INTRODUCTION:
Planning & Analysis in Timber Harvesting (PATH) is a free spreadsheet utility created by Northeast Forests, LLC. PATH was funded by a grant from the by the Wood Education and Resource Center (WERC), Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, U.S. Forest Service. PATH is intended to help loggers benchmark their costs and compare cost structures of alternative mixes of equipment and utilization rates. PATH has had close to 6,000 downloads and has been well received in workshops.
As the new Chair of the Timber Harvesting and Transportation Safety Foundation, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and share my views on safety.
It starts with the influence of my father, who had a 28-year Army career, which meant our family traveled and relocated frequently. Throughout all that, I always remember his primary concern: to train his soldiers to survive war and return home safely to family and friends.
BACKGROUND: On a mild, late fall afternoon in the Southeast, a log truck was merging onto an Interstate highway. Winds were fairly calm, and the road surface was dry.
BACKGROUND: On a fall morning in the South, a log truck driver was pulling the cables off his load at a woodyard unbinding station. Personal Characteristics: The contract log truck driver was fully trained and had over 20 years of experience. He was wearing a hard hat, safety glasses, gloves, and a high-visibility vest.
BACKGROUND: On a late winter afternoon in the West, a company’s mechanic was repairing a stroke delimber. Weather conditions were good—cool and clear.
BACKGROUND: On an overcast, cool winter morning in the Appalachians, a logging contractor was unloading his truck at a woodyard. He was operating the self-unloading knuckleboom on his triaxle truck.
Our Association is fortunate to have a membership and staff whose efforts go beyond their professional requirements.
Retailers’ growing demand for chain-of-custody certified products has succeeded in driving a stake in the U.S. wood supply chain. In so doing, it has collided with a fundamental reality: the U.S. is unique in the global forestry sector with over 10 million small private landowners—“Family Forest Owners”—controlling close to 58% of the timberland acreage and representing 61% of the harvest.
This Update comes at the launch of a very busy year, with WSRI’s April Annual Meeting just around the corner. At this writing, two research projects are in their final stages, and we’ve begun the process for selecting two new projects from among twelve outstanding project proposals.
TECHNICAL RELEASE 12-R-1
Maintenance of chipper knives, flaker knives, slasher saws, and other sharp-edged parts exposes the individual to injury from cuts, abrasions, and punctures. Maintenance personnel at Weyerhaeuser’s Elkin, North Carolina OSB mill wear a protective arm guard, in addition to cut-resistant gloves, when sharpening or changing the flaker knives.