly – Should be inspected to verify its there and has freedom of movement.

LADDER USE and SETUP

∙ Prior to setting up the ladder, inspect the ground to verify that is level and firm enough to support it while under load. A ladder that is slightly uneven at the floor level will be significantly more unstable the higher you climb.

∙ Avoid setting ladders up in front of closed doors. If you must setup in front of a closed door, lock the door or utilize something such as caution tape, to prevent someone from opening the door.

∙ Fully open the ladder so the spreader assembly is locked in the open position. Step ladders are not meant to be used while leaned up against a wall or a piece of machinery.

∙ Don’t climb the back side of a single sided step ladder. The supports are not designed to be load baring.

∙ Don’t stand on the top two rungs of the ladder. This will cause the ladder to be unstable and there is a significant risk for the ladder tipping over.

∙ Maintain three points of contact when climbing into place on the ladder. This generally means you should not carry anything in your hands while climbing the ladder.

∙ When you need to move the ladder, climb down and move it from the ground level. Moving the ladder or “walking” it while you are on the ladder will cause damage to it. You should also make sure to remove or secure tools on the ladder prior to moving it.

∙ You should position the work so you can avoid leaning from side to side or turning around on the ladder. Leaning on a step ladder will cause it to become stable and tip over.

∙ Ladders should be stored out of the direct sunlight and away from and hazardous materials or hot work that may be taking place. Direct sunlight, such as in the back of a mechanic’s truck, can cause damage to the fiberglass that reduces the ladder’s strength and can be tough to recognize.

When used properly, ladders are a vital tool that can make your work more efficient and safer. Understanding the selection, inspection and proper use of ladders will help to ensure the work is performed safely. The guidance in this safety meeting is a baseline for use of step ladders and you should refer to the OSHA standards and the manufacturer owner’s manual for more specific instructions.

Acadia is pleased to share this material for the benefit of its customers. Please note, however, that nothing herein should be construed as either legal advice or the provision of professional consulting services. This material is for informational purposes only, and while reasonable care has been utilized in compiling this information, no warranty or representation is made as to accuracy or completeness.

*Meeting sign-in sheet on the back! Cut along dotted line to left to detach this section.